After cleaning my double action Smith & Wesson 686 revolver I noticed that when I close the cylinder sometimes it doesn’t take much rotation to get the cylinder to lock (I assume it’s lined up better with the barrel), but other times it seems to take almost half a cylinder turn to get it to lock. What accounts for the difference? And why would it ever take more than seemingly 1/6 of a turn? To note, everything lines up perfectly fine with the timing seeming like it’s fine and the action smooth and appropriate.
I know it’s not even important to lock it by hand, that the hammer or the trigger will do the work, but I do like to just sort of index it.
It can vary depending on the ‘indexing’ as you close the cylinder. I think that’s what we’re talking about. Did you take the side-plate or cylinder off?
If not, I think it’s just this indexing variation. I normally close the cylinder, then roll it slightly to ensure it’s locked in place.
Posts: 6505 | Location: WI | Registered: February 29, 2012
No, I didn’t take the side plate off or anything. It’s basically brand new. I just haven’t had a double action 6-shot Smith for a while to compare it to. Most of the time it’s a quick short rotation, to get it to click, I just notice here and there it seems like it’s a longer rotation, almost 1/3 of a cylinder spin, maybe more at least it seems. Not sure if doing it counterclockwise versus clockwise matters either.
Watch the cylinder stop (little spring loaded nub that sticks up out of the bottom of the cylinder cutout in the frame) and make sure it's locking into every notch in the cylinder as you rotate it into place. When you close the cylinder and rotate it, that stop should lock into the first notch that comes in line with it, and lock the cylinder from continuing to turn. And it should do that for every notch in the cylinder. If it's skipping over a notch, you have a problem.
Posts: 9454 | Location: In the Cornfields | Registered: May 25, 2006
^^^^^ I wondered this. It seems like every notch locks up appropriately. I think maybe what’s happening is on occasion it’s just at the very end of where it would lock up so it just seems like there’s a little bit more distance to the next notch maybe. If there was a problem, wouldn’t it be a problem with locking when doing double action and single action dry fire practice as well?
Its possible you are rotating it before the ejector rod ass'y has locked into the hole in the recoil shield. Tried it with my 586 and noticed it would rotate more going clockwise if I was rotating it before it locked in. From a personal stand point I only rotate the cylinder counter clockwise (its normal rotation direction) so the cylinder stop bears on the taller side of the notch in the cylinder as its rotated into position.
Posts: 284 | Location: SW,MI | Registered: July 25, 2008
Not sure if doing it counterclockwise versus clockwise matters either.
I think that's the answer. The notches in the cylinder are not rotationally symmetrical. In one direction it locks; in the other direction it floats, or more precisely the locking pin floats, or rather can float. How much it floats depends.
If I rotate the cylinder counterclockwise, it always locks at the first notch it hits. If however I rotate clockwise, depending on how fast I turn, I can sometimes get it to skip the first notch.
In fact, if I free-spin it fairly quickly, I can get the cylinder to do a full revolution, and even several revolutions before it locks up (I know it's really bad for the gun, so I don't do that, but mechanically it is possible).
Oh wow yeah I wouldn’t do that ever. Even when I spin the cylinder a bit—and it’s much slower than that—it’s when it is out to the side then I grab it and slow it down to no movement and then always gently close it into the frame. Then and only then do I try and index it to lock.
The CW/CCW makes sense the way you explain it I’ll bet that’s what I’m finding, which would make it normal I’m guessing.
I’m not sure I get the problem. Unless you close the cylinder, directly on a locking notch, the cylinder will have to rotate until the bolt pops up into a notch.
There’s a whole lot more cylinder without a notch. So the odds of closing it with a notch directly above the bolt, is fairly small.
Posts: 899 | Location: High desert. Nevada | Registered: April 15, 2004
^The question was not why the cylinder rotates a bit before locking up, but why it sometimes rotates so much. I.e. more than one-sixth of a revolution, even a half-spin at times. Clearly at least one notch would be by-passed in such cases.
I posted a video showing how, under the right conditions, the cylinder can actually be spun multiple times before lock-up occurs.
