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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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  #1  
Old 09-25-2009, 07:35 PM
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Default K 38 problem

I'd like to hear some advice on an issue I'm having. At the range yesterday I was shooting my 1957 K 38. I bought it last year, it's in very nice condition and has had no problems. After shooting 18-24 rounds of Blazer Ball ammo in double action, I would slowly pull the trigger back and at the first "click" the trigger stopped and would not go any further. I released the trigger and tried to cock the hammer to fire single action. The hammer wouldn't budge. I emptied the cylinder, oiled the action and tried dry firing. The revolver would cycle through 4 trigger pulls but at the 5th and 6th there was a noticeable resistance in the trigger.

I have never taken the sideplate off this gun or done any kind of trigger work on a gun. Is this a no brainer, take it to the gunsmith for repair, or is it possibly a common problem that I can figure out how to fix? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks...tcc
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Old 09-25-2009, 07:47 PM
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TCC

It might be a loose extractor rod. With the cylinder open, and with
a couple of empty cartridge cases in the cylinder, try , by hand, tightening
the rod. Looking in from the muzzle end, it should tighten clockwise -
ie , a right-hand thread. If its loose, at all, it will tighten up one way
or the other. At some point, the thread was changed from right-hand
to left-hand.

If it was loose, then once you get it tight, by hand, you need to
tighten it further, to prevent this from happening again. You'll need to
grab hold of the rod with something that won't damage it, and
tighten a bit more.

Later, Mike Priwer
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Old 09-25-2009, 09:07 PM
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Mike, thanks for the suggestion. The extractor rod feels tight but I'm still feeling some resistance when dry firing, on two chambers as before...
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Old 09-25-2009, 09:12 PM
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Dont over look something under the extractor star. Had a simular problem once and it was a piece of a bore brush very tiny but enough to cause a problem.
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Old 09-25-2009, 09:26 PM
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Hi:
You might check the cylinder-forcing cone clearence.
Jimmy
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Old 09-25-2009, 09:59 PM
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Vulcan, thanks, great suggestion, cleaned under the star but no change.

JimmyJ, I think you might have the answer. I rotated the cylinder, watching the clearance and it does contact the forcing cone on the two chambers where I felt the resistance. Not long after I bought the gun I noticed that the extractor rod had a slight wobble but was told that it was not significant.
Should I straighten the rod or replace it?
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Old 09-25-2009, 10:07 PM
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By the way, I checked the cone and cylinder for any lead build up and even gave both a gentle rub with some bronze wool. Didn't help.
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Old 09-25-2009, 10:16 PM
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If your cylinder is out of line enough for a couple of the chambers to be contacting the forcing cone, you have bigger problems than a bent extractor rod. Sounds like the gun needs to go to a S&W mechanic that can check the alignment with the proper range rods and then readjust as needed. I don't think this is something that should be tried at home if you don't know what you;re doing.

Good luck........
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Old 09-25-2009, 11:16 PM
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I used to shoot a 14-3 for the Distinguished Revolver match, I know the problem of which you speak. Same thing would happen to me when I would be about half way through a 60 round match. The cylinder/crane assembly is basically the same until later years when they moved the gas ring from the crane to the cylinder. The crane bore in the cylinder is most likely caked with crud and just needs a complete cleaning. This requires disassembly of the extractor rod to clean the bore sufficiently. When it would "jam" up, it seemed like it was always the 5th round, when you hammer it back, the hammer gets pretty stiff and feels like you can't pull it all the way back.

The problem could be compounded by some endshake issues so you might be best served by having a reputable gunsmith disassemble and clean the bore, then check the endshake.
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Old 09-25-2009, 11:19 PM
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Dean, not what I wanted to hear but you might be right. I'll hold out for some more replies but will also start the process of contacting S&W to see if they can resolve the problem. Thanks all for your comments, suggestions.
Tcc
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Old 09-25-2009, 11:42 PM
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TCC,
As I understand the symptoms you describe, it could be one or more of the following assuming the gun is clean.
Bent extractor rod
Bent center pin
Bent yoke
Excessive cylinder endshake
Once all of these are checked and corrected, then there could be a problem with carry up where the hand is not clearing the rachets during cycling. This is a problem best left to a good gunsmith that knows their way around Smiths.
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Old 09-26-2009, 11:23 AM
shawn mccarver shawn mccarver is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikepriwer View Post
TCC

It might be a loose extractor rod. With the cylinder open, and with
a couple of empty cartridge cases in the cylinder, try , by hand, tightening
the rod. Looking in from the muzzle end, it should tighten clockwise -
ie , a right-hand thread. If its loose, at all, it will tighten up one way
or the other. At some point, the thread was changed from right-hand
to left-hand.

If it was loose, then once you get it tight, by hand, you need to
tighten it further, to prevent this from happening again. You'll need to
grab hold of the rod with something that won't damage it, and
tighten a bit more.

Later, Mike Priwer
Don't forget when you do that final tightening to use a proper tool or at least spent cases in the charge holes to help make sure that you do not shear off the locator pins.

Shawn McCarver
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Old 09-26-2009, 11:39 AM
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TCC

Its easy enough to clean the cylinder , etc. The whole cylinder
assembly slides off, once you remove the front side-plate screw.

You'll need 3 empty shell cases, and a collet-like device, for gripping
the extractor. You can make the collet by taking a couple pieces of
wood, clamp then together, and then drill a longitudinal hole right
down the center plane. The diameter of the hole should be slightly
smaller than the OD of the extractor rod.

Then, put in the three empty shell cases, in every other charge hole.
Put the collet-device around the extractor rod, and clamp them
together tightly, with one or two C clamps. Hold the cylinder tight
in one hand, and the clamped end in the other, and unscrew it. The
empty shell cases will stabilize the extractor star.

The whole thing will come apart - study it so that you know how to
re-assemble it. Soak the parts in a good solvent, then clean it all
up - including the central bore of the cylinder, the bore of the
extractor rod ( use a pipe cleaner ), and the bore inside the crane/yoke.

Oil it, reassemble it, and see if the problem has gone away.

If you have any problems/questions, email me at [email protected].

Later, Mike Priwer
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  #14  
Old 09-26-2009, 11:46 AM
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Thanks Mike, a good internal cleaning sounds like a good thing to do before taking more drastic measures. I'll let you know how it comes out.
T
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cartridge, endshake, extractor, gunsmith, sideplate, sig arms, solvent

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