Smith & Wesson 36-1 Problem

[GregTN]

I just purchased a nice 36-1 and it has a problem. The cylinder will not lock up
with the hammer down. It locks up fine when the hammer is pulled back. The catch under the cylinder seems to be weak. You can hear it latch and see it engage from the side of the pistol but with just a little force it will give way
and tun to the next chamber.Im curious if anyone has any experience with this
or had it happen to them before. Also would it be a big deal to have fixed by a
gunsmith.
Thanks!

 

[S&Wfan]

Don't shoot it!!!

Walk, don't run, to your local qualified gunsmith or contact S&W service for assistance.

Or . . . see if you can get your money back if you were unaware of this problem at the time of purchase.

Yes . . . it should be able to be fixed fairly easily and cheaply and will then be a fine revolver. Your local smith . . . or S&W can give you an estimate of charges.

Again, if the gun won't lock up properly you do NOT want to fire it. Not even once.

T.

 

[Master Blaster]

Take off the grips take it outside, spray gun scrubber into the frame openings and hammer, work the hammer and trigger a bit till the crud stops coming out. Let the gun dry. put a drop of good quality gun oil in front of and behind the hammer a drop in the frame window where the hand comes out and a drop on the offending part the cylinder bolt. Work the hammer and trigger dry fire a few times and test to see if its working properly.

The cylinder bolt and spring is probably just gummed up with old oil and crud and will work fine.

BTW if it carries up and the cylinder bolt drops in the notch before the hammer reaches full cock in single action, or before the hammer falls in double action, the gun is safe to fire. Don't force the bolt out of the cylinder notch by rotating the cylinder Backwards, you can force the bolt out, even on a j frame gun that is working properly, its bad for the locking notches, and the cylinder bolt.

 

[GregTN]

I ran gun blaster thru it when i first got it because it looked like it had been put up for a while.After i did this I thought it was fixed because it was working good. The next time I picked it up it was doing it again. Maybe I need to keep soaking it in that area and see if it helps again. Thanks for your time guys

 

[Brian Williams]

If you do not know S&W revolvers, send it to S&W or to the best Gunsmith you know.

It is probably just the spring for the locking lug, but if you do not know what you are doing you could really screw it up.

 

[Brian Williams]

OBTW how much do you want for it?

 

[S&Wfan]

Ironically,

I picked up a no dash Model 36 myself this past week, in factory nickle.

It looked great on the outside but was a little sluggish, and the latch was very hard to open.

Opening the side plate, I was greeted with a nasty mess of congealed gunk . . .

I stripped it, cleaned all the parts and reassembled the revolver properly.

AIN'T SHE PURDY NOW?

Definately not recommended for many folks to do this but I've done it before and know how to NOT screw it up.

Its clean as a whistle inside now . . . and as good as new!

Heck, it looks like old Al himself could have carried one of those back about the time this Model 36, and this record, were made.

T.

 

[g19erusa]

Greetings S&Wfan,

Wow! What a beauty you have there!!!

Thanks for sharing the pics as well.

Regards,

g19erusa