S&W 63 locks up

[red man]

Took my new S&W 63 to the range and shot about 20 rounds and all of a sudden the cylinder stuck , trigger wouldn't pull, and I couldn't even cock the hammer. With some effort I got cylinder to open and it fired 8 rounds. Reloaded and it locked up again. Got it open again, emptied it, reloaded and it locked up again. This happened several more times. Somebody said maybe it was just dirty but how could 20 or so rounds cause that? Any ideas?
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[ken158]

Ejector rod may be loose - (left hand threads) or dirt under extractor that will not allow it to seat properly. Also be sure chambers are clean because if someone had fired shorts or longs, crud could be built up that will not allow a LR to fully seat.

 

[red man]

Thanks, will check ejector rod.

 

[stu1ritter]

Make sure to clean under the ejector star, both the backside of the ejector face and cylinder face. A tooth brush works well.

Stu

 

[H Richard]

When ejecting your empties, be sure to hold the gun barrel straight up, not at an angle,this could cause the residue and un-burnt powder to accumulate behind the extractor star. It is most probably the ejector rod slightly unscrewed.

 

[colt_saa]

It is not necessarily "dirty" in the common sense.

It only takes a flake or two of gunpowder under the extractor to bind up a revolver.

It can happen firing only 1 shot.

The shorter the barrel the more common it is to have unburnt powder

 

[Smoke52]

Here is another thought/idea. My shiny new 63 went back to Smith twice for the same problem you are having. Hard to pull trigger in DA but could pull the hammer back and fire in SA. No debris was under the star and the rod was tight.There was a timing issue as a couple dimples appeared on the back of the cylinder from the firing pin striking it. The ratchet on the ejector star looked like it was milled by a beaver and not a sharp milling machine, so the hand did not engage well or consistently. Compared to my other S&W revolvers, it was obviously poor workmanship at play here. Unfortunate that it took two trips to rectify the problem, but at least it did get fixed.

 

[red man]

Got it fixed I think. Gunsmith found a metal bur in it that he thinks was the problem. Seems okay now. Will know for sure next week when I go to the range . Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[scruffy]

My wife's M642CT locked up exactly like that when brand new. I gave it to a gunsmith I knew at the range where we were shooting. He tried it, removed the side plate said a loose metal shaving or debris from manufacturing caused the problem and fixed it in a few minutes. It worked fine after he gave it back.

I was not happy and explained to S&W CS what had happened and they asked me to send it back on their dime. I did. It came back two weeks later with the smoothest, lightest DA action of any J-Frame I have owned, including PC guns.

Although it should never have happened, I was glad that it did given how nice the action was when it came back. Credit where credit is due. Nice job by S&W CS.

 

[red man]

Took it to the range yesterday and ran about 100 rds thru it -- perfect -- no problems. I reckon it is fixed. Thanks for all the suggestions.