Revolver Failure

[IV Troop]

I was wearing my M29-2 in an El Paso tanker rig, under my jacket, which was unzipped. It was about 10 below and I was sweating, tromping through the deep snow hunting jackrabbits. I took a good tumble. After picking myself up and dusting off, I wiped, blew the snow off of my gun. The difference in the gun's temperature when worn under my jacket, then exposed caused it to freeze up. I could cock the hammer back, but the cylinder would not rotate. I tried for a few minutes to get it to work properly, to no avail.

I hiked back to the truck, tried again, but it was still frozen up tight. I then stuck it on the defroster, while I grabbed my Glock .45 and continued to chase bunnies.

The Glock .45 saved the day in that case.

 

[Guillermo]

The Glock .45 saved the day in that case

If the Glock saved the day, why did you take the picture with the 29 on the bunnies?

Those rabbits didn't look big enough to require a 45, let alone a 44 magnum.

 

[Old Shooter]

Trying to warm it up mayby?

 

[GUNNAR2001]

The only revolvers I have ever had problems with were DAO models. My Charter Arms 44 Bulldog started having light firing pin strike problems with all types of ammo which were remedied by a trip back to the factory for repair and a firing pin replacement. It has been good to go for about 9 months now.

Just last week I bought a used Taurus 905 9mm DOA snub. As it was clean, I took it strait to the range without lubricating it. This was probably a mistake. I had light firing pin strikes which caused many rounds (almost 10 out of 50) to not fire. I was using HSM “police’ reloads. I have never had a problem with them in my Springfield XD 9mm Sub Compact. I was also experimenting with using and not using the full-moon clip. Same results either way.

Just today I took the 905 apart and inspected the hammer tension mechanism and spring. While the manual said that it should be adjustable it was not. I cleaned and lubricated everything thoroughly (especially the firing pin) and took it back to the range. This time I was shooting BDI reloads (a new ammo company out of Western Oregon) and used the full-moon clips each time. No problems at all over 50 rounds.

The 905 is just a back up piece for my XD, especially for when I am wearing light clothes. It is not very accurate and I wouldn’t trust it over 20 feet. I will be shooting it each Saturday for a while to make sure it is “carry worthy”.

 

[Radagast]

I've pounded the transfer bar flat in two S&Ws, a model 60 & a model 66. Both were pre lock but MIM parts, frame mounted firing pin. When removed from the gun both looked like they had been mashed so the metal thinned out. Both had hads a decent amount of live fire (several thousand rounds) and an indecent amount of dry fire (beyond count).

 

[Rexster]

I found a mainspring that had broken into two pieces, inside my S&W Model 58. A new mainspring had it going again. Leaf springs can break; that is life.

I have had dirty-burning ammo deposit "crumbs" onto the underside of the extractor during reloading, which prevented a full return of the extractor. This is actually an ammo problem, not a mechanical problem, though notably, my two older GP100s have "grunge grooves" under the extractor, which mitigates that problem. Too bad Ruger now skips that step in the manufacture of their DA revolvers. These older GP100s have to be just about the most potentially reliable DA sixguns on the planet.

I have felt let down with both autos and revolvers, and have owned both autos and revolvers that have never malfunctioned, even when abjectly filthy from firing hundreds of rounds during all-day shooting classes. My idea of a post-apocalyptic handgun battery would be my Ruger Bisley Blackhawk Convertible, with its .45 Colt and .45 ACP cylinders, paired with a good .45 autopistol. Single-action sixguns don't have the type of extractor affected by dirty ammo.

 

[IV Troop]

"The Glock .45 saved the day in that case "

"If the Glock saved the day, why did you take the picture with the 29 on the bunnies?

Those rabbits didn't look big enough to require a 45, let alone a 44 magnum. "

The Glock allowed me to continue to hunt while the 29 unthawed on my defroster. The picture was taken with the M29 because thta is what they were shot with.

 

[PRM]

I've got a Model 60-9 S&W that has broken two hammer blocks. The original hammer block and the second that was sent by the factory were MIM parts. Cheap pot metal junk. Although not common, this type of breakage was apparently frequent enough that it was addressed by S&W. They now are sending stamped steel replacement parts.

 

[LightningMan]

My most recent revolver failure was a broken transfer bar on a Ruger Vaquaro after 1000's of rounds fired through it, and not to mention all the 1000's of times I've dry-fired it/them, as I have 4 of them. A month ago I broke a hammer plunger on the mate for the above gun. When you shoot Cowboy Action a lot, you tend to break parts sooner or later. LM

 

[Four Knives]

Shooting a range-owned SW MP340 with Magtech 158gr SJSP 357 had a cylinder lock up.

Lockup was caused from crimp jump as explained above, where the recoil from previously fired rounds in the cylinder caused a latter bullet to pull forward out of the shell from inertia.

The projectile came out of the case nearly 1/4".

 

[TexasBill]

Total revolver malfunctions since 1970: Two. The first was a brand-new Colt Python in which the hand broke after just a few dry-firings. Part was replaced and I never had another problem with it. The second was my fault; I was shooting some especially hot Magnum hand loads through a S&W Model 66 and a primer backed out. Fixed with rubber mallet and more attention to proper reloads. Many of the revolvers I have had over the years have had thousands of rounds through them, a few have had tens of thousands of rounds down the barrel.

With autoloaders, I have had the usual FTF, FTE issues as well as problems with springs, extractors and such. Those problems were rare, however, and easily corrected.

I keep all of my guns clean and oiled. And I don't have any complaints or concerns about them.

 

[IV Troop]

Four Knives,

I have had heavy cast loads jump crimp in my old 5.5" Blackhawk that was converted to a Bisley frame. I cannot really consider it a revolver failure though. A heavier crimp solved the problem.

I have also had a couple of 25-2s with lightened mainsprings give light primer strikes. One was a chopped 4" gun that I bought used and had been "bubba" gunsmithed.

 

[18DAI]

In 40 years of toting and shooting revolvers, other than bad ammo, I've never had a failure to go bang.

I do preventative maintenance such as tightening screws, and checking the ejector rod. I also keep my revolvers meticulously clean.

And I don't own any revolvers made after the year 2000 either. So no MIM or other cost cutting problems to worry about.

 

[xXxplosive]

Mod. 19 ejector rod loosened while fireing some heafty Norma 357 Mag. rounds.............loved that Norma Pistol Ammo......can't get it anymore I guess.
Anyway, finally got the cylinder opened, tightened the rod and walla......perfect again.

 

[jmr40]

A fellow could take clean revolvers and pistols out of the safe, to the range and fire a few hundred rounds through them. Clean them and put them back in the safe and never experience a failure from a revolver in a lifetime. Maybe a few failures from a pistol.

The problem is that people who actually carry guns in the real world do not always have the ability to keep their guns so meticulously clean. Put enough dirt, mud, snow, or any other crud into any of them and you will eventually have problems. The revolvers will be the first to fail and the hardest to get working again.

 

[1911Tuner]

Well there is a reasion why revolvers went out of style in like 1900.

Revolvers have never gone out of style...

My brother had to send his, back up ,gun for repair, it wouldn't fire. It was a Charter Arms.

That's kinda self-explanatory. Charter has never really fielded a good revolver. Most of'em will work...for a while anyway.

 

[Marshall]

I've never experienced a failure in my revolvers. (Knock on wood)

 

[Confederate]

I had a new Virginia Dragoon .44 mag I went out to shoot. On the second round the stainless steel hammer shattered like glass! I lived in Virginia at the time and dropped it off by Interarms. They fixed it and then the gun worked. It was wildly inaccurate, though, and the cylinder throating was almost non-existent. It was just a bad gun.

 

[hemiram]

I've only really had one revolver fail to fire, and that was my first gun, a Taurus 83. The front of the cylinder wasn't close to being flat, and as soon as it got warm, it jammed up. Off to Taurus it went, and they fixed that one problem, totally ignoring the totally messed up rifling that loaded the barrel with lead to the point it had to be pounded out with a brass rod, and the timing issues it had. They claimed the gun was normal, and when I sent it back again, they said, "No problems found". I gave up at that point.

 

[sniper5]

No failures in either my wife's or mine. . .yet (momentary pause to knock wood). Even with her VERY light Wolff springs, I just had to commit to using Federal primers in all her ammo (haven't bought factory ammo for anything in about 14 years) and she has had 0 misfires in about 4000 rounds. So far so good. But then I'm VERY OCD about cleaning and reloading.

 

[armarsh]

I looked at a friend's S&W 629 that was giving light hammer blows. The tension screw had backed out.

 

[chriske]

- Loosened ejector rod (binding cylinder opening)
- Broken firing pin
My fault :
- Backed-out mainspring strain screw (youthfully ingorant attempt to lighten trigger pull)

 

[Mr Woody]

I picked up a S&W Mod 19 back in High School that I carried at work after College. It saw me through being a new shooter into the PPC master class. Still have it. Anyway it started Jamming once in a while when the cylinder rotated with a DA pull of the trigger. It was intermittent and the gun smith/s had difficulty finding the problem. Turned out to be worn out bolt. That malfunction caused me to take up with a 1911.

The other major malfunction I had was with a new Uberti single action .45 LC. During a day of shooting the gun became inaccurate. When I got home and started cleaning I found the barrel was split from the frame all the way to the end of the barrel. Uberti's first questions was what kind of load was I shooting. After telling him my load was almost 30 gr. of 3f black powder the gun was quickly replaced.
W

 

[Marshall]

Troop,

They make a 500 Mag if that 44 Mag isn't enough for those bunny's?

 

[MTO]

I have had three failures:

An S&W Model 627 Pro had light strikes because of a backed-out strain screw. I had not touched its innards. A dab of Loctite fixed it.

A bubba'ed S&W Model 10-7 that I bought second-hand has frequent light strikes. I am going to put spec springs into it someday.

A Taurus Tracker in .22lr tightens hard after a just a few cylinders. A quick scrub of the cylinder face and the lip of the forcing cone will get it going again, but the tightness returns fairly quickly. It is an accurate shooter, but the DA pull is inconsistent between chambers when I start having the buildup problem. I hang onto it so that I have a handgun for oddball .22lr ammo that will not cycle a semi-auto. I really should have held out for a K-22 or a 617. Buy once; cry once.