Thanks for the responses! I have owned this gun for about 7 years. I acquired it with original box, tools, docs, and numbers matching magnas. It looked nearly brand new with almost no turn line nor flame cutting on topstrap -- all appearances are that this gun has been shot very little and well taken care of over the years. I have not removed the side plate. All the side plate screws look pristine and sharp, leading me to believe Bubba hasn't been inside. Shining a light down the cocked hammer, this thing appears spotless inside (I know that doesn't indicate what's going on behind the side plate). The action cycles very smoothly. The strain screw is completely tight, but I cannot verify whether it is the original. Here is what was in the note I sent in with the gun:
"There is an occasional hard bind when pulling the trigger in double action. The trigger is binding/locking-up during double action firing, stopping the hammer from traveling rearward. This malfunction occurs approximately 15% of the time (7-9 times out of a box of 50 cartridges). I only use standard factory ammunition; the malfunction occurs when using ammo from a variety of manufacturers. The malfunction doesn’t occur consistently—the revolver might successfully fire 24 cartridges in a row with zero malfunctions, and then have several malfunctions in two cylinders back-to-back. The trigger binding only seems to occur while firing live ammo; the problem never occurs for me while using snap caps or dry firing."
It is interesting to note that the binding never occurs with snap caps--only with live ammo. I should also mention that although I've owned this gun for 7 years, I've only put 350 rounds through it. This one doesn't make it out of the safe often.