I bought one of the old French police revolvers from Bud’s last month, a 64-7 with a 4” barrel. It’s got wear on it for sure, but an outstanding shooter. There’s just one nagging little problem, and I’m sure someone on here can help.
When swinging the cylinder out to reload, there’s a distinct metal-on-metal grind before the cylinder can clear the window. The cylinder requires an extra push to come out, and there’s a noticeable “pop” when it frees itself. Definitely unlike any of my other Smith wheelguns.
I’ve read as many similar threads here as I could find, and tried a few remedies, so here’s what I’ve tried/observed:
- I took the cylinder assembly apart and gave everything a thorough cleaning and some very light oil. All parts appear to be working as they should and there’s nothing under the extractor star.
- The extractor rod was not bent, but I replaced it anyway just to be safe, as the original was pretty haggered looking, maybe even bubba’d. The problem persists.
- The center pin does not appear bent or damaged.
- The locking bolt (at the end of the barrel) doesn’t appear damaged or excessively worn.
- The crane does not appear to be bent or damaged.
- The cylinder release bolt (I think that’s what it’s called, it’s the internal counterpart to the cylinder release) appears perfectly flush with the frame when the cylinder release is forward, just like on all my other revolvers.
I’m at a point now where it seems like something to do with the center pin; I suspect it’s not being pushed far enough out by the cylinder release bolt to clear that area, and/or not far enough out to clear the locking bolt and let the ejector rod out. On the other hand, I’ve been looking at it so much I could be missing something that could be completely obvious. That’s where my forum friends come in. :-)
Any ideas what’s wrong with it?