BENT Extraction Rods?

[Btrice13]

I know I have just got into the older smith game. Tho I have been buying them for awhile I have just now started collecting them and really looking them over. I would like to know what is the biggest cause of bent extraction rods? I seem to see them left and right. Also how does it affect what you’re going to pay for a gun? I seen plenty of videos of how to straighten them! Someone tell
Me more about it and what else it should make me look for?

 

[Cotis]

There are several "reasons" for an extraction rod going out of round. On police service revolvers it is generally attributed to the rough life they live getting banged into things (cars, people, etc.). Forcibly hitting the cylinder from either side is the most common cause of a bent rod IMO. Extreme (really extreme) cases can lock up a revolver completely. Uninformed owners emulating Hollywood movies slamming the crane shut is another possible cause. I assume every old S&W I am interested in will be out of round, but if there are no other big issues I am not concerned. Owning a Power Custom straightening fixture helps a lot

I would be more concerned with timing and cylinder end shake in that order.

 

[Btrice13]

There are several "reasons" for an extraction rod going out of round. On police service revolvers it is generally attributed to the rough life they live getting banging into things (cars, people, etc.). Uninformed owners emulating Hollywood movies slamming the crane shut is another possible cause. I assume every old S&W I am interested in will be out of round, but if there are no other big issues I am not concerned. Owning a Power Custom straightening fixture helps a lot

I would be more concerned with timing and cylinder end shake in that order.

Your right end shake and timing is the big thing. I was just curious due to my nature I’m picky when finding that LNIB and was just wondering what was the cause of that issue. I fiqured being slammed shut by cow boy stars was probably one of them lol

 

[Vtgw938]

OP:

I assume you are detecting this by turning the cylinder on the yoke with the cylinder open not with the rod out and isolated? I would sooner think something else going on. I've handled a ton of old and abused revolvers and don't usually find bent rods or bent enough to be a problem. I assume these guns are binding and showing symptoms? I have seen a couple rods that were not square at the thread end and when fully tightened would hit on the sides of the rod and it acted like a bent rod when bottomed out. Out of square yoke tube is usually the cause of the binding that I find, which is "easily" fixed with a Lee Case Trimmer and proper sized pilot.

 

[chief38]

Once the ejector rod is removed from the cylinder assembly, straightening it is relatively simple. Read the procedure on this Forum posted by many (including myself) on how to properly remove the rod. Make sure read first before doing - you might avoid what could be costly mistakes.

 

[Protocall_Design]

From what I've seen over the years, over 90% of extractor rods are straight when off the gun and rolled on a flat surface. A very few are actually bent. Then you screw it on the cylinder assembly and the tip has runout when the cylinder is turned.

What could possibly cause a straight rod to look bent? The problem is in the threaded joint where the male thread on the ejector rod screws into the female thread on the extractor. All threads have to have some amount of clearance between male and female, otherwise you would not be able to thread them together. This clearance allows the extractor rod to lean to one side when tightened. This situation will not change with engineering or quality control. It's a fact of life with threaded connections.

The best way to deal with it is the Ron Power straightening jig with dial indicator. If you don't have that, put the cylinder in the lathe with the crane installed and use a dial indicator on a magnetic base to see where you're at. If you don't have either of those, find someone who does.

 

[cjcutter1]

Runout, I bought a nib model 48 4” off gunbroker had horrible runout I sent it back for warranty work plus multiple failures to fire with various ammunition types.

 

[Dave Lively]

Sometimes the ejector rod becomes loose as the revolver is shot. When that happens it unthreads until it is too long to release the cylinder. What most people do is make sure the gun is empty and then cycle the action while carefully holding the rod so it cannot spin until it is possible to open the cylinder.

But what some people do is beat the cylinder open which bends the rod.

At the 28 minute mark of the video below the YouTuber beats the cylinder on a S&W 10-6 with a rubber mallet. Until I saw this video I wouldn't have thought anyone would do this.

https://youtu.be/Aonx9icCbVA?t=1680

 

[stansdds]

Sometimes the ejector rod becomes loose as the revolver is shot. When that happens it unthreads until it is too long to release the cylinder. What most people do is make sure the gun is empty and then cycle the action while carefully holding the rod so it cannot spin until it is possible to open the cylinder.

But what some people do is beat the cylinder open which bends the rod.

At the 28 minute mark of the video below the YouTuber beats the cylinder on a S&W 10-6 with a rubber mallet. Until I saw this video I wouldn't have thought anyone would do this.

https://youtu.be/Aonx9icCbVA?t=1680

That's right. And we here at Bubba's Skool of Kitchin Table Gunsmithin teaches our students that if force does not solve tha problem, then you are not usin' enough force.