Hey guys this is my first post here. Ive recently aquired a Smith and Wesson 686 .357 Magnum that was willed to me by my good friend after he passed away.
Being the guy known to not be able to leave well enough alone I decided to take the side plate off and do a "thorough" cleaning and lube to the internals. This was my first time taking a revolver apart but i know a fair amount about mechanincs and moving parts so i felt confident in doing so.

During the tear down process I removed the hammer, trigger assembly and the internal lock. I took pictures and noted where each part went so i didnt get confused when it came time to put it all back together. When cleaning the inside of the frame I somehow snagged part of the cloth on the bolt (the mechanism that slides back and forth to release the cylinder) and it came out of the guide sending the plunger flying across the room since its spring loaded. After looking for a few minutes i found the plunger pin and also another "pin" on the floor that i had not seen during the tear down but looks to me like it could be part of this gun's working parts although i could not find where it could be missing from when putting the parts back together.
So i put everything back minus the internal lock then lubed everything and the gun was working like it should so I put the side plate and grip back on then went out and put about 100 rounds through it last night and it performed 100%.
When i got home i started cleaning the gun and the cylinder didnt want to open like it was supposed to, but it did with a little extra effort but now it seems like I will have to force it open and I do not want to damage anything.
I took a few pictures of the gun and the mysterious pin that may or may not belong to this gun and be causing the stuck cylinder. Help me out guys, this means a TON to me as it was my friends prized possesion

Make sure the extractor rod is tight. If it loosens even a small amount it lengthens just a few thousandths of an inch which can keep the center pin fron pushing the locking bolt completely out of engagement with the front end of the extractor rod.

And don't worry about the pin you found, it doesn't belong in your gun. No idea what it could be.

__________________
Gunsmithing since 1961

You Sir, Alk are THE MAN!! i did a youtube search on tightening the extractor rod, grabbed the gun then pushed the slide open, gave the cylinder a little smack from the back and it popped right open and sure enough the rod was finger loose, I snugged it up and now it opens and closes like its supposed to.
Tomorrow I'll put a drop of blue loctite on the threads and re-tighten it and hopefully i wont have this issue again.
Thanks for the help buddy

IBTNLT!P

In
Before
The
NO
LOC
TITE
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People


The left hand thread tends to tighten as the cylinder turns.

I did put a dab of low strength anaerobic thread sealant () but you need to be VERY careful it doesn't get anywehere else in there. I wiped off as much as I could & there was enough left in there to do the job.

I'm one of those NO LOCKTITE people. As for why, just try getting the ejector rod re-threaded after it's been locktited. You'll end up purchasing a new extractor star, new ejector rod, and paying a gunsmith to fit the pawls on the extractor star to the hand to time the gun properly. The problem is that the goop left behind will prevent you from feeling the thread engage correctly and you'll cross thread the parts. These are very fine pitch threads and "feel" is absolutely critical to getting the threads started properly without cross threading them.

BTW, just for reference the trick is to turn the ejector rod in the unscrew direction while applying pressure against the spring until you feel the the starting point of the male thread "click" into place, then the ejector rod with screw in by twirling it with thumb and forefinger. I'll also warn you that it takes a bit of time to develop a feel for doing this, in my case about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Finally, if it won't twirl in past about 1 to 1 1/2 turns, it's cross threaded so do NOT force it, just start over and try again. Now for a bit of good news, once you get that feel correct it'll become natural and you won't ever lose it unless some prior owner thought that locktite was the answer.

The CORRECT WAY to deal with this is to properly tighten the ejector rod so it doesn't shoot loose. Start by removing the cylinder assembly and stuffing a fired casing in each chamber to protect the extractor star. Then fold a bit of leather from a worn out belt over the knurling on the ejector rod and grasp it with a common set of household plyers. Then wrap the fingers and thumb of your left hand around the cylinder in a firm handshake type grip. When the ejector rod fully seats use the hand holding the cylinder as a Slip Clutch, meaning you let it slip as you apply some torque to the ejector rod. If it shoots loose during a range outing, squeeze a bit harder when you re-tighten it. Now, two notes. First it's a left hand thread, so you have to turn it the "wrong" way to tighten it. Second, this does NOT have to be Stupid Tight, just tight enough to keep it from shooting loose.

I use Loctite. There are parts that don't stay tight if you don't. Notice that there are screws on your gun that came with a threadlocker applied?

Blue Loctite is actually meant for larger fasteneres than our guns have. Purple 222 is a better choice. Use it sparingly, use it correctly and clean it off the threads when you disassemble Loctited parts.

Yes, you can create problems mis-using Loctite, but the same applies to screwdrivers.