Hard Trigger Pull on Chiefs Special

[BE Mike]

I took my S&W model 60 shooting last Thursday. The trigger pull was very heavy. When I got home to clean it, I discovered the reason. The cylinder was not turning freely. I took off the yoke and cleaned all the parts. I noticed that although I always use what I think are quality lubricants, that one of them had dried with a relatively thick film. I am very sparing with lubricants on revolvers to avoid these kinds of problems. Anyway after giving the revolver a good cleaning, especially the parts involved with cylinder freedom, the cylinder spun freely and the trigger pull was nice and much lighter.

 

[stansdds]

I think the take-home message is that proper preventative maintenance prevents poor performance.
The use of correct lubricants is an aid to proper maintenance.

 

[rock doc]

I took my S&W model 60 shooting last Thursday. The trigger pull was very heavy. When I got home to clean it, I discovered the reason. The cylinder was not turning freely. I took off the yoke and cleaned all the parts. I noticed that although I always use what I think are quality lubricants, that one of them had dried with a relatively thick film. I am very sparing with lubricants on revolvers to avoid these kinds of problems. Anyway after giving the revolver a good cleaning, especially the parts involved with cylinder freedom, the cylinder spun freely and the trigger pull was nice and much lighter.

What lubricant(s) did you use on your Model 60?

 

[BE Mike]

What lubricant(s) did you use on your Model 60?

It was too long ago to recollect, but probably FP-10.

 

[chief38]

I carried a Chief's Special for 40 years and I treated it a little different than most Revolvers I own because it had to be utterly reliable and never have oil coming out of it which could compromise ammo or my clothing. I will describe what I did.

After shooting it, I always removed the Cylinder to clean it ( a single screw). After the Chambers were clean I would use Rig #2 Oil and fill up the Ejector Rod Tunnel, carefully operate the unguided Ejector Rod a few times and dump the oil out onto a rag. I would usually repeat this 2 or 3 times and then the oil would come out clean. I then blew any excess oil out with an air compressor to leave the tunnel relatively dry, but a slight bit of lubrication and rust preventative would remain behind. There was never enough left behind to compromise ammo or clothing after the cleaning process. Rig #2 Oil was a fantastic product but sadly when Birchwood-Casey was sold the new owners of the Company decided to discontinue it. The next best product I can think of (for this purpose only) is Remoil - because it is thin and evaporates very quickly. Yes.... Remoil! I am not recommending it for any purpose other than this and if blown out with compressed air will never gum up, but yet will leave little protection and lubrication behind in a dry state. I would not recommend using a heavier oil like CLP or any that does not evaporate quickly. I also like the ability of the Remoil to loosen up unburned powder and debris from inside the ER tunnel. Being thin also allows for easy removal and quick drying with compressed air.

This procedure allowed my Chief's Special remained clean, have a free spinning Cylinder and always operate properly without having oozing oil from the Revolver's Cylinder. Ammo never had any oil on it and gumming up or retarding of the Cylinder's rotation was never an issue. Every few years after extensive shooting I would disassemble the ER from the Cylinder to fully clean it. Quite honestly it had never gotten that dirty due to the regular cleanings of the ER Tunnel.

Sadly, the Rig #2 Oil is no longer available, but the Remoil works just as well for this purpose and is available pretty much everywhere. Just make sure you bow it out with an air compressor that does not have moisture in it or canned air.

I'd not do this with heavy oils!

 

[BE Mike]

I carried a Chief's Special for 40 years and I treated it a little different than most Revolvers I own because it had to be utterly reliable and never have oil coming out of it which could compromise ammo or my clothing. I will describe what I did.

After shooting it, I always removed the Cylinder to clean it ( a single screw). After the Chambers were clean I would use Rig #2 Oil and fill up the Ejector Rod Tunnel, carefully operate the unguided Ejector Rod a few times and dump the oil out onto a rag. I would usually repeat this 2 or 3 times and then the oil would come out clean. I then blew any excess oil out with an air compressor to leave the tunnel relatively dry, but a slight bit of lubrication and rust preventative would remain behind. There was never enough left behind to compromise ammo or clothing after the cleaning process. Rig #2 Oil was a fantastic product but sadly when Birchwood-Casey was sold the new owners of the Company decided to discontinue it. The next best product I can think of (for this purpose only) is Remoil - because it is thin and evaporates very quickly. Yes.... Remoil! I am not recommending it for any purpose other than this and if blown out with compressed air will never gum up, but yet will leave little protection and lubrication behind in a dry state. I would not recommend using a heavier oil like CLP or any that does not evaporate quickly. I also like the ability of the Remoil to loosen up unburned powder and debris from inside the ER tunnel. Being thin also allows for easy removal and quick drying with compressed air.

This procedure allowed my Chief's Special remained clean, have a free spinning Cylinder and always operate properly without having oozing oil from the Revolver's Cylinder. Ammo never had any oil on it and gumming up or retarding of the Cylinder's rotation was never an issue. Every few years after extensive shooting I would disassemble the ER from the Cylinder to fully clean it. Quite honestly it had never gotten that dirty due to the regular cleanings of the ER Tunnel.

Sadly, the Rig #2 Oil is no longer available, but the Remoil works just as well for this purpose and is available pretty much everywhere. Just make sure you bow it out with an air compressor that does not have moisture in it or canned air.

I'd not do this with heavy oils!

My model 60 had been in retirement for quite some time. When I cleaned it this time, I did something similar to what you describe. I cleaned out the ER tunnel with Winchester Gun Cleaner/ lube. I moved the yoke in and out and kept cleaning it off. There had been some significant carbon build up. I followed that up with compressed air. The Winchester product left behind a very light film.

 

[chief38]

For those who never do this…. You'd be shocked by how much crud comes out! As long as a thin Remoil type product is used and blown out and as long as you are careful when pushing the unguided ER in and out slowly I believe this procedure will eliminate a bunch of problems, excessive wear and a gunned up cylinder turning poorly.

 

[max503]

I've been embarrassed a number of times after finding out a gun problem I was having was caused by my negligence.