I took delivery of my new 43c two days ago. Today I put about 200 assorted 22lr rounds through it. I had a failure to fire or weak primer strike about once every 15 rounds. I am not as concerned about that as I was cleaning the gun and discovering I couldn’t get the cylinder to close. It appears the crane is now bent. I guess it’s a trip back to S&W.

How could you bend the crane in 200 rounds?

Kevin

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I have no clue. I am actually guessing the crane is bent. I am a little sad, disappointed and shocked. It did get a little hot. About half way through I sat it down and shot my Glock 43x to test some hollow points. When I got home I sprayed it down and then cleaned it well. The cylinder will not close and the gun will not lock up.

That is interesting. How were you closing the cylinder?

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Loose ejector rod. Crud under ejector.Center pin stuck for some reason.

I was closing it with my thumb. I can get it to close as long as I apply plenty of pressure to the ejector rod while it inside the shroud.

I am with steelslaver here. Check the ejector rod and clean it well.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Any problem ejecting empties? Forcing the ejector rod and bending it? Just spit-balling.

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Who are those guys?

Isn't there something about ejector rods loosening up or unscrewing on S&W revolvers creating closing/opening of cylinder issues. I might be mistaken, sorry if I made the wrong connection.

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There was one cylinders worth that stuck but I was still able to eject with the palm of my hand still.

I sat down and looked it over well. The ejector rod was as tight as it gets. No debris visible any where at this point and especially not under the ejector star.

I decided to remove the ejector rod and the cylinder will move freely in and out of the cylinder window attached to the crane. I noticed the locking bolt will not make its way into the ejector rod. I was able to depress the ejector rod and hold it on the outside. The cylinder completely closed. At this point I believe the locking bolt is preventing the cylinder from closing. I hope I have not bent the crane at this point.

Yes, I have seen it happen. It was something I checked over and over again. It’s tight as it can be. I actually removed the ejector rod, cleaned it, and reinstalled it.

This is the weirdest thing. I shot 200 rounds with the only issue being a 7% fail to fire rate. I come home and spray it with cleaner, run Qtips through the cylinder and barrel, brush it with a oily toothbrush, wipe it all down with oil, and then discover it will not close at the muzzle end. It was not dropped and the cylinder was not flipped closed.

Like I said, the ejector rod is as tight as I can get it. If the locking bolt is held back, it will fairly easily open and close. At this point I believe it is the locking bolt that somehow extends more into the shroud than previously. Shooting it, opening and closing it didn’t effect it. Cleaning it appears to be what changed something.

Did you remove the yoke? A bearing inside that I do not recall the name of could be out of alignment. I bought a 629 a number of years ago for $200.00 because the owner told me the crane was bent. It took about 5 min to fix. Good luck. Be Safe,

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If you sprayed a cleaner / de-greaser into the locking pin assembly, you may have removed lubricant, causing it to stick. I had a similar issue with a 629 that was hard to open. Try applying a little thin lube like Rem Oil to the pin, especially in the front shroud, and see if it helps.

Larry

I am a bit confused

With ejector rod removed from cylinder, but cylinder reinstalled on yoke barrel the cylinder opens and closes fine. Is this correct?

The locking bolt is the piece inside the frame that slides back and forth by pressing on the thumb piece. With cylinder open the it should be flush with face of recoil shield. You should be able to press it back pretty easy and it will spring back forward with cylinder open. True?

The center pin is the round pin that slides inside of ejector rod. It has a small ring on it about 3/4" from end that stops small spring. There is also a larger spring that rides on a sliding collar with a raised ring on it. When it is installed correctly it should stick out of ratchet about 1/8" and be inside the barrel end about 1/8". You should be able to press it flush to ratchet face and then it should also be flush or a tiny bit long on barrel end of ejector rod. Is this what happens?

The center pin should slide smoothly in and out inside the ejector rod.

The small spring causes the center pin to pop out of the center of ratchet and moves bolt and thumb piece back when cylinder is closed

Larger spring snaps the star back closed when you release ejector rod when ejecting brass.

The lug under the barrel has a spring loaded tooth, Does it slide in and out easily when pressed with the tip of a small screw driver. If it is stuck it will stop ejector rod from closing. As cylinder closes the tip of ejector rod presses tooth forward and then when closed it pops into center of ejector rod and helps push center pin back and into recoil shield.

With the cylinder assembled and the yoke screw NOT in place does the cylinder open and close properly? If not possible damage screw tip or groove in yoke.

If you remove the center pin and lay it on something flat with the raised ring over the edge does it roll flat?

Same question on the ejector rod. Does it roll flat?

I did not remove the yolk screw; I only unscrewed the ejector rod. I wanted to see if there was some lead build up I couldn’t see on the face of the cylinder, gas ring, crane, or forcing cone. With the ejector rod removed, the cylinder falls in and out of the cylinder window easier than the other 15 revolvers in my safe.

Upon reinstalling the ejector rod, it appears the tapered end of the ejector rod is not catching the ejector rod. If I hold the locking bolt, inside the barrel lug, it will open and close.

Send it back to S&W and then use a different type of ammo next time. Problem solved.

Id day at this point, a trip back is a given. The funny thing here is the ammo was an assortment of quality ammo. It was mostly CCI and Federal. The issue didn’t occur at the range but when cleaning it. It was not all that dirty even. I think somehow I got the locking bolt to extend further than it did before the range visit.

I think I will also mention the failure to fire. I know it’s a rimfire, but a 7% failure with CCI is a concern.

After oiling the gun very well, and it sitting in the safe for a few days, the cylinder opens and closes like a brand new gun. It’s the weirdest thing. I can’t tell if the locking lug is not extending as far into the shroud or what the deal is.

Now to deal with the light strikes giving you the failure to fires.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

Rimfire ammo is known for this issue.

We are going to make another range trip to see what happens. I’m still scared the heavy resistance from trying to close the cylinder has bent the crane. It is a range toy and training aid so some weak strikes aren’t the end of the world. I did buy it over a $350 Charter hoping to get better reliability though. What scares me is if CCI ammunition doesn’t go bang every time nothing will.

The 43C has an aluminum alloy cylinder and frame. How is the barrel/cylinder gap? Is it tight, (less than .006)? Aluminum alloy will expand when it becomes hot. If you shoot 20-30 rounds or so, quickly it may heat up and expand enough to cause it to bind. When it cools down the cylinder may open normally.

Was the gun bought new? Had possibly someone replaced the mainspring with a lighter one to lessen the trigger pull? A combination of these two causes could cause the problems you are experiencing.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I bought it new. There was actually a pretty significant cylinder gap. The cylinder pin would lock up at the rear at the blast shield but not lock up at the locking bolt in the lug.

I did think there was lead build up near the gas ring preventing it from closing.

I believe you were into something. Now that it was pretty saturated with oil it appears to close effortlessly. Opening it was never an issue though.

Whatever. It still needs to go back to S&W. You're right it's not a Charter so get it fixed on their dime. No brainer.