sticking cylinder

[roar]

Hi everyone.

Today I took my 442 out of my safe after having been gone from the house for a week. I unloaded it so I could put in my snap caps and do some dry firing, and I noticed that the cylinder didn't want to turn readily, as it normally does. I got it moving, without forcing anything, and after doing that it was able to move normally and I was able to dry fire with no problem.

I was thinking that maybe the part that the cylinder spins around (the yoke?) was a little too dry, so I put a very tiny drop of oil on the front of the cylinder, where it meets the part it spins around. I worked the oil in, and all seems to be good now.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what happened? Did maybe some older oil (any amount of it would have been miniscule) get too cold and gum up a bit while I was gone? (I don't think it gets that cold in my safe, plus I have a golden rod in there)

I shot my 442 with absolutely no problems two weeks ago, and then I cleaned it as good as I can before putting it away. I have to say that it dry fired fine after cleaning. That fact, along with the type of movement I got when the cylinder didn't want to move as freely suggest that there was no grit or any dirt that got under the cylinder.

A long time ago I rubbed down the entire outer surfaces of my 442 with a tuff-cloth, in an effort to protect it from the elements better. That turned out to be a mistake, as the crane (is that a Colt term?) completely gummed up after the tuff-glide stuff dried. Anyways, that stuff has long been removed using gun cleaner, and the gun has been fired and dry fired fine since.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

Could be what you did before you stored it. Some oils are not for guns, or solvents dried out what oil was there.

Every firearm needs lubrication. I use Break Free CLP for most of what I do.

I recommend going to the FAQ sticky above and learn how to remove the side plate and learn how to remove the yoke and cylinder. Once the parts are opened up a few drops of oil in the right places will cure any sticking issues.
Also once in a while it's good to give the gun a good internal cleaning. Dirt and grime get inside thru the small openings in the frame, so basic maintenance is a good thing.

 

[roar]

Thanks for the response. I looked through your FAQ thread and it was very informative. I do plan on disassembling my revolver at some point and cleaning and relubing, but I need to get a proper screwdriver first.

 

[roar]

Ok, so I got a proper screwdriver set, and I was able to get the sideplate off no problem. I don't however feel real comfortable taking apart the internals, so I am going to skip that.

I have heard of people taking off the sideplate, and spraying something like Remoil on the insides, and letting it evaporate, and then using canned air to blast out any crud. Alternately, some people have used gunscrubber or degreaser over the insides, and then using canned air again to blast out any crud before relubing, all without removing any of the internals.

Is this a viable method of cleaning? I would just like to clean and relube the insides as well as possible, along with the part on the yoke that the cylinder spins around, and then put the sideplate back on and leave it on for good.

This all came about from the problem mentioned earlier in the thread where the cylinder was sticky. I figured if I was to clean up the cylinder's action, I would do the same for the rest of the revolver as well.