S&w 686 Help Needed!!!

[Kimber1911_06238]

Ok, so me and my father went shooting this am. He bought a used 686, made in 1987 (this is the first range trip with this gun). he shoots about 4 cylinders full, reloads another cylinder and shoots once. cocks hammer to shoot single action and pulls the trigger. nothing happens, so he goes to pull back the hammer again and the revolver is locked up solid. cylinder release won't work, hammer won't go back, nothing. I took off the grip panels and the sideplate screws to see if i could at least unload the gun. the sideplate wouldn't come off and i didn't want to pry on it hard, so we cased it and drove home with the muzzle pointing at the floor of the truck. I'm no gunsmith and will bring the gun to a good one, but i need to get this thing unloaded. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Tom

 

[Evocatii]

Sorry Tom, I don't have any answers for you. My only suggestion is to call S&W support and see if you can get some help over the phone. Good luck with the problem.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of transaction was it when you bought the 686? Pawn? Private? Lot?

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

unfontunately S&W is closed today

if was purchased used from a local gun shop

 

[vanilla_gorilla]

In 1987, the 686-2 revision was made. The 686 and 686-1 had had problems with primers backing out of the case head on heavy loadings and tying up the gun. This could be the problem. If it is, S&W is still doing the recall work for this modification.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

thanks for the info. The handloads were mid range .357 loads, nothing too hot. I'll look into that, thanks

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

update, it's definitely something internal. the slide relase slides forward, but from the way it feels it's not releasing. i looked at the other rounds fired, none of the primers are backed out

 

[Bailey Boat]

ejector rod backing out?????

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

that's a possibility, but how can i tell if the cylinder won't open? there is a little metal piece in the underlug that engages the ejector rod. I took an eyeglass screwdriver and pushed that in so it cleared the ejecter rod. The cylinder is still locked up tight, won't budge

 

[MountainBear]

Take it to a gunsmith. Do not take it directly into his shop, rather, leave it in your car and go in and explain the situation. After his approval let him deal with it. You may pay him a small premium for him having to dea with a loaded gun, but at least then you can ship it to smith and wesson for warranty or recall work.

 

[BlindJustice]

+1 for MountainBear

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

update. got the side panel off. cylinder release is functioning, but the cylinder is still completely locked up. the cylinder won't spin or swing out. the ejector rod isn't caught in the underlug.

it appears like a primer backed out....but would that lock the cylinder up so much that even a rubber mallet won't free things up?

 

[briansp82593]

try the mallet, heavily lubricate first.

 

[Snapping Twig]

That's typical of a pre modification or "M" 686/586.

S&W will replace the firing pin bushing and firing pin under warranty.

The gap between the firing pin and the bushing is just large enough to allow the softer primers to flow between them with hotter loads.

I realize you specified that your loads were mid range, but apparently all the stars lined up on this.

Generally, this occured with hot 125g loads. I had it happen to me way back when (I bought a 586 in '83) and I never shot a factory round in it. I sent it in and S&W replaced the parts and stamped an M on the yoke to indicate MODIFICATION. Never happened again.

Soft primer + hot load + firing pin gap = lock-up.

 

[Hawk]

I was wondering what that big "M" was stamped on the crane between the S/N and model number. My used 686 evidently already had it done.

Odd - my luck doesn't usually run that way.