A Hard Look At The Revolver

Among the best things to happen to revolvers have been IDPA matches. Quite a few personal defense shooters go armed with double action revolvers but their options for competition were limited. IDPA has gotten many of these shooters out and shooting in the respective classes. Another class of revolver shooters that practice hard by necessity are handgun hunters. These men and women fire their revolvers a lot and subject them to more use in a year than the common revolver in the dresser drawer sees in a lifetime.

You will not see one of these shooters with a .357 that is twenty years old but appears as new from setting in a drawer. These revolvers are used hard. When revolvers are fi red in competition or fi red a great deal with heavy hunting loads, the myth of revolver invincibility wears thin. Revolvers are durable and will stand lots of use, but not abuse. All revolvers will eventually have problems if used hard. Handguns are tools. They are meant to be used. They area good investment but they can be worn out.

I am seeing the hard use revolvers with many more problems. Some of the problems are ammunition related, some are maintenance related and some occur simply because shooters are not aware of the maintenance requirements of revolvers. They purchased the jam proof revolver without any idea of the need to occasionally tighten the ejector rod or cylinder latch screw. They misjudge ammunition. Some ammunition is too hot and it isn’t just hand loads.

Or perhaps I should note that it is ammunition selection not always the ammunition itself at There is no reason they cannot serve another lifetime with reasonable care. fault. As an example, a heavy hunting load using cast bullets is fine for use in a heavy fame revolver but I have seen shooters deploy these loads in snub nose air weight revolvers. Naturally the handguns do not blow apart but small parts take a beating.

When revolvers chambered for the same cartridge may be had in weights ranging from twelve ounces to over fifty ounces, such a disparity of choices are common. Another note that is worthy of your consideration, while gunsmiths must be capable of testing firearms for accuracy in general, many revolver shooters are marksmen who have practiced long and hard in the discipline at which they excel.

If you need to test the revolver for two-inch fifty yard groups it may be the owner’s responsibility or you may experience frustration. I can tune a revolver but not necessarily check it for accuracy on 150 yard metallic silhouettes, as one example. With this background in mind and realizing that the modern revolver shooter is also a high round count candidate who demands the best out of his handgun, just as a competitive 1911 shooter may, lets look at common problems encountered with the revolver.

Do not underestimate the skill needed to tackle the problems encountered with this seemingly simpler handgun. Cartridges Failing To Chamber Almost forty years ago writer Skeeter Skeleton penned a column as to a response to discovering that a .44 Magnum handload was crimped so tightly it would fit into a .44 Special chamber. This is a recipe for disaster. He issued a warning to all of us. By the same token occasionally shooters mix up range brass with sorted brass and load the wrong caliber.

If the round will not chamber, we hope the shooter brings a

All of the warnings apply when working with this revolver. sample of the round into the shop for examination. Some chambers are tighter than others. That’s fine if perfect loads are used but most loads are not perfect. It is not uncommon to find a scarred or pitted cylinder wall. The reasons for such a problem are many. As an example, a working cop brought a lightweight Smith and Wesson .38 to the author for examination.

He informed me it was bulging some, but not all, fi red cases, even with target wadcuttertype loadings. I carefully inspected several spent cases and it was indeed bulging a case, but the culprit was simple. He had fi red several off brand hot loaded frangible loads noted for high pressure as he was sure this was the ideal .38 defense load. Note, this was definitely NOT the Cor Bon Glaser! One of his cylinders was bulged, not quite to a danger of cracking the cylinder, but bulged.

Oddly the bulge—almost a dent in the cylinder—did not bulge the outside of the cylinder noticeably but was such that it allowed the case head to swell and extraction was often difficult. Since the shooter did not wish to limit himself to owning a four shooter the only cure was anew cylinder, but he deferred. I carefully marked the offending cylinder with ascribe.

I advised him to replace the cylinder, but until then simply make certain the bulged cylinder was the last one up to fi re if he insisted upon carrying the piece as a backup for his duty pistol. At least he had four shots for sure. A bastard solution but one suited to the case. If not cleaned, or damaged by heavy loads, the forcing cone may need a polish. On another occasion a shooter, as distinct from a gun owner who is not a shooter, brought in a Smith and Wesson Military and Police revolver.

This man like many of us is interested in seeing how well custom handguns perform and this one was in the bargain display case at the pawn shop. The barrel had been expertly shortened to 3 /12 inches and a toohigh but not badly-done front ramp sight was soldered on to the barrel. The barrel crown was very nice and so was the bluing. The revolver fi red low with standard 158 grain bullets, which would have been easy enough

Cylinder rotation problems and bolt stop problems are the same general type with this handgun. to adjust by filing. The name of a British firm was stamped on the side plate indicating the revolver was one of the British counterparts to our own Victory Model. When firing standard .38 Special loads the case heads swelled too much to resize and reload, although they ejected without undue effort at all. The revolver had started life as a .38 Smith and Wesson caliber handgun.

The British had simply reamed out the cylinders to make the handgun more attractive to American buyers. So much for high quality British gunsmithing! The result was a sorry revolver that would no longer properly fi re .38 Smith and Wesson cartridges as designed nor could it handle .38 Special loads. Cases bulged with standard 158 gain loads and a +P would have been a disaster. I recommended anew cylinder properly chambered for one cartridge or the other.

The .38 Special would have been the most practical conversion. Well, not exactly a conversion but a return to original condition. This customer did not really wish to spend any more money on an inexpensive revolver and wrote it off to experience. I did not get the sight job either. This revolver is probably in a safe, or back in the pawn shop. Let’s move on to something that may actually be repaired without fitting anew cylinder. Cylinder walls become corroded and even develop pits.

How often have you seen a revolver develop corrosion at the front of the outer wall of the cylinder around the areas that are most often the target of holster wear? Interior corrosion occurs also, and often near the end of the cylinder. Hot gases eat You need to be familiar with every piece. This is an older Smith and Wesson, a Model 1917 variant produced in 1937. away finish. Once corrosion or pitting has developed, a very careful polish of the inside of the chamber will solve most of these problems.

Another problem is lead deposits in the cylinder. This occurs primarily in .357 Magnum revolvers. The problem is especially severe with shooters who fi re thousands of rounds of soft lead .38s for every handful of Magnum rounds fi red. I have had to take a copper brush to scour away lead deposits. Many police agencies once used lead training rounds with the softest alloy offered and this lead built up in the

Be careful as this sideplate holds the hand in place. In this photo it is obvious that the sideplate is properly snugged. The fitting seems almost seamless. These handguns were far more fragile than modern revolvers. forcing cone and chamber. Since the training rounds were .38s, when the .357 Mangum was fi red in the chamber, well, sometimes you had a burst forcing cone. Often a failure to fully chamber or a sticky extraction is traceable to a dirty chamber. Lead is a culprit.

A good stiff cleaning rod and repeated swabbing and elbow grease is needed. Remember, you cannot simply count on a cleaning rod and brush to clean the chamber as they are designed to clean the bore. You need a larger cleaning patch and copper brush. In a .38/.357 try using a .44 or .45 brush and force the cleaning rod through the cylinder. You will be surprised at the amount of lead that comes out.

Often a lead ring will come loose first and this lead ring was probably right at the point of headspace for the cartridge. I have hypothesized that this lead ring could cushion the cartridge against the firing pin blow and result in a misfire but I have not personally seen it. Keeping the cylinder very clean but unlubricated will solve most of the problems encountered there. The second most common problem encountered in a failure to chamber is a fouled extractor star.

When powder falls under the star it builds up and may cause a failure to fully close the cylinder. This powder is usually deposited upon the ejector star when the revolver is unloaded, but some finds its way from the breechface. There is always some powder ash or residue with even the cleanest burning ammunition. .357 Magnum loads are designed for longer barrel handguns and when fi red in the compact types there is almost always a good bit of powder residue.

The .45 Colt is also a smoky caliber despite the best efforts of handloaders. When this powder builds up under the eject star it must be carefully cleaned. I use a combination of spray aerosol and a toothbrush. The ejector rod is the source of several problems. Sometimes the rod is bent, typically due to mishandling. The cylinder may be Clean and inspect this area.

It looks that way and the revolver will probably not be accurate. The test to check for a bent rod is to spin the cylinder and watch the end of the rod for wobble. slammed shut or, if the cases stick in the chamber, the ejector rod may be beat on a bench or barricade. I had seen it done! A simple test tells you if the ejector rod is bent. Open the cylinder normally and spin the cylinder, observing the ejector rod carefully. If the tip of the ejector rod seems to make a circle in the air it is bent.

I hope our customers do not normally beat people over the head with their revolvers, but the common police practice of "buffaloing" was the primary reason that the first deluxe Smith and Wesson revolvers used the protected ejector rod design. This simply proves that the problem of bent ejector rods has been around along time. A far more common problem is the ejector rod loosening.

When the rod loosens it is not possible to open the cylinder, appearing as if the ejector rod had grown in length and jamming the cylinder in the frame. The solution is simple. Carefully bring the revolver hammer back just slightly. The trigger may be pressed slightly to the rear to unlock the cylinder in the case of a hammerless revolver. With the hammer, or trigger, deployed properly the cylinder will rotate backwards. Move the cylinder in the opposite direction of normal rotation.

This will tighten the rod enough for the cylinder to be opened. At this point you should carefully snug the ejector rod tight. Tighten it by hand and then carefully wrap a heavy cloth or rag around the knurled end of the ejector rod and tighten it. Be careful with lateral pressure and do not bend the ejector rod. While this problem may occur with any revolver today we see Smith and Wesson Jframe defense handguns with this malady most often.

Another problem that causes cylinder bind is the forcing cone which can be caused for a number of reasons. The only real cure is to carefully fi le and polish the forcing cone. Be certain not to confuse forcing cone binding with cylinder endshake. Next we have problems with the cylinder failing to index. If the bolt stop is not releasing the cylinder the handgun cylinder cannot rotate so check the bolt stop first. Next check the hand.

If the bolt stop is releasing properly, the hand is probably not rising to rotate the cylinder when you are experiencing a failure to rotate. Point the muzzle to the ground and trigger the action. If the action rotates with the muzzle downward the hand is engaging, but the hand spring is not properly actuating the hand and gravity is doing the job. The handspring is a simple fix. There are some problems that show up only when the revolver is loaded.

One likely cause in this case is a problem with the firing pin channel or firing pin tunnel if the revolver refuses to rotate while the revolver is loaded. A high primer with handloaded ammunition will do the same thing, however, the rough firing pin opening is also common. The rougher the breech face area the more difficult rotation. With the revolver unloaded this will not show up. With the piece loaded, the back of the cartridge cases will scrape against the recoil shield.

There are several possible causes for these burrs appearing. The most common cause is probably dry firing the revolver. Dry firing is the cornerstone of marksmanship, however and a great aid to learning control of the revolver. Just the same, dry fire causes more wear on the firing pin of revolvers with a hammer-mounted pin. When the firing pin strikes the primer the blow is cushioned but with nothing in the chamber the pin over travels and this may result in bringing a burr up on the breech face.

For what it is worth transfer bar ignition revolvers seem far less likely to kick up a burr on the breech face due to dry fi re. They also seem immune to problems caused by high pressure cartridges backing the primer up on the firing pin. (Continued on page 22)

Abuse Dropping the slide on an empty chamber of the automatic is abuse. The revolver equivalent of this is to slap the cylinder shut with a fl ick of the wrist. Working with a revolver that has been treated in this manner often shows a worn ratchet. In the worst case, the ratchet must be replaced. In a number of cases I have observed only one ratchet tooth was badly damaged, probably happening all at one time. In this case the ratchet tooth may be cleaned up and peened back into working condition.

Another common wear issue is the loss of the cylinder latch. The cylinder latch will work loose, particularly when a lot of heavy loads have been fi red. Have you ever seen a row of trade-in police revolvers in the pawn shop? Often enough one or more will have a mismatched cylinder latch, likely because the latch fell off and was never recovered. This is particularly troublesome with light revolvers, a combination of practice with heavy loads and jarring from being carried in an ankle holster.

A rather serious problem I see from time to time comes from home gunsmithing. The last piece that I repaired was a Smith and Wesson 629, among the last handguns in the world you wish to have an accidental discharge with! The owner elected to perform a home trigger job. Instead of working the trigger nose he Another common fault with revolvers is when someone has shortened the trigger return spring. This is less expensive to repair and is usually done to enhance shooting the revolver double action.

With double action shooting I’ve learned to fi re, reset, fi re, reset and the cadence of fi re works just fine. Monkeying with the return spring will produce a revolver that often is slower than the original and unsatisfactory in every way. If the spring has been clipped the clip marks where the spring was cut look rugged and rough while the Smith and Wesson factory spring is smooth and polished on the ends. Another cause of problems that cannot be overrated is a bent hammer.

If the hammer is bent it will not always strike the firing pin correctly and the receiver or frame may be marred. The West German police were so concerned with SIG hammers being dropped they special ordered an undercut hammer with their service pistols. The hammer spur would collapse if the pistol were dropped on the hammer, making it obvious during inspection. While the SIG pistols are self loaders, a revolver hammer Endshake is common with Magnum revolvers.

Endshake is simply excessive play in the cylinder allowing it to move from the front to the back easily. Accuracy is adversely affected by this and the revolver may even spit lead. A rule with all firearms is that once eccentric wear begins it proceeds quickly. It may take 10,000 rounds to produce endshake but after this point the revolver will proceed to a rattling wreck situation quickly. The cylinder, ejector and extractor are disassembled and end shake bushings are installed to cure this.

A single bushing will usually do the trick, but sometimes two or even three are required with well worn revolvers. Revolvers are still bastions of reliability and very popular. But they are not perfect and demand attention to detail. As long as folks use revolvers hard we will have plenty of business. AG