986 Cylinder problems

[AJ]

A friend bought a 986 off Gunbroker. He had accuracy problems with 9MM bullets. He switched to .38/357 bullets and the accuracy was better. Now this morning the cylinder would not close. Best guesses??? tried the ejector rod and it was tight, all other pieces seemed to work as advertised. Just the cylinder will not close.

 

[Engine49guy]

Is the cylinder hitting the barrel?
Is the yoke arm binding?
Are the front and rear center pin plunger spring and ejector rod pin compressing?
Does the cylinder release move freely ?
Can you explain whats preventing it in better detail?

 

[AJ]

Is the cylinder hitting the barrel?
Is the yoke arm binding?
Are the front and rear center pin plunger spring and ejector rod pin compressing?
Does the cylinder release move freely ?
Can you explain whats preventing it in better detail?

1. Not that we could see at the range.
2. Did not seem to be.
3. I checked the rear, but not the front.
4. Yoke and cylinder move and cylinder spins freely.

I do not have it in hand anymore as he took it home. I will see him and his wife tonight when we play cards. Will keep everyone posted. If you have thoughts on this please post them.

 

[Engine49guy]

When you say "he switched to .38 / .357 bullets" Im guesding that your friend hand loaded them in 9mm casings?
Ive never owned of fired a 986 but dont think it can fire actual .38/.357 rimmed rounds?
Or can it?
Btw if all else faiks you can contact SW as thats covered under their lifetime warranty.

 

[AJ]

I must have confused you a bit. The barrel on the 986 some say is a .357 barrel, not a 9 MM barrel. His gun had some accuracy problems with different 9 MM bullets. Looked here and found where some are using .357 bullets in a 9 MM case. He has tried that and the accuracy greatly improved. https://smith-wessonforum.com/threads/s-w-986.744149/ Yes, he handloads (doesn't everybody?).

Now as to what he has found out about the cylinder problem. Still no joy once he got it home and looked at more closely. He called S&W and they have not seen that roblem either. They want the pistol to look at/fix it. So that is where it is going come Monday. Will keep folks posted as to the outcome, upon it's return from S&W.

 

[Protocall_Design]

Larger (.358) bullets are what most people are loading for their 929s around here.

You might try cleaning under the extractor with a toothbrush and some solvent. This is a hidden area that often escapes notice. You need to hold the extractor out and clean the bottom of it and the counterbore in the cylinder that it seats in.

Lead, carbon, and unburnt powder can get trapped in there when ejecting fired cases. It only takes one flake of powder to tie up the gun. This can happen with any brand of revolver.

 

[Yendor357]

That too minor of a problem to send it anywhere.


We don’t have enough information, and we can’t examine the gun.

Would close when it was empty?

Clean it, and then run factory ammo through it.
357 bullets in a gun that was designed for 355 is what I’d look at right after a good cleaning.

 

[Protocall_Design]

The gun was actually made for .357 bullets, because that is the barrel size.

 

[H Richard]

Protocal Design Is correct, any "crud" trapped behind the extractor star can tie up a revolver. 1st time it happened to me many years ago was in a Perfect Pre 27 3 1/2". Locked up totally, and could hardly open the cylinder. I stopped by Dick Metcalf's house (Shooting Times past writer), and as we talked he just thumbed the extractor fully and let it snap down. Did that 3-4 times and a couple pieces of burnt Unique popped out and then it operated perfectly. That's the day switched from Unique to 231 for 38's.

 

[Engine49guy]

Hopefully its something simple and resolved quickly but having that lifetime repair warranty is pretty nice!
Once upon a time I had given thought to begin reloading but as I get older and more lazy and shoot less I lost interest.
On a side note I recently pulled my Model 547 out of the safe and shot it with friends, ( I did a post range analysis of my impressions if interested posted a link below)

Thread 'First firing of the venerable Model 547'

Jul 6, 2025

I was lucky enough to have stumbled on a LNIB 3" Model 547 some 20 or so years ago in a remote Florida gunshop and after quickly recognizing what it was snapped it up, the crazy part is that in all that time I had never fired it, that is until today (honesty amongst thieves right?)

So I usually bring something interesting and obscure gunwise to entertain the group,
The last time was a Walther P38 and an HK P7, today it was a recently purchased Inglis Hi Power clone and to make things interesting grabbed that 3" Model 547.
None of my shooting buddies had ever heard of the 547 so I...

• Engine49guy
• Replies: 16
• Forum: S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present

• 

But the main reason a 9mm revolver makes sense to me is cheap potent centerfire ammo ( compared to .38/357 etc) that and no moonclips but thats another issue)
So unless you are getting into a shooting sport where faster moonclip reloading makes a big difference in a timed event why not just hand load 357/.38 special and use a 686 instead ?
On a side note SW really needs to introduce a 9mm/357 two cylinder combo package like the Korth etc and bring back the 547 ejection system IMO.

 

[AJ]

Cylinder would not close empty or loaded.

 

[Engine49guy]

The big question is what is preventing it from closing, Something either moved, bent, stretched, unscrewed, broke or is binding

 

[Protocall_Design]

There is nothing to lose by cleaning. Can't hurt, might help.