My cylinder has been a little difficult to open for the last couple of range visits with my two year old 649, the extractor rod seemed tight. (The 649 was purchased new and no work has been done on it, except I did remove the lock and plugged it two year ago.) The cylinder/barrel gap appears to be consistent as I rotate the cylinder. I decided to remove the cylinder for a better cleaning. The cylinder and crane/yoke came out fine, but the cylinder doesn't want to slip off the crane.

The cylinder can move up about 1/8", and rotates freely. With the cylinder and crane out of the frame, the extractor rod seems to have a very, very little rotational movement. - edit, just noticed this rotational movement is just until the ejection star hits the end of the cylinder cut-out. I believe the ejector rod is tight.

I've been spraying M-Pro 7 around where the extractor enters the cylinder, and when I move the extractor up and down the 1/8", the solvent foams.

Should I just be patient with the solvent? I didn't want to mess with the extractor rod if it was okay.

I'd appreciate your guidance...

Will

It is probably fouling inside the center bore of the cylinder. Just squirt a few drops in between the YOKE and cylinder, pull hard and twist until it comes off. There is nothing you will hurt doing this.

Even if by some strange chance there is something, like a burr, interfering, The cylinder has to come off before it can be repaired.

Alk8944, thank you... I've been soaking the cylinder all day, but have been afraid to really pull on the cylinder. I'll let it soak over night and give it a good pull/twist tomorrow.

Will

It is an easy task to remove the yoke screw and remove the cylinder from the gun. Once out you can spray in some Remoil or similar and free it up. If it is still rough, you can take the extractor rod out (reverse thread of course) and see what is going on. You might have a manufacturing scrap of metal in there or something similar that is causing the problem.

If you do remove the extractor rod, remember it's a reverse thread and remember to insert EMPTY cartridge casings into the charge holes prior to loosening it to avoid bending or damage!

Other than that it's hard to see exactly what the issue is over the internet.

Chief38

Thank you Chief... I'm still soaking the cylinder and crane, guess I'm stalling... the cylinder is still stuck, but can move it in and out about 1/8". I'll try soaking and pulling today, then try removing the extractor rod tomorrow.

Stalling Will

Will2,

I have seen the extractor rod spring actually break in a gun or two which might be what happened. It is not a real common occurrence, but you should check it if all else fails. Don't forget the EMPTY CASES in the cylinder if you need to dis-assemble, and remember it's a reverse thread.

Good luck,
Chief38

If you have access to a sonic cleaner toss the yoke/cyl assy in and let it run a while. Does wonders for this type of problem.

tomcatt51, thank you. I believe there is a sonic cleaner nearby that I can use. I'll check it out.

After all my soaking and cleaning, the cylinder really spins easily on the yoke, and the ejection rod spring seems to feel good.

When I put the cylinder and yoke back into the gun, it opens and closes very easily (much better than before I did all the soaking and cleaning). The cylinder just doesn't slip off the yoke.

I think I'll call S&W before I do anything else... guess I'm just a nervous Nelly...

Will