So much for revolver reliability...

[Malamute]

Today I took the revolver apart and found that larger pin of the hand assembly that goes into the trigger had sheared off so the hand no longer engaged the cylinder. For those not familiar with the guts of a S&W I’ve attached a side by side comparison of the broken part with one from my 642.

This is a new one for me.

Attachment 112131
Attachment 112137

Id suggest if buying a part, get two, or three. If having someone repair it, see if they will fit a spare. I dont know how fitted the newer guns are, Iv heard they correct carry-up/timing by replacing the extractor star now. Smith used to make a variety of hand widths to easily correct or set up a gun, buit when ordering an oversize you never had any idea what size it was so far as I could tell. It was only after buying a parts lot with hands that I started measuring and realized they made them in about .0015-.002" increments across the spectrum of normal fitting range. Im not aware of anyone selling them by specific thickness, though that would be the easiest way (and I believe how the factory does it/did it) to correct them without a lot of unnecessary work.

[jh9]

I had an interesting failure on a 342 this weekend. I bought the revolver used so I’m not sure how many rounds have been through it, but it looked like it had never been carried and it had zero problems passing the used revolver checklist. I took it to the range for the first time and had a failure to fire on the 12th round. I pulled the trigger again and heard another “click.” The cylinder was locked up but not rotating. I emptied the revolver and found that I could rotate the cylinder manually once I started the trigger pull, so worst case scenario I could manually index the cylinder to a live round but that’s not ideal.

Today I took the revolver apart and found that larger pin of the hand assembly that goes into the trigger had sheared off so the hand no longer engaged the cylinder. For those not familiar with the guts of a S&W I’ve attached a side by side comparison of the broken part with one from my 642.

This is a new one for me.

Attachment 112131
Attachment 112137

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ry-large-pics)

Happened to me on a 627 8 shooter. I think there's two types of hand construction but I can't verify. The old style, still in production with the studs pressed in and polished down and maybe some models have completely MIM, one-piece hands. The latter subject to the sort of failure in both your post and my post from 2016. I don't think it's common by any measure. Presumably the 8-minor crowd would have found out otherwise. But maybe more common? I don't even have a definitive source for the differing types of hand construction so comparing failure rates is just guesswork.

[RevolverJIM]

https://powercustom.com/store/index....roducts_id=123

[awp_101]

I thought it would be bigger in person…😱



🤣

[Tarrrnation!]

[M2CattleCo]

Edit: BTW, Ive broken 3 transfer bars in Ruger SA revolvers, the ones everyone says are indestructible. I stopped dry firing them and havent broken one since.

Just my small sample: I have broken a pawl and had the hammer plunger get stuck on two clean low mileage Ruger single actions recently. Seems like an ingenious way to safely have a 6 round gun and work with coil springs, but it’s turning out to be a far more delicate system than I was led to believe it was…

[gato naranja]

Just my small sample: I have broken a pawl and had the hammer plunger get stuck on two clean low mileage Ruger single actions recently. Seems like an ingenious way to safely have a 6 round gun and work with coil springs, but it’s turning out to be a far more delicate system than I was led to believe it was…

Edit: BTW, Ive broken 3 transfer bars in Ruger SA revolvers, the ones everyone says are indestructible. I stopped dry firing them and havent broken one since.

I used to think that the geezers who seemed inordinately fond of their three-screw Ruger SAs were daft, but I eventually understood them. A New Model Super Single Six was my introduction to the complexities of what appeared to be absurdly simple and rugged.

The closest thing (in the revolver line) to indestructable that I have ever owned was an off-brand Italian cap-and-ball 1858 Remington replica. I got it cheap, abused the hell out of it mostly through ignorance, and despite my tender mercies it failed mechanically only once, and that was due to me attempting to "improve" it. It was apparently made of good (enough) steel, but I think its main virtue was its simplicity- there was simply not a lot to go wrong.

[Malamute]

I think the lesson to be learned from most of these experiences isnt to avoid complete makes/models/types, unless theres repeated failures of the same kind that makes their use seriously problematic, but to mainly keep in mind every type can have problems. Some of the problems can be mitigated by users, such as cleaning, ejection methods, ammo, and useage.


Despite the various idosynchrasies of SA and DA revolvers, I still have much more confidence in them working when I need them (its a moment, not an endurance test), and have always shot them better, as well as simply liking them much more and am more inclined to spend time practicing and fun shooting just because, and it not being a chore. YMMV of course.

[PNWTO]

I caught-up in the reading of this thread yesterday and today the lottery pulled my number. My beloved LCR22 started acting up today during dry fire. Cylinder rotates but trigger hits a hard wall and the hammer won’t drop.

This one has about 1300 rounds, lots of dry fire, and has been problem free.

I know jack about LCRs so I’m guessing it’ll be off to the factory.

[SCCY Marshal]

Could just be a bit of gunk blocking movement past the sear's slipping point.

Try a shake rattle and roll while blowing it out with some canned air where you can. Also partially pull the hammer pin like the manual states for lubrication and blow it out there, too.