Jammed Revolver ?!? Stop Short-Stroking

[walter o]

Took side plate off tonight after many attempts to locked it up .AS trigger moves to near reset point just before it reaches the stoping point and reset ,the hand falls and engages the ratchet ,the trigger has NOT raised enough to be in position to release the cylinder lock .trigger locking the cylinder lock in the slot of the cylinder keeping it from rotating as the hand pushes on the rAtchet to rotATE THE CYLINDER. The trigger can't mobe back as it is jamed under the slope on the cyl.stop,cylinder lock has no place to move ,hand cant move cylinder co we are all Jammed UNTIL the trigger moves forward and upward to slip into the slot on the cylinder lock,as the lock can then drop out of the cyl. trigger moves forward ,the hand moves down and is pushed back by the window and frees up the push on the ratchet At least that is what happensMy 38/44
Hope i made some sence with this post on

 

[AzShooter]

Sounds a lot like a problem I'm having with my 4 inch 617. The cylinder will lock up when pulling the trigger and I've checked everything out that I can think of. It even prevents me from putting the cylinder back in the gun. I finally called Smith&Wesson and they told me to send the gun back in. It's covered by it's warranty and they even sent me a label for FedEx.

FedEx picked up the gun on Friday and was delivered to S&W Monday morning.

I think the crane is bent. That's the only thing left in my knowledge and I don't have the tool or experience to fix it. We will see what they say the problem is..

 

[chief38]

Wait a minute! Many Revolver Guys here say Revolvers never jam!! "Five for sure" if I am quoting correctly. How can that be? LOL!!

YES! Revolvers CAN & DO jam! Maybe less than Auto's of the past, however the ones of today are pretty damned reliable. Poken' fun - that's all, so please don't take offense.

 

[somorris]

I don’t know nearly as much about revolvers as most folks here but will offer this. I think you should talk to S&W. I have seen quite a few people here and elsewhere complaining about quality of manufacture. Most likely for several reasons, but my thinking is a lot of older timers retired during the COVID disaster, and along with the loss of experience, the demand for new firearms shot through the roof (no pun intended). I have “heard” that the service department at S&W still has some expertise.

Another option, if you know someone with a proven revolver,would be to see if they would let you shoot it to perhaps eliminate “Pilot” error.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Protocall_Design]

On of the main causes of revolver jams is debris falling out of the chambers onto the back of the extractor when fired cases are extracted. It only takes one flake of powder or a bit of lead or carbon to hold the extractor out far enough to jam up everything. Rimfire ammo is especially dirty, but I've had plenty of centerfire ammo do it too.

A good scrubbing with an old toothbrush or wire toothbrush will usually clean it out easily, but sometimes there is a stubborn piece of something that has to be hunted down and dealt with individually. I keep that area clean and dry. These particles will often fall away, or can be blown off by mouth if no oil is present, but any oil catches all of them like glue.

This may or may not have anything to do with the OP's problem, but is relevant to this conversation.

 

[Well Armed]

Wait a minute! Many Revolver Guys here say Revolvers never jam!! "Five for sure" if I am quoting correctly. How can that be? LOL!!

YES! Revolvers CAN & DO jam! Maybe less than Auto's of the past, however the ones of today are pretty damned reliable. Poken' fun - that's all, so please don't take offense.

Hate to burse your bubble, but the OP's revolver did not jam out of normal use. Yes, it goes without saying that out of spec and poorly QC'd revolvers will have reliability issues. The same is true for all firearms regardless of the manufacturer and platform.

Other than that, I'd like to see a quote from who stated "revolvers do not jam." Can you quote them here? I've never seen it, but I have seen people point out, and rightfully so, that revolvers are more reliable and dependable than semiautos assuming both are within spec. Regardless of how "reliable" you think semiautos have become, as long as the can still be pushed out of battery, are limp-wrist sensitive, and rely on its ammo, extractor, recoil spring, magazine, feed ramp, proper grip, and a bunch of other moving parts that all have to work perfectly together in sync, revolvers will be more reliable than semiautos. So Yes! Revolvers are still more reliable than semiautos in the past and present. Might be an inconvenient fact for those who perfer semiautos, but it's still a fact.

Out of the dozen revolvers I've owned within a course of the last 14 years, only one had a malfunction which was with Winchester WW 357 ammo being fired out of my 17oz Ruger LCR that jump crimp. That's not a typical concern because I and most do not carry hot rounds out of our lightweight pocket sized revolvers. It's not a concern of mine with 38spc or 357 out of steel frame or heavier revolvers.

With that said, I lost count of how many times I had a user induced malfunction (riding slide, hit mag release by accident, didn't seat the mag all the way, slide was out of battery, slide not locking back, etc) or gun induced malfunction (F2F, F2E, double feeds, etc) with semiautos. I've also have had a live round stuck in the chamber which would not allow me to pull the slide to the rear. It took 2 range officers, a mallet, a brass rod, and 10-15 minutes to fix it. I've also had the extractor slip over the rim leaving the casing wedged into the chamber. I had to borrow a brass rod to knock the casing out of the barrel.

 

[walter o]

To aDD TO THIS DISCUSSION THE 38/44THAT I CAN MAKE jam IS NEAR 100 YEARS OLD WHO KNOWS HOW HARD IT WAS USED .i AM 86 AND I JAM UP AT TIMES ALSO.i THINK THAT MOST AUTOS THAT AGE MIGHT NEED SOME HELP TO FUNCTION wITH THE hd38/44 ALL I NEED TO DO IS LET OFF THE TRIGGER AND IT FIXES ITS SELF. kNOWN AS SHORT STROKING
Probably install a heavier trigger return spring to push the trigger aginst my finger

 

[chief38]

Hate to burse your bubble, but the OP's revolver did not jam out of normal use. Yes, it goes without saying that out of spec and poorly QC'd revolvers will have reliability issues. The same is true for all firearms regardless of the manufacturer and platform.

Other than that, I'd like to see a quote from who stated "revolvers do not jam." Can you quote them here? I've never seen it, but I have seen people point out, and rightfully so, that revolvers are more reliable and dependable than semiautos assuming both are within spec. Regardless of how "reliable" you think semiautos have become, as long as the can still be pushed out of battery, are limp-wrist sensitive, and rely on its ammo, extractor, recoil spring, magazine, feed ramp, proper grip, and a bunch of other moving parts that all have to work perfectly together in sync, revolvers will be more reliable than semiautos. So Yes! Revolvers are still more reliable than semiautos in the past and present. Might be an inconvenient fact for those who perfer semiautos, but it's still a fact.

Out of the dozen revolvers I've owned within a course of the last 14 years, only one had a malfunction which was with Winchester WW 357 ammo being fired out of my 17oz Ruger LCR that jump crimp. That's not a typical concern because I and most do not carry hot rounds out of our lightweight pocket sized revolvers. It's not a concern of mine with 38spc or 357 out of steel frame or heavier revolvers.

With that said, I lost count of how many times I had a user induced malfunction (riding slide, hit mag release by accident, didn't seat the mag all the way, slide was out of battery, slide not locking back, etc) or gun induced malfunction (F2F, F2E, double feeds, etc) with semiautos. I've also have had a live round stuck in the chamber which would not allow me to pull the slide to the rear. It took 2 range officers, a mallet, a brass rod, and 10-15 minutes to fix it. I've also had the extractor slip over the rim leaving the casing wedged into the chamber. I had to borrow a brass rod to knock the casing out of the barrel.

Well Armed,

I was just poking fun - as stated in my post above. My post was not meant to be spark a reliability contest, and yes I too agree that percentage wise, Revolvers are probably still a little more reliable, but the gap has drastically closed enough that to me I think it makes sense to switch to a semi auto with a good track record. I have now fired over 6,000 rounds through my 4 1/2 year old Sig P365 without a hitch - I personally think that is reliable enough for EDC.

That said, there used to be a relatively common phrase (when I first starting CCW) from guys carrying revolvers..... "five or six for sure, vs maybe 10 or more". Today's semi-auto's are pretty darn reliable. As far as shoving any gun up against a bad guy's body and trying to pull the trigger when the gun is out of battery - that is not something I have or would ever do. BTW, if a bad guy grabs your revolver with his grip around the cylinder, or in front of an exposed hammer it will not fire either! Pluses and minuses of both designs!

My very first carry gun was a 2" RB M10. I bought the gun brand new in 1979 and it would routinely lock up when fired in double action mode. I was not short stroking the trigger, and S&W had tried 3 times to fix it before telling me the Frame of the gun was just not made to the correct spec's. and it was unrepairable. That was told to me face to face from Mr. Fran Longton of S&W when I personally brought the gun up to the Factory. They gave me a brand new gun with my serial number stamped on it, taken right off the line. They destroyed mine. The replacement was perfect and I had no additional troubles.

I have only owned exactly one gun that was never reliable no matter what I did to try and fix it. I had purchased it on a whim and quickly sold it a few months later after not being able to get one magazine full to fire without a malfunction. That pistol was a Bauer 25 acp copy of a Baby Browning. Don't ask why I purchased it - but that was 40+ years ago and I still can't tell you why I did!

In the world we used to live in, I was comfortable carrying a J Frame loaded with 5 +P's. In today's world, I am not. Today's Micro 9's are extremely reliable, hold more than twice as much ammo on board, have much better sights, are about 5 ounces lighter, flatter, smaller and can be reloaded in way less time. I can also shoot my Sig P365 faster and more accurately than I can my old M60-7. Last but not least, my personal opinion is that the Federal 9mm HST 124 grain performs better than the 38 special 135 grain GDHP +P as well. All in all those were my reasons for thew switch. Again, I have fired more than 6,000 assorted 9mm rounds out of it with no malfunctions and feel that is reliable enough for me. ANY GUN, revolver or pistol can have a part or spring break at anytime - I have had a few Revolvers become non function-able for a few reasons - one being a broken Trigger Stud and the other is from a broken spring on a revolver. It does happen.