I was recently shooting my 686 at the range and every time i had to re load, the ejector couldnt pop out the rounds like it used to....i actually had to pry em out by hand. anyone ever had this happen? luckily i was at the range when this happened and not in a gun fight

If you were shooting .357 Mag, after a steady diet of .38Spl, it could be a buildup of residue in the chambers. Try a THOROUGH cleaning of the chambers with a bronze brush and after letting them sit wet with solvent for a while.

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

That's the first thing that came to my mind too.

Dave

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RSVN '69-'71
PCSD (Ret)

Take a magnifying glass and inspect inside the cylinder holes. It's amazing how much material gets left behind.

Are you ejecting your empties like this?

Good comments on the cylinder cleaning, hopefully that is all that is needed. Also check the ejector rod action. It can get crudded up (technical term) and require cleaning. Also, I have found that aluminum shell cases seem to expand more than brass ones and 'form fit' to the cylinder after firing. This makes ejection a little more difficult. Good luck!

I remember reading in my revolver book that you should clean the cylinder holes with a brush one size up from the gun caliber. I use a .40 cal brush to clean the cylinders in my 686+.

I just posted a similar question. I have used a .45 and 410 brushes. I used bronze first and then used SS brushes thinking the SS is harder than the bronze brushes. I have 2 686s, the one that hasn't been fired much has a little bit of difficulty ejecting shells also and it hasn't had any 38s fired through it.

The load could be over pressure.

If you see a "ring" in the chambers from use of 38's, it can be scraped out by taking a 357 empty case and running it up into the "expander" die until the case mouth flairs out far enough so it just barely fits into the chamber. Then by pushing it in and out of the chambers a few times it should scrape off the majority of the build up so that a regular cleaning will get the rest.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

This is a major reason I prefer to load target loads in the correct brass and not shoot "shorties".
Specials belong in a gun chambered for them.
When in need of a good scrub, I use a bat-drill with a short rod and a brush chucked in it to clean cylinders.
The rifle brushes are longer and work well and yeah the next size up helps too.
Once I get out all the crud with dry/wet brushing and favorite solvent(s), I run a patch with brake cleaner to degrease the chambers.
Keep it up until that last patch comes out white and the chambers look uniform their whole length.

Are the cases being scratched on the way back out?
If so the star may be out of whack.
I had a 696 that would not eject properly from a couple of cylinders and was scratching the cases.
Sent it back to S&W and they put in a new star and re-timed.
Works perfectly now.

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NEMO
"Everything 44"