Cylinder Drag Question

[1 Sergeant]

I have a model 29 with a 4 inch barrel that I picked up not long ago. I shot it about 25 times and noticed that the cylinder was dragging. It does it on 3 chambers and the other 3 it doesn't. I had a gunsmith look at it and he seems to think that the yoke or the ejector rods is bent. I trust this gunsmith as he does all of my work for me. Not looking to discredit him just wondering if anyone else has experierenced this problem.

(The gun shoots great and I did not notice any spitting of bullet frags from the side of the cylinder)

Thanks

 

[stantheman86]

I had a few that did this, the cause was always a bent extractor rod. On the one, an old M&P, the trigger pull was different in DA for each chamber, and the rod was bent and was tying up the cylinder. This also puts more stress on the hand and will, over time , increase wear on the ratchet and hand.

I can't for the life of me figure out how an otherwise minty revolver ends up with a bent extractor rod, other than some nimrod doing the "Hollywood flip", trying to open the cylinder with the thumb latch not all the way back, a rod unscrewing during shooting, tying the gun up and someone forcing the cylinder open, or firing some over-spec nuclear heat handloads.

I even have a Ruger Service Six that came to me with a bent extractor rod, I just tapped it straight with a brass hammer and it works fine. With a Ruger Six a bent rod is less crippling than it is with a S&W, it does not tend to affect timing, but it will in a S&W if it's bent bad enough.