15-5 Trigger Won't Reset

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jobu07

jobu07

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I recently picked up a well used S&W 15-5 police trade in. It was a sweet deal and I'm very happy with it so far.

But, unfortunately I found a small issue. The cylinder appears in time at every chamber but on the 6th pull of the trigger, both double and single action, the trigger won't reset after the hammer has fallen.

I'm pretty handy with firearms repair, however, I'll admit that I've never taken a wheel gun apart before. Something about taking that sideplate off...

So, is there any advice or input for me?
 
That's kind of weird.
But since we have to start somewhere:
Where does the trigger stick?
All the way back, almost all the way forward, somewhere else?
Does it do this empty?
Does it do this on just one cylinder chamber?
There's plenty of youtube videos on taking S&W revolvers apart.
 
Before taking anything apart, just remove the grips and hose the insides down with an aggressive cleaner. Penetrating oil with work, you can use brake cleaner, but be careful if it has a plastic insert in the front sight. These guns often have old gummed up lube (usually WD-40) that can make all sorts of odd things happen.

After it's clean, follow with your favorite aerosol lubricant (NOT WD-40!) and see if that did the trick.
 
Lighter fluid works great for flushing out dried up gunk. It's naptha. Good solvent and dries with no residue. Use it all the time (well, about once a year) on my bottomfeeders.
 
It may have had the trigger rebound spring cut. The first thing I do with a used S&W is open it up and inspect the springs. I've got an assortment accumulated over the years.

Most were carried much, shot little. Most will need lots of cleaning.
 
Take the grips off. Flush it with gunscrubber beore you do anything else. Put a few drops of oil here and there, anywhere there is an opening. Work the action. See what happens.

Gunscrubber fixes a multitude of problems.
 
Yep, give it a good flushing/oiling before assuming you need to go in to it.

Then, if that doesn't fix it, look at a possible cut rebound spring. Make sure to open the side plate correctly. :)
 
If you do end up opening the side plate, don't pry it out. Tap the left side of the frame with something that won't mar, like a wooden screwdriver handle, and after a few taps the plate will come off.
 
I appreciate the feedback folks.

The trigger will stick at the rearward position. It resets after a few pulls and releases of the hammer. Definitely not the way it should operate. I know these old guns accumulate gunk in them - the first thing I did with it when I got home was put a generous amount of oil in by the hammer and work it. I'll do the same with the grips off and report back.

If it keeps occurring I'll post a couple pictures.
 
Since the trigger is sticking all the way back, it sounds like the poor thing is really gummed up.
Adding oil might just be aggravating it.
To clean it out without disassembly, try removing the grips, opening the cylinder and soaking the entire gun in either mineral spirits or auto transmission fluid.
Shake and operate things every once in awhile, including the case ejection system, the trigger in single and double action, 'etc.
Mineral spirits are safe for most metals and finishes other than paint.
AFT is even safer and holds dirt and crud in suspension.
Then blow the gun out with something like gun scrubber or brake cleaner, if there's nothing that can be damaged by them.
Othewise use compressed air.
If you don't have an air source, canned air from the office supply store will do.
Then lube and see how it goes.
If all fails, then it will have to be cleaned the old fashioned way, with complete disassembly and a good scrubbing.
Refer to the youtube videos on the subject for how to.
Or this:
http://www.amazon.com/Revolvers-Sho...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431181853&sr=1-3
 
Last edited:
Update...

I was able to follow a youtube video to get the sideplate off. Not too terribly difficult I suppose. One plastic coated non-marring hammer latter and we're in business.

Anyway, there was definitely some grime in there, but not awful. I sprayed it out with some brake cleaner and proceeded to blow it out with an air compressor. Oiled up liberally and everything looked happy.

Upon reassembly there were no issues in single action. However, in double action the problem persists. Thoughts?
 
Just a guess, but if some cleaning helped, then more cleaning ought to help more.
Might even need to take all the innards out and clean each individual part real good.
And the inside of the frame and all the studs.
It could be the spring and rebound slide, or the trigger itself.
 
Sounds like a weak rebound spring. A full rebound spring should have 17 coils--look at yours-count the coils-if you have less than 15 coils that would be my first fix. Get a new spring and try it out.
 
I also agree with gwillikers. Clean it somemore. You can polish up all of the friction points under that sideplate-including the rebound slide. Just be careful and don't over do it. This type of clean up can really make a difference.
 
I appreciate the input. I'll give it the ol' "if some is good more is better" approach. While it's apart I'll be counting coils.

My concern is that it's not just dirty and that it's a mechanical issue as it occurs every sixth shot in double action only.
 
Maybe by the sixth shot you're letting the trigger off slower and more gently than the others.
That can aggravate a trigger that's prone to a malfunction.
Mebbe??
Don't forget to check the hand torsion spring, too.
(OOps, Noted and Corrected per rcmodel).
Different than the one for the rebound slide, it's the one in the middle of the trigger.
Part #29 here:
http://www.brownells.com/schematics/Smith-Wesson-/K-Frame-15-6-sid585.aspx
If the hand hangs up, the trigger return can be affected.
Lots of things can do that, though, as the trigger contacts stuff at both front and back surfaces.
 
Last edited:
#29 spring is the hand spring.
It pushes the hand forward into engagement with the cylinder ratchet.

It has nothing to do with trigger return.

The rebound slide & spring are all that returns the trigger.

rc
 
If the proposed solutions don't work, and the lockwork is clean and lubricated, go through the dry-firing exercise and see if the trigger's failure to reset happens on a single chamber, or any chamber at random.

If the trigger sticks, mark the cylinder with a felt-tip pen. Then if it happens again see where your mark is located relative to where it was in the first place.
 
My concern is that it's not just dirty and that it's a mechanical issue as it occurs every sixth shot in double action only.
Click to expand...
Every sixth shot?

Have you tried indexing the cylinder so a different chamber starts in the 1st position, which would put a different one in sixth? And if so, is it still always happening on the sixth shot, regardless of which chamber happens to be in the sixth position?
 
Couple things may cause that. Very few have anything to do with wear. I'm leaning towards gunk in the action. The trigger rebound slide is crapped up. The rebound spring is cut. The hand is getting into a bind with the ejector star.

See if you can create the bind with the cylinder open. Hold the thumb latch back with your hand. Dry fire the crap out of it. I'm betting it doesn't do it. I'm thinking the hand is going to be the problem. It's staying stuck in the up position when it's pressing on the extractor star. Clean the hand, the channel it rides in and the star. Lube them all, lightly. See if there's obvious wear or gouging on the hand. The hand on a Smith does not lock up the cylinder by pushing up on it. Rather, by wedging it closed between the frame cut and the lug on the star. Start there.
 
The rebound slide block and spring are a pretty tight combo. A good soak in a cleaning solvent along with working the action while it has the solvent on it will do wonders for working out the goop.

I'm a big fan of the easy to make Ed's Red mixture of solvents and ATF. It really does a nice job of getting into tight spots and softening up old gummed up oil. With Ed's Red you don't even really need to remove the side cover since whatever is left after it drains will dry and leave a light coat of the ATF as a protectant and lubricant.

Whatever you use as a cleaning solvent this time around be sure to work the action to encourage the solvent to work in and free up the gummed up oil that is likely behind the rebound block.
 
So I wanted to follow up with those you generous enough to contribute advice.

After a couple more good scrubs I took the old girl out today and ran some rounds through it. It runs flawlessly with live ammo. The problem persists while dry firing oddly enough. I guess as long as it runs strong with ammo that's all that matters!
 

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With the side plate off, you can actually put the crane and cylinder back into the frame. From there you can dry fire it and actually see what all is happening.

-Jenrick
 
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