Reason Revolver Locks Up

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Drakejake

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I was shooting a snubnose .357 today and it locked up on me, i.e., after shooting a few rounds I couldn't pull the trigger, the hammer wouldn't move back beyond a fraction of an inch. When I got home I checked it out. I thought that perhaps the gun had gotten hot or that ammo had jammed the revolver. But while dryfiring, the locking up happened again. When the works are locked, the cylinder can be rotated counter clockwise. To unlock, I release the cylinder to the left. But after awhile the locking stopped. I dryfired 50 times in a row three times without a lock-up. I have now cleaned and lubed the revolver. Can anyone tell why this Rossi snubby locked up? Can I assume that the locking was a temporary problem and isn't likely to recur?

Thanks,

Drakejake
 
Most likely reason - it wasn't a S&W or Ruger.

I'm sorry - just couldn't let that one go by without a cheap shot.

In my experience, lock ups most likely occur in revolvers when something un-screws itself. A cylinder release latch, crane pin, trigger or hammer pivot pins, etc. In rare cases, revolvers get so dirty than the parts that are suppose to spin or slide just get gummed up - or dry from lack proper lubrication.

Just go through it with a screw driver and make sure everything is screwed in and well oiled. All should work fine then. And don't bet you life on it until you do the same thing after every shooting session.
 
Internal parts are coming out of their places. I'd bet that during your moving the cylinder caused them to fall back into place. No offense, but you're dealing with a less than high quality revolver. You may want to remove the side plate and have a look for oversized holes or undersized parts. Pins and such.
 
3 lockups I've had with my Smith and Wesson revolvers

- by Hal.

1.) Unburned Red Dot powder under the extractor star bound it up. It was fine after the powder residue was blown out using compressed air.

2.) Loose ejector rod became unscrewed and bound at the front. I placed 3 empty shells halfway into the chambers, pushed the ejector rod halfway out and wrapped a piece of leather around it and used a pair of pliers to snug it down just past hand tight. The empty shells give the star something to work against so that the little "bumps" on the cylinder don't have to bear the brunt of the force. The leather protects the finish on the rod.

3.) Very odd one. I have a Model 19 Combat Magnum which has the wider trigger/wide hammer "target setup". It also has a trigger overtravel stop, which is a small oblong piece of steel that sits behind the trigger protruding out from insde the frame. It's adjustable via a screw inside of the sideplate. Somehow it became loose enough that it worked it's way foreward and bound things up somewhat like you describe.

If I'm not mistaken, the Rossi is a direct copy of the Smith design, so what applies to a Smith (in general terms) should apply to the Rossi.
Personally, even though I vastly prefer Smith's, I've always felt that Rossi's got a bad rap and are one of the better off brands.
 
3.) Very odd one. I have a Model 19 Combat Magnum which has the wider trigger/wide hammer "target setup". It also has a trigger overtravel stop, which is a small oblong piece of steel that sits behind the trigger protruding out from insde the frame. It's adjustable via a screw inside of the sideplate. Somehow it became loose enough that it worked it's way foreward and bound things up somewhat like you describe.
Click to expand...

And that is why the trigger stop disappeared from later production model 19's. Especially those that were likely destined for law enforcement use!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the screws and found that the one on the right side below the cylinder was very loose. Could that be the problem? Whatever was going wrong has stopped (before I tightened the screw), because the revolver is not locking up.

Drakejake
 
That loose screw allowed the crane to slip forward jamming the ejector rod against it's lock.
 
Revolver Locked Up Again

I thought I had solved the problem of the Rossi .357 locking up during firing when I discovered that a screw was very loose. But after tightening the screw, I again had a lock-up at the range today. I don't believe anything is wrong with the action of the revolver. I have been firing Blazer .38 special with lead bullets. I believe that lead build in the cylinder up had caused the rounds to back up so that the case heads prevented the cylinder from rotating. After cleaning the cylinder thoroughly, it turned very smoothly with empty .357 cases inserted. So I will chalk this problem up to lead fouling.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions

Jake Drake
 
The unscrewing ejector rod was a real problem with S&W (yes, S&W) which is why they went to the left-hand thread. The problem is rarely encountered in modern S&W revolvers. But I suspect there might also be either an ammo problem or revolver problem or a combination.

Blazer ammo used to bind up revolvers all the time, but I thought they had the problem solved. The reason is that when a revolver cartridge fires, it backs up against the recoil shield, and expands slightly. In order to not bind the cylinder, it must then contract and be able to be moved back in slightly so the cylinder can turn. Brass does this because it contracts easily. But aluminum is not as "springy" as brass. When it backs up and expands under pressure, it does not contract as easily and can bind the cylinder.

It is also possible that that revolver has excess headspace, allowing the case to back out too much. You might check that also, but if the problem continues, I would try the obvious and switch to brass case ammunition.

Jim
 
Sounds like you've got this one figured out, Jake. I had the same problem on my Rossi, but it turned out to be the ejector rod backing out. It has left handed threads on mine, so I had to turn it counterclockwise to tighten it up. If you have a problem with it again, you might want to check that.
 
I have had the extractor rod to back out on my old S&W M29 so I know that that happens. I do have a new Performance Center M66 that has a lot of problems with powder getting under the extractor and doing just what you described. As a matter of fact, the handgun is one of the most un-reliable ones I have because of this issue. I guess its because the tolerances are so close that there isn't any room for foreign matter.
 
SwampRabbit - In the Jerry Miculek Trigger Job video he mentions that he likes his revolvers to have a little end-shake to them for that very reason, that the will still work even when dirty.

I believe he said there are ways to induce a small amount of end-shake to give a revolver some tolerance. If your gun is unreliable, you might want to look into this.
 
Drakejake,

I had the exact same problem with a snubnose .357. A Taurus 617S in my case. Don't let anyone fool you, Ruger's and S&W's are subject to this problem as well. The yoke screw comes loose and it will just fall out.

I wouldn't loc-tite it. You'll want to be able to remove the cylinder and yoke assembly occasionally. Just make a point of checking the screws occasionally. I check mine over about every 3rd trip to the range, Just In Case.
 
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