Hitch in action when hammer cocking.

albanian · May 20, 2009

I have a pre-36 flatlatch that has a weird 'hitch' in the action when hammer cocking it. In DA, it is not there. I know it is not the cylinder stop because I took a postcard and slipped in there and it still occured.

It only happens on one cylinder and I know which one it is but I can't see anything amiss. I have cleaned it and very lightly removed a few burrs and it seems a little better but I can still notice it. I can cock it still but on on cylinder just before it starts rotating the action, there is this hitch. It seems to happen just as the hand engages the star.

Any ideas? I know there is a burr or a part that just needs a bit of stoning but I don't want to start stoning until I know where and what to stone.

Bullseye Smith · May 20, 2009

What you are feeling is the hand running on the back of the cylinder, nothing to worry about. It will go away with use.

Alk8944 · May 23, 2009

It will go away with use.

?? It's a 50+ year old gun he is asking about, I think it probably has had some use.

albanian,

Sorry, but there just isn't enough information to base even a guess on. What you describe could be anywhere from the trigger initially pulling the cylinder stop down to the hand ninding on the extractor ratchet and several places in between. If you can find anyone who knows S&W revilvers have them take a look at it, or if you can, decribe the problem in more detail.

albanian · May 26, 2009

It works fine in the other four cylinders but there is one where it is hard to cock. It only happens on one and it only happens when cocking with the hammer. If I pull the trigger, it does not happen.

It binds just at the beginning of the cocking action not anywhere else. The hammer moves back a slight amount and feels like it is sticking but if you apply a bit more pressure, it cocks like normal. It is not hard to hammer cock it but you can feel the hitch. I don't think it is a big deal but I want to get it to be smooth all the way around.

My guess is there is a burr or something wrong with the shape of the rachet but it looks fine even under 8x mag.

Alk8944 · May 26, 2009

albanian,

Most likely is there is a burr on one of the stop notches that is catching the cylinder stop and has nothing to do with the ratchet. What happens is the stop isn't pulled down early enough on that charge hole to properly clear the stop notch before the hand tries to turn the cylinder. There is a slight difference in the sequence of events between single action and double action, and the fact that it does this in single action supports this.

Check for burrs first and either carefully stone or file the burr or peen it down. The gun really is going to need a cylinder stop soon.

albanian · May 26, 2009

Alk8944,
That was it. It was a bit of burr on the crest of the stop. I know it is hard trying to fix someone else's gun over the net with no pics and just going by words so I appreciate the effort.

On a side note, I cracked open my first S&W revolver today. It was my beater 19-3 6". It is out of time and I wanted to see what the hand looked like. I have never messed with S&W revolvers before, I always thought they were too delicate.

I have messed with my Rugers but was always afraid of S&W. Now that I have taken one apart and put it back together, I am not so intimidated.

I didn't do any work to it but now I know I can replace the hand myself and not have to send it in or take it to a gunsmith. I can't afford that right now anyway.

Hitch in action when hammer cocking.

albanian

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Bullseye Smith

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Alk8944

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albanian

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Alk8944

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albanian

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