Howdy,

A buddy of mine has a s&w revolver, I'm not sure of the model ( 66? 686? photos below)  that he brought over since he couldn't get the cylinder open.

The cylinder release button is stuck, and the cylinder is partially opened in that the rod that pushes out empty casings is not engaged with the detent in the front.  The cylinder will rotate, slightly, if I get the hammer back a touch to unlock it.  

As far as I know, the lock is not engaged, but he does not have a key (bought it used) to check.



If you didn't already notice by my lack of revolver vocabulary, I don't know a ton about them.  I am fairly handy and not a total dummy, but I'm far from an expert with revolvers for sure.

The gun is loaded, so of course I'm being extra careful and gentle.  

I've attached some photos below.

Is there anything I can try to do to open up the gun? Or am I better off taking this to a gunsmith to fix? I'm pretty handy and am not afraid to give it a whirl but I'd rather not break anything be being ignorant.


Thanks!

My guess is that it's the ammo being out of spec. I would lay a towel over the cylinder and tap on it with a hammer to see if it will release. If that didn't work I would send it back to S&W and let them beat the hell out of it and replace the cylinder.

Has the ejector rod unscrewed from the cylinder? That will cause the issue you are having.

I can see space behind the rim when I shine a light thru the other side, so I'm pretty sure the rim isn't binding.  I can rotate the cylinder, albeit with a lot of resistance.
I could be totally wrong though.  Does it sound like I'm on the right track with that
I'm also thinking it wouldn't be a good idea to mail a loaded gun :)

How could I check to see if the ejector rod as unscrewed?  I mean, is there a way to turn it while it's still closed?

This is most likely the cause.  There isn't much room to gasp it.  Perseverance.

I had a Model 27 that would do this; also, it would do this if unburnt powder got behind the extractor star.

This is not uncommon.

Perhaps it's all of the dust bunnies in the action (that thing is filthy...)

Looks like it was stored under the car/truck seat, for a couple years or so.

If it were mine I'd remove the grips first, spray the crap out of it with carb or brake cleaner, let it dry, spray it with lube and slowly start working the cylinder (you said it would move a little) in/out while adding oil to the spots that are making contact at the rear and front of the cylinder.  Keep dropping drops of oil on the crane were it rotates in the frame.

It should gradually work loose.  Then tell your friend to keep it lubed.  Even stainless steel will rust/corrode and S&W's will gall.  Galling is caused when to stainless steels of similar grade move against/around each other without enough lube.  I've seen stainless S&W's bind the cylinder on the crane and when your remove the cylinder the crane is just rough as hell.  Lube is your friend, along with routine cleaning.

Pretty sure this is what is happening. I just had this happen to a 629 at my local LGS. Take a small screwdriver and pry at the end of the ejector rod.

Sometimes you can remove the crane screw and get a little more wiggle room.

Howdy!

Thanks for all of the tips folks!  I got the cylinder open and have cleaned the whole gun inside and out and it's all lubed up and ready to go.

I tried the ejector rod, and I wasn't able to get anywhere with that.  

I then took off the grips, and from there I took off the entire side plate.  When I took it off, I noticed that although the cylinder release tab was not moving externally, there was plenty of room for it to move forward inside of the gun.  Using a small screwdriver I pushed the release tab from the inside and the cylinder popped right open.

All of the surfaces inside of the gun were sticky and grimy.  I'm not sure my buddy has ever opened the gun, or if he did he oiled it up and let it sit for a long time.  It was dusty and sticky.  I sprayed it all down and lubed up the surfaces with a dry lube and it is super smooth and good to go.

Moral of the story, please, please clean your guns BEFORE they get so dirty they don't work :)

I appreciate all of the replies, I think I've learned a lot about revolvers that I didn't know before.  It's always great to learn new things!