I've got a .38 Safety Hammerless that's having an issue: if I pull the trigger with the cylinder out of the gun, it works perfect. But if I re-install the cylinder, the trigger is almost impossible to pull. What could be the issue?

Guess #1:The hand is contacting the cylinder in an area where it's not supposed to.

Guess #2: The cylinder stop isn't disengaging----although that would make the trigger impossible to pull---rather than "almost" impossible---and also presupposes the cylinder is properly aligned (which is unlikely but certainly possible).

Question #1---which likely should have preceded these guesses: Does the cylinder move/revolve by hand (when open)?

Ralph Tremaine

I hope I'm wrong; broken split-spring. The split-spring controls the drop of the bolt to allow the cylinder to revolve. If this spring is broken then the cylinder remains in battery while the hand tries to turn the cylinder; effectively locking the action. Take the cylinder out and watch for the cylinder release to drop while cycling the action.

__________________
Mike Maher #283

Crane screw? They are fitted to the gun and often get swapped around when someone takes off the side plate. Look for one of the side plate screws that looks polished on the end. That should be the one for the crane..

__________________
Go West young man..

Except for the fact his gun ain't got no crane-----ain't got no crane screw neither. Now, aside from that, you're right on.

Apologies----I just couldn't resist! If you ever happened to notice, there's likely a sticker on the front of each one of your insurance policies. It says: "PLEASE READ YOUR POLICY". There's a reason for that. It doesn't often work out, but there's a reason.

Ralph Tremaine