.357 cylinder stuck, can't tighten ejector rod

after shootin some .38 sp's my gun jammed up. I can't pull the hammer or trigger, not even enough to slide paper under the cylinder. The cylinder won't rotate. when i push the thumb button to eject the small lug pushes out of the tip of the ejector rod but still won't open. I've tried tightening the ejector rod by using some really small need nose pliers I have. it seems when the lug pushes out of the ejector rod tip that the rod slightly moves out toward the opening because i have to push on the side of the rod to get the lug to seat back into the tip. so i'm pretty sure it's bent, i just am unsure of what to do. there is still 1 round in the cylinder so smacking it around is out of the question. can someone help me? I am slowly picking up gunsmithing as a hobby again after learning armorer basics for a year in my short lived army career but i have no previous experience with handguns only rifles.

If I remember correctly the screw below the cylinder on the frame on the right side of it is what holds the cylinder assembly and all of those parts on the gun (cylinder, ejector rod, yoke/crane)

so it might be worth a shot to unscrew it and try and pull that assembly off.

and what is the specific model of the gun?

If you can't figure it out, do yourself a favor and find a qualified gunsmith. Let him fix it.

The ejector rod (if your .357 was made after 1961) has a left-hand thread, so carefully try turning it counter-clockwise while looking at the front of the gun to see if it tightens and unlocks the cylinder. My apologies if you already knew this.

yeah it might be a better idea to do that as well as I just remembered that the gun needs to be open to get that stuff off of the frame.


the deal with that was that the guy I bought my 49 from didnt bother locktighting that screw and when I was cleaning it well I found out why that screw needs to be on tight as I pulled it off of the gun by accident.

FYI I bought it from a gunsmith who had gone through it but forgot to locktight the screw.

try sticking a .004" feeler gauge between the recoil plate & ejector rod plunger. a little tricky but has worked for me. hth.

Don't put Loctite on the screw, it is necessary to disassemble the gun for maintenance. There can be several reasons the cylinder may be stuck, from the symptoms described, I would guess the most likely to be a bullet stuck between the cylinder and barrel, partially in both, or a cratered primer (probably from a too-hot load or excess head space) which has flowed up along the firing pin, preventing the mechanism from operating. Look between the cylinder and barrel to see if there is a bullet wedged in there (you should see light through the gap between them). If a bullet is stuck there, you will have to tap it back into the cylinder. If you have a cratered primer locking up the mechanism at the rear of the cylinder, lightly tapping the cylinder with a rubber hammer from the right side while holding the cylinder release in the open position should clear it. It is a good idea to try to determine the reason for a problem before trying to fix it. To release the ejection rod (if it actually backed out far enough to keep the cylinder from opening, never try to screw it down, especially with pliers, or while it, is still closed. Instead, use a jeweler's screwdriver to push the detent to open. From your description, I imagine the rod probably is bent now, and is probably boogered up a bit. At this point, a trip to a good gunsmith is probably in order -to but please don't ask him to Loctite the ejector rod or the sideplate screws, definitely not necessary or even appropriate.

now that i'm looking further into it i really don't know what frame this is, k or L i'm pretty sure, from what i've been able to find the serial starting with AFF is a mid 80's 686 i think. I know its a left hand thread on the rod but thanks, it took me a couple days to find that out on my own. I generally read and search for weeks before i even try to ask about stuff, but i'm in no hurry. There is no gunsmith within a few hundred miles of me, and i don't mind it's kinda like a puzzle for me. Once i fix the problem I have gained permanent knowledge that I wouldn't from a gunsmith.

310Pilot said:

Don't put Loctite on the screw, it is necessary to disassemble the gun for maintenance. There can be several reasons the cylinder may be stuck, from the symptoms described, I would guess the most likely to be a bullet stuck between the cylinder and barrel, partially in both, or a cratered primer (probably from a too-hot load or excess head space) which has flowed up along the firing pin, preventing the mechanism from operating. Look between the cylinder and barrel to see if there is a bullet wedged in there (you should see light through the gap between them). If a bullet is stuck there, you will have to tap it back into the cylinder. If you have a cratered primer locking up the mechanism at the rear of the cylinder, lightly tapping the cylinder with a rubber hammer from the right side while holding the cylinder release in the open position should clear it. It is a good idea to try to determine the reason for a problem before trying to fix it. To release the ejection rod (if it actually backed out far enough to keep the cylinder from opening, never try to screw it down, especially with pliers, or while it, is still closed. Instead, use a jeweler's screwdriver to push the detent to open. From your description, I imagine the rod probably is bent now, and is probably boogered up a bit. At this point, a trip to a good gunsmith is probably in order -to but please don't ask him to Loctite the ejector rod or the sideplate screws, definitely not necessary or even appropriate.

Click to expand...

a cratered primer sounds pretty likely, there's nothing between the barrel and cylinder. and the ammo used was less than optimal.

If the cylinder is locked up in the rear, the problem could be much more than cratered primer. It is possible that the hammer nose bushing has pushed back into the frame a tad. This allows primers to push back into the space where the bushing used to reside and very effectively lock up the gun. If that has happened, it's best to let a qualified gunsmith handle that. I've had this happen to two Smith revolvers I've owned. It's not an extremely difficult repair but one which is generally beyond the capabilities of the kitchen table gunsmith.

I hope that in the future the OP has learned that there are few to no jobs on a revolver that are repaired with the use of any manner or pliers and they should be banned from the work bench.

Bruce

Here are a few things that you can try to sort out the cause.

First, use a small diameter dowel, a pencil, or anything similar as a probe to determing if you may have a sqib lodged between the cylinder and barrel. If you do have a sqib jamming the cylinder you'll have to drive it back into the chamber in the cylinder to free the cylinder. For doing this my preference is for a 5/16 inch diameter hardwood dowel in either white oak or hard maple. Also, keep in mind that a squib means the primer for that chamber has fired so you are safe driving the bullet back into the cylinder, however don't get stupid and try to hammer the bullet back in one hard blow because you could bend the frame. Instead take your time and knock it back in small increments with a lighter strike of the hammer.

Second, the cylinder stop is spring loaded and can be pushed out of the notch in the cylinder. My preferred implement for doing this is a basic business card because they are usually on hand and no marring in regards to finish. Slide the business card btween the frame and cylinder in a front to rear motion and the cylinder stop will be driven out of engagement with the cylinder. Leave it in place and you can spin the cylinder freely in the frame if it's not jammed. Means that tightening the ejector rod is rather simple, use a fingernail to jam the ejector rod at the knurling and rotate the cylinder until it's tight enough allow the cylinder to open.

Third area to look at is at the firing pin and bushing. As previously noted a blown out primer can jam up a cylinder, however in 38 spl. that is a relatively rare occurance. One thing that may not be that rare is with the gun that feature frame mounted firing pins. Some ammos are foul enough shooting to cause the frame mounted firing pins to "stick" in the frame. In addition, extensive dry firing practice without the use of snap caps could cause the small spring that returns the firing pin to fail, leaving the firing pin stuck forward in the primer dimple. BTW, I've been there done that and it's why I now avoid using WWB ammo, 5 boxes of that crud fouled up my 610 enough to jam the firing pin forward. What has worked for me to free up a stuck firing pin was simply rocking the cylinder left and right using a rather gentle amount of force. Took me a bit under a minute but eventually that stuck firing pin popped back into the frame and I could unload the 610 and take it home for a good cleaning. BTW, I was rather surprized and how much crud was caked into the recess for the firing pin in the frame. As for the cause, I suspect a combination of powder fouling and the mis-application of gun oil in the area of the firing pin. The S&W manual does suggest an occasional drop of oil in this area and I now believe that doing this is a mistake. I'll also note that my 610 had at least 3000 rounds on it when the firing pin got stuck so it was due for a good cleaning. However, it's one somewhat minor dis-advantage of the frame mounted firing pins, when they get stuck you can't pull them out by simply cocking the hammer.

Now for a final note. That is that more force is rarely the solution for issues like this. While a gentle approach does take longer it usually results in less damage to the gun. So, take your time and work gently, the end result is usually just as successful and a lot less damaging.

scooter123 said:

Here are a few things that you can try to sort out the cause.

First, use a small diameter dowel, a pencil, or anything similar as a probe to determing if you may have a sqib lodged between the cylinder and barrel. If you do have a sqib jamming the cylinder you'll have to drive it back into the chamber in the cylinder to free the cylinder. For doing this my preference is for a 5/16 inch diameter hardwood dowel in either white oak or hard maple. Also, keep in mind that a squib means the primer for that chamber has fired so you are safe driving the bullet back into the cylinder, however don't get stupid and try to hammer the bullet back in one hard blow because you could bend the frame. Instead take your time and knock it back in small increments with a lighter strike of the hammer.

Click to expand...

Thank you for posting that. I had a nearly identical situation as described in the OP and this suggestion fixed it in about three seconds flat. Bravo,scooter123!

Had a similar issue this weekend with a 44 mag, the bullet was stuck between the cylinder and the barrel, 2 sharp taps on a dowel down the barrel... Voila.

thewelshm

basically what scooter said above, and we use a plastic "wedge" ( thin shim) to put into the ejector slot ( the open area under the barrel that the ejector sits in recessed) easier to to this than a finger nail or any "tools" that can and will mar ,scratch the ejector rod...when it is wedged in there, turn the "loose" cylinder in whatever direction your model may be right , maybe left, till the rod screws back in enough to open , other wise you can sometime just "pop" the assembly open and out on your knee ( don't hurt yourself)...if the gun was "unloaded" you can simply pull back the hammer a bit to lower the cylinder stop ( bolt)...to "loosen" turn, the cylinder........

Check and see, just on the off chance, if a 38 special bullet is lodged in the forcing cone, between the barrel and cylinder.
When mine "locked up " that last reload had a primer but no powder and the bullet stuck right there.
Gary

I wonder what the end result was...this happened in 2012, and now I need to know the resolution!