To repair or to not repair, that is the question

[ISCS Yoda]

A little while back I described a Model 28 that a friend of mine owns, gold lettering on the barrel, lazy ampersand, purchased when this woman was trying to be come a Dallas police officer.

Anyway, she really broke it at the range. The cylinder locked up, the hammer locked back, etc. My gunsmith has it - it took a lot of effort to get the cylinder open and to remove the 4 live rounds in it but they got it done. Now, the crane is bent, the hammer is loose, and maybe a few other interesting items are wrong.

Advice solicited - have the gun repaired at the LGS or ship it to Smith & Wesson?

Thanks.

 

[jringo8769]

Well best to ship to Smith....sounds like it needs some real help...

Sent from my LGL41C using Tapatalk

 

[daddio202]

You simply have to save it one way or another. Did your gunsmith give you an estimate range. That is the real question. Where is going to make economical sense at to get her fixed up?? N-frames are not getting any cheaper these days so it will probably be cheaper to fix than buy another? I don't think I have given many answers just more questions?

 

[Muley Gil]

A little while back I described a Model 28 that a friend of mine owns, gold lettering on the barrel, lazy ampersand, purchased when this woman was trying to be come a Dallas police officer.

Anyway, she really broke it at the range. The cylinder locked up, the hammer locked back, etc. My gunsmith has it - it took a lot of effort to get the cylinder open and to remove the 4 live rounds in it but they got it done. Now, the crane is bent, the hammer is loose, and maybe a few other interesting items are wrong.

Advice solicited - have the gun repaired at the LGS or ship it to Smith & Wesson?

Thanks.

If that damage was done by the gunsmith while getting the M28 unloaded, there ain't no way I'd let him touch it again!

All he had to do, was wrap a leather shoe lace around the hammer, back off the strain screw and take off the side plate. Sounds like the ejector rod unscrewed.

 

[reddog81]

What was the initial problem? What are the additional problems. What is a loose hammer?

Like others have mentioned, we need to know more info to make a decision. Other than the fact it sounds like your gunsmith doesn't necessarily sound like he knows what he's doing so maybe it'd be best to get him away from it regardless.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Sounds like the ejector rod unscrewed

That was NOT the problem. That might have been a part of the problem but the owner screwed that puppy up pretty good. The gunsmith is top notch, trust me.

The hammer was locked back. The trigger was locked. The cylinder was locked. She told me it had been failing to fire sometimes, too, so something was amiss from the get go and she didn't have it looked at until it was too late.

 

[rog8732]

Muley, I'm not picking at your dissasembly tip at all; and while I do understand the part about strain screw and side plate, I am a little lost about the leather shoe lace use ?
Can you add a bit more info ? Thanks

 

[dr. mordo]

The shoelace is to prevent the hammer from unexpectedly falling and setting off one of the live bullets still in the gun.

 

[Muley Gil]

The shoelace is to prevent the hammer from unexpectedly falling and setting off one of the live bullets still in the gun.

Give that man a cigar!

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I'm missing something here. I pretty much understand the accusations against the gunsmith, but exactly what did the owner/operator do to the revolver?


???

 

[Jdavis]

That was NOT the problem. That might have been a part of the problem but the owner screwed that puppy up pretty good. The gunsmith is top notch, trust me

You , the owner, and gunsmith are surely aware that the ejector rod is reverse threaded into the cylinder. Screwing that puppy up pretty good in the wrong direction would really lock things up. In fact, the bent ejector rod might be the result of excess force needed to force the action open. Just a guess FWIW.

 

[S.B.]

You seem to be very vague about the problems here? I've read of bent ejector rods being straightened. Any knowledgeable gun smith would have known the proper way to disassemble this gun. Please post some pictures of this firearm?
Steve

 

[Buford57]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this "loose hammer" bit, but it makes me wonder if the "hammer locked back" to "loose hammer" transition is the result of a broken mainspring. A weakened (maybe modified at some time in the past?) mainspring would account for the previous failures to fire and if it then broke that might jam the action up something fierce. I had a hammer nose break and fall into the works on a M28 once with the same symptoms: hammer and trigger locked, cylinder stopped just short of locking.

I turned the gun upside down and shook it while gently manipulating the hammer until the tip fell out (muzzle down range). A larger part farther into the works might be harder to dislodge.

Bent crane, though - this does not compute, Will Robinson.

 

[steelslaver]

Ya, bending the yoke isn't impossible by any means, but it does take some force.

I like the shoelace trick. Simple and effective. But, I would have first checked out what is going on with ejector rod, then off with the side plate, trying to force a cylinder open will not have good results.

But, back to the question at hand, yes I would fix it, a yoke shouldn't be that hard tto find. I might have one in my parts pile. Hammers and triggers the same, heck even model 28 cylinders are relatively easy to come by.

 

[Texas Star]

I live in Dallas, and from the paucity of good gunsmiths here I'd definitely send it to S&W. I don't trust anyone local.

From your description, some parts may need replacing rather than repair. The gun probably needs a factory opinion as to whether it can be restored.

I shudder to think what it must have endured.

 

[amazingflapjack]

If you can find someone who is recommended-by all means go talk to them and see what they look/sound like. I would be slow to send it to S&W because of the poor communication, and questionable results that show up here on the forum. The best result I had with them was by e-mail. I got one individual, and dealt with him from start to finish. If I could do that, getting all of my questions answered, then I might proceed with S&W. JMHO.

 

[S.B.]

If you can find someone who is recommended-by all means go talk to them and see what they look/sound like. I would be slow to send it to S&W because of the poor communication, and questionable results that show up here on the forum. The best result I had with them was by e-mail. I got one individual, and dealt with him from start to finish. If I could do that, getting all of my questions answered, then I might proceed with S&W. JMHO.

Do you mean, you can tell the talent of a person by their language and appearance? Amazing!
Steve

 

[Muley Gil]

Safety should be the first consideration when handling any firearm. I have known two people that have had plastic surgery to their hands due to unloading a gun. The first was a gunsmith that was trying to unload a Winchester 1911 shotgun. This long arm had knerling (sp) on the barrel and you had to grab that section of barrel and pull to the rear to open the action. This shotgun was designed when Browning/FN held the patent on the bolt handle. Any way, he couldn't get it open the proper way and put his hand hand over the muzzle and pushed down. BOOM!!

Another friend was unloading a Colt .45 and tried to catch the cartridge. The primer hit the extended ejector and BOOM. Brass in the hand took a long time to heal.

I knew a "gunsmith" that would do a tune up on Smith & Wesson revolvers. His first step after opening the side plate was throw away the hammer block. He NEVER touched my guns after I saw that.

A couple of weeks ago, a forum member bought a revolver that was missing the hammer block. I sent him a spare that I had.

The morale of the story is SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!

 

[Big Cholla]

IMHO, the OP's "Gunsmith" while might be a really good "gunsmith" is definitely not a "Pistolsmith of Smith and Wessons". Again, IMHO, that handgun could have been taken apart and unloaded without damage to the yoke or frame. Using undue force on a locked up Smith and Wesson revolver is usually a slippery slope to damage. ......

 

[steelslaver]

Maybe his gun smith didn't get his hands on it until after the orginal owner or some "helpful" idiot tried to get it open.