I have a lovely little S&W in .32-20 with a five inch barrel.........an in inheritance from an old, dear friend from many years ago. I finally got some brass and assembled some moderate loads for the range.

The first shots were very encouraging....it IS accurate out to a full 60 yards (the range backstop). On occasion though, the cylinder would 'hang up' and not revolve without manipulating the hammer a bit. I put it down to a burr on the recoil shield, rubbing on the cartridge bases, but close examination revealed no burr. After cleaning the gun, I slowly pulled the hammer back while feeling for any problems.

Ah-ha! There is was....the hammer would come back to half cock and freeze. Allowing it to to go forward slightly, then cocking again resulted in a full cock. So, we have internal problems with the lockwork! Okay, it goes to my gunsmith next week for servicing...might as well clean it for now.

I cleaned the chambers and extended the extractor star for a drop of oil.....it was VERY difficult. What? I revolved the cylinder again (outside the frame) and the extractor moved smoothly. Slowly, and one chamber at a time I revolved the cylinder and found the 'sticky spot' at the same location each time. For the first time I tried the action with the cylinder out of the frame.....no problems.

Conclusion: the gun has a slightly bent extractor rod (or cylinder pin)......perhaps .002" or so......that mimics an action problem in certain locations.

I should have used a more methodical approach in the first place, instead of bouncing symptoms around and imagining problems. CHECK EVERYTHING before conclusions!