cylinder doesn't always rotate properly

[feets]

It looks like I got rid of the schallac monster on this little 3rd model hammerless. All traces of that evil goo have been removed from the gun.

After cleaning the guts I stoned a few surfaces to remove the pitting and get the action a bit less chunky. It moves nicely now. In this time I did lightly stone the sides of the hand but made sure the tip was not altered.

Now, the cylinder drops into place nicely if the trigger is pulled back in a crisp motion. However, if the trigger is eased back until the hammer falls the cylinder tends to stop moving a wee bit early. A rough measurement gives me about 1/16 of an inch out of position.
When the cylinder stops early the pawl is completely out of the cylinder notch. I can turn the cylinder by hand and hear the pawl drop into place.
This happens on any chamber, not just one or two.

There is an appreciable amount of thrust in the cylinder. I tried pushing back against the cylinder to take up the slack but it did not fix the problem. Applying pressure side to side does not help either.

I do not see appreciable wear on the pawl, hand, or cylinder notches. The lugs on the extractor look good too.

Is the hand simply worn more than I thought or am I missing something?

I'd like to get this little guy running. 38 S&W isn't easy to come by but I get the feeling this would be a fun plinker.

 

[glowe]

You may have a weak hand spring, but it sounds like there may be sufficient wear on the star and hand to come up consistently short of battery. The easiest fix is to have a bead of weld placed on the top of the hand and rework until it drops into battery every time. I have had this done on tip-ups and returned them to normal function. Can not tell you any other alternative, but this is one fix that works.

With a double action only gun, the hammer may not be pushed far enough back before dropping. This would signal worn parts and maybe a worn hammer notch. With exposed hammer guns it is easy to pull the hammer back fully without using the trigger and see it the cylinder locks into battery, but can't be done with hammerless revolvers.

BTW - if you get it going, and reload, you can shorten 38 Special cases and get a .360" 38 S&W bullet seated. After shooting the cartridges a couple of times, they will expand to fit the cylinder. I would make sure to purchase a set of 38 S&W dies, since 38 Special seating and crimping die will resize the bullet and the case to the point that you will have loose bullets through the bore. The 38 Special bullet is .357", while the 38 S&W is .360"

 

[feets]

You covered exactly what I had in mind. I did the bead of weld trick to repair the sear on my 25-2.

Thanks for the heads up on the bullet diameters. I didn't know there was a difference.

I'm a fair sized fellow with rather large hands. That has lead to a collection of fairly large guns (N-frame, Redhawk, Super Redhawk, big Blackhawks, etc). This little guy has me itching to scrounge up a shooter for myself.
I figure a couple grains of Trail Boss would turn a wee beastie like this into an entertaining gallery gun.

 

[glowe]

I have done quite a bit of reloading with Trail Boss in 38 S&W. You cannot go wrong with a set of 38 S&W Lee dies for under $30. Also, I buy my .361" - 145 grain LRN from Missouri Bullets. The loads below will give you a good idea of what velocities Trail Boss will yield, but do your own research to determine what the best load for your revolver is. Velocity testing was done with a Model 1891 SA 5" and a Model 1891 Single Shot 10".

 

[DWalt]

I have always used a .38 Super sizing die for .38 S&W. Has worked for me over many years.