I shot 1 cylinder in my new to me 27 today. I handed it to my wife to shoot and it locked up after the 2nd or 3rd shot. I couldn't get the hammer to pull back or the trigger to pull. I got home and it was still locked up. I took the grips off and ran a brush through the bore and cylinder and it now works properly. what happened????

Are the side plate screws tight? If the plate loosens, the hammer and trigger could get out of alignment causing a lock-up. Also make sure your ejector rod isn't loose.

Just some possible causes I've seen, but I'm not an expert.

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Watch & Pray

I little bit of dirt under the extractor/ejector star can cause problems as well.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

The Screws look to be tight. You can tell they have never had a screwdriver in them. I will check the extractor rod the next time I get it out of the safe.

Some hot 357 ammo has been known to tie up guns when the primers flow back into the recoil shield. It does no permanent harm, but it sure can jam things up at the wrong time! The Federal 125-grain 357 was the most notorious load for this, but certainly not the only one.

Look at the gap between the front of the cylinder and the back of the barrel.

Can you see daylight through that gap?

Occasionally a squib load will lodge a bullet halfway out of the cylinder and half way into the barrel.

Possibly part of the bullet (jacket/lead) got stuck in the air gap. By brushing the barrel it knocked it out and the cylinder rotates again. A too tight air gap can cause the cylinder to drag. Like Joni says, if the extractor gets crud underneath, it will push the cylinder forward, and tighten up on the air gap. It makes dragging or binding more likely.

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NRA Benefactor Member

I took if out again today. The action isn't as smooth as my model 28 but it fired 18 rounds without malfunctioning.

Give it time and it'll probably smooth out. If not, just have the action tuned up.

BTW, I thought I was the only one with dislexic fingers, figured out the 78 but I'm still scratching my head a bit about "glends".

Was it hard the open the cylinder to unload it? Look at your fired rounds for scrapes on the primer or brass. Then look at the firing pin aperture for burrs sticking out towards the primer. They are not uncommon and should be stoned off if present. If using reloads, also look for high primers on the unfired rounds. Also look for lead or powder residue between the bottom of the barrel throat and the cylinder axis.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I put a .02 endshake bushing in and fired 100 rounds through it today before It locked up. Should I put 1 more bushing in or call it good?

It's not supposed to lock up. I'd have someone look at it. By lock up do you mean you can't open the cylinder or that it will not rotate? My 27's had the annoying habit of having the extractor rod loosen up which made it impossible to open the cylinder. Hand tighten it and chack frequently and that problem will be solved. If by lock up you mean rotation, then I would check for primer flow back or perhaps something is under the extractor star.

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Forum consigliere

Cylinder would not rotate. What is primer flow back?

A cylinder can only jam at the front face on the end of the barrel or on the case heads at the rear. There should always be a gap between the barrel and cylinder that you can see light thru. First thing to look for if it jams again.

When a cartridge is fired the primer is deformed (flows back) and if there's not enough headspace between the cylinder and breechface of the frame, the primer will jam the cylinder. If the hole in the breechface where the firing put sticks thru is enlarged from wear or burred, the primer will jam in it.

But I think the problem may be too many shims in the cylinder making it too tight as the gun gets hot from repeated firing like after 100 rounds.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

That happens on one of my SuperMags. If I shoot too many rounds too quickly, the cylinder expands and jams the gun. It has a very tight 0.002 barrel gap though so its not like it can expand that much. Essentially you adjust the barrel gap so you can just see light through it.

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SWCA 1646

I feel that is my problem also. The endshake bushing helped. How can I adjust the barrel gap?

my 25 binds up if powder builds up between the crane and the frame.

To the OP,

Measure your end shake, barrel-cylinder gap and head space and let us know what you have.

As far as I can tell, barrel cylinder gap is .004 with the cylinder pushed back I can get a .006 Gage in .007 will not fit. I don't know hos to measure headspace.

A .006 barrel gap is excellent. You might also check that the internal area around the cyl. stop is clean and that the stop is fully engaging the trigger. If the stop can't reset, that will tie up the cylinder.

The cylinder spins free if the cyl stop doesn't reset.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

With fired cartridge case in firing position, use a feeler gauge to check space between breechface and primer.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I checked again. Air gap is .006 endshake is .003 headspace is .006