My Night Guard locked up! Help!

[nawilson]

Today, I was shooting my still reasonably new 325 Night Guard when it locked up after about 40 rounds. I squeezed the trigger and it moved about a quarter inch before stopping. My first thought was that the ILS had partially activated. I unloaded it, shook it a bit, reloaded, and was able to fire a few more rounds. Then it happened again. No amount of shaking would fix it. Not having an ILS key, I stopped shooting and swore to remove the lock.

After I got home, I found the key and unlocked it... still no joy. I locked it and got very little movement, and then unlocked it and got about a quarter inch of movement in the trigger and hammer. The little "locked" flag beside the hammer moves up and down as I turn the key. The cylinder open and closes easily. I haven't removed the side plate yet. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[DCWilson]

I think I would take the sideplate off at this point and look to see if there is any debris in the hammer or trigger path of travel that impedes smooth motion. A simple crumb of steel could be jamming things up. One thing you might try before doing that is to get some compressed air and blow it into the action with the stocks off and see if anything comes out. Good luck.

 

[Fastbolt]

Call the company and ask for a shipping label for the revolver to be repaired under warranty.

 

[nawilson]

Well, it is worse than I thought... the cylinder stop doesn't move down when I squeeze the trigger. So the hand is pressing against a locked cylinder. I suppose Fastbolt is right. This will have to go back to the factory.

 

[Gunslinger808]

The most common reason I've seen for cylinder lock up is the ejector backing out when the cylinder turns.

 

[tomcatt51]

I haven't removed the side plate yet. Does anyone have any ideas?

Yes, pick one:

Remove the sideplate and see what's going on.

If you're not comfortable doing this, have someone qualified do it.

Send the gun back to S&W.

 

[mtb1bkr]

The most common reason I've seen for cylinder lock up is the ejector backing out when the cylinder turns.

I was going to say the same thing. The ejector could need to be tightened up a bit, or there could be something under the ejector causing it to stick out a bit. This happened with my 500.

Bill

 

[scooter123]

A couple of questions to clarify the status.

First, will the cylinder open at this point?

If not, there is a potential of a squib lodged between the cylinder and forcing cone. In this case you'll have to drive the bullet back into the cylinder. To do this I prefer either and Oak or Hard Maple dowel long enough to stick about an inch out of the barrel. Brass can also be used however it's not really necessary in most cases and getting too aggresive with a brass rod raises a slight potential for damaging the barrel.

Second possibility is that the firing pin is stuck in the primer. In this case I've found that rocking the cylinder gently can get the firing pin to pop free after a bit of effort. BTW, if this does ever happen you should plan on replacing the firing pin return spring before doing any more shooting. I would also suggest that any dry firing be done with snap caps. Finally, if you've installed a Cylinder & Slide firing pin you'll have to reduce the DA trigger pull to 8 lbs. or it can happen again.

Second question. If you can open the cylinder did it seem a bit "snaggy". If so, check to make sure the Ejector Rod is fully tightened. If the Ejector Rod shoots loose it can cause issues with the cylinder binding and make it near impossible to open the cylinder. The fix for this is to tighten it with the cylinder closed by inserting a business card between the cylinder and cylinder stop. That will free the cylinder to rotate and you can then pinch the knurling on the ejector rod to hold it in place while you turn the cylinder by hand. Note, it's a left hand thread and you'll only get it finger tight. After you have the cylinder open you'll need to properly tighten the ejector rod.

Now, once the cylinder is open you can then do a function check by holding the cylinder release to the rear. Doing this will allow you to work the hammer and trigger while observing the function of the cylinder stop and the hand. If the lockwork is still jammed IMO it would be best to unload the revolver and call S&W about having it repaired under warranty. S&W has a superb reputation for warranty service so it's best to let them fix it.