S&W 36-Cylinder can be turned CW by hand when hammer is down- problem?

[Slacker]

Iv'e got a S&W 36 3" 1970's model that I can turn the cylinder clockwise by hand when the hammer is down. It slightly catches on the stop, but can easily be turned. It cannot be turned when the hammer is cocked. Is this gun safe to shoot?
I've shot about 50 rounds through it before noticing this issue.

It's my only S&W J frame do I don't have another to compare it to. The notches in the cylinder don't appear to be misshapen and the stop doesn't look like it was messed with or polished.

 

[scooter123]

I would consider it a problem and would have it fixed before doing any firing. While it's probably not hugely unsafe because the cylinder is normally driven into the opposite face of the stop notches, it's possible that the cylinder could rebound into an unsafe position during rapid fire shooting.

I would suspect that the cylinder stop isn't fully seating in the notches, either due to accumulated crud in a critical area or a mechanical issue that requires the attention of a gunsmith.

BTW, fixing it may take nothing more than using a toothpick to clean out the stop notches on the cylinder. Put on some readers and check to see of you have an accumulation of crud in the corners of each recess. If so, sharpen a toothpick and scrape each side of every notch. That should allow the cylinder stop to fully seat in the notches and solve your problem.

If that isn't the problem it may be the time to pull the sideplate, remove the lockwork, and scrub the inside of the frame spotless. Then re-assemble the lockwork and do a function check. If it checks out OK, you've solved your problem and it only cost you a bit of time.

If a good cleaning doesn't solve the issue, I would suggest that you find a good gunsmith locally or send the gun to S&W for repair.