Lubing a revolver

[PAT303]

I have a very well used no dash 586 made in the early '80's,well two weeks ago it simply locked up tight,don't know why but it wouldn't cycle and I couldn't even pull the hammer back to fire it SA,I got home and stripped it to bits and cleaned it with carby cleaner and re-assembled it with a little dab of moly grease here and there and it worked fine,for 30 rounds and locked up again,this time the cylinder wouldn't even close.Home again and this time I stripped it I cleaned out every nook and cranny and lubed it with light engine oil,5W-30 grade and today it worked OK.One thing I found was the little bit of steal inside the trigger guard behind the trigger,don't know what it does but it was rubbing on the trigger and one of the issue's was the trigger staying back after the shot and the little metal ''thing'' seemed to be the cause,it's held in by a tiny screw and I refitted it so it didn't touch the trigger.What do you guys lube your revolvers with and how often do you strip and clean them?.Thanks for any help. Pat

[Hickory]

Did you clean under the ratchet star?
Powder accumulates there and will cause it to lockup.

[44man]

On a S&W you need to watch the ejector rod and keep it tight. They can unscrew and make the gun hard to open and close. Most are left hand threads.
I use an extra drill chuck to grip them so I don't damage them. Makes hand tight easier.
I use STP on all cylinder pins and cylinder ratchets, it gets on the front bushing too.
I shoot mostly SA and I keep the cylinders clean and lubed with STP. Pins and things inside the gun just get a good gun oil. Moly grease is OK too.
The part you refer to is the trigger stop that keeps the trigger from coming back more after sear break. That screw must be tight. If the trigger does not go forward someone might have cut the trigger spring too much. It is inside the rebound slide. You might help by polishing the slide and the frame where it rides.
Also make sure the thumb piece screw is tight or the locking bolt will give you trouble.

[44man]

Did you clean under the ratchet star?
Powder accumulates there and will cause it to lockup.
This also!

[Petrol & Powder]

I agree with the prior posts:
1. crud under the ejector will prevent it from sitting flush and lock up the action.
2. the ejector can sometime come unscrewed a little bit and that causes all kinds of headaches. I've never had it happen on a gun I worked on but I have had it happen on guns I had just purchased. If you know how to work on a S&W revolver it is a very easy fix.
3. If that gun has a trigger stop, it must be correctly positioned and it must be tight.

If you decide to tighten the ejector rod yourself, make sure you know what you're doing. It isn't difficult but you can create more problems than you solve if you don't know what you're doing. The threads are usually left hand threads unless it's an old S&W. The threads are fine threads and you don't want to over do it. Always support the ejector with fired cases when tightening or loosening the ejector rod.


The 586 is a fine gun and more than likely your issue is something very minor. I don't think it is a lubrication issue but I do think something is loose or dirty.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Carby cleaner? I'd take the grips off your 586 and give it good soaking of CLP designed for use with firearms. Absolutely follow the above posts too, but use on firearms cleaners and lube designed for firearms.

The 586 is such a great gun, I'll bet you'll solve this quickly and be back on the range in no time.

If the above posts plus my opinion doesn't get your 586 up and running, then the next stop is a Smith and Wesson certified gunsmith. You may have a timing issue where the cylinder stop latch isn't retracting early enough.

[ole 5 hole group]

All good advice. I think 95% of the time when this occurs it's powder flakes (crud) under the ratchet star. Happens more frequently when using IMR4227 or ejecting cases while holding the revolver parallel with the shooting table. Carrying a wore-out tooth brush in your shooting bag comes in handy at times.;-)

[Thin Man]

Pat, as others have said it sounds like your ejector star is not seating against the rear face of the cylinder. It only has to be a tiny bit to the rear to prevent the cylinder from falling into the frame window. Sounds like one of three issues is at work here.

Most likely is debris between the ejector (the side making contact with the cylinder) and cylinder (the end facing the ejector). Hold the star to the rear and gently brush both of these contact surfaces with a soft toothbrush. Follow this with Q-tips dipped into bore cleaner (or any other available solvent) to remove all crud and leave the parts completely clean. Use new Q-tips to remove all of the solvent so the parts are dry. Do not apply oil or any other wet material to these parts once they are clean. These liquids do not act like magnets for debris, but they are adhesives that will hold onto whatever trash finds it's way there.

Also check that the ejector rod is tight in the assembly. Hold the cylinder with one hand and try to rotate the ejector rod (it is left hand threaded). If the rod is loose, secure it in a padded vise to start getting it snug again. Remember to place six (6) fired, unsized cases in the chambers to either tighten or remove the ejector rod. This will prevent the ejector star from shearing off the indexing pins in the cylinder. You really don't want these to snap off!

Lastly, how clean are your chambers? A little carbon or lead debris can cause a loaded round to fail to seat fully against the rim in the cylinder. It doesn't take much junk in the chambers for this to happen. Scrub the chambers well and see if this helps.

Good luck with your project.

Thin Man

[Hardcast416taylor]

Did you clean under the ratchet star?
Powder accumulates there and will cause it to lockup.


I ran an indoor PPC range at my gun club for a little over 10 years. As most of the shooters then used either a S&W or a Colt it was a practice I drilled at all shooters. After firing all 6 rounds and are about to dump the empties rotate the revolver vertical when opening the cylinder so that the cases will fall down and making it less likely for unburned powder to get under the star. I also urged shooters to carry an old toothbrush in their kit to do a quick brush out on the star.Robert

[w5pv]

I use kano microlube after a little while it will creep out of the tinist cracks and they claim no buildup but I don't know about the powder build up around the ratchet star as I never had any and believe that the lube may keep it from sticking enough to build up.I have shot thousands of rounds with out experiencing build up.I field strip usually after two boxes of ammo and take a nylon brush/toothbrush to clean around the parts that you can get to.The only powder buildup that I have is in my revolver chambers and I try to remember to at least mop the chambers out with a mop or a patch at regular intervals

[oso]

It may be worth checking for proud primers (before and after firing.)

[roysha]

OK, I'd like to throw out an thought about something that happened to me just a couple of weeks ago. I was shooting my 629 and after the 4th shot I couldn't turn the cylinder (shooting mainly SA). Got the cylinder open with some difficulty. Dumped ammo out tried gun empty and it worked fine. Long story short, during the last run of ammo in my progressive press I experienced a slippage in the primer seater station and ended up with some high primers. I thought I had found all of them but apparently not. The height was just at the point which would allow me to close the gun but as the cylinder rotated the high primer would hit at one certain spot and stop the gun. Like I said, just a thought.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I have been on occasion, to put it mildly, a bit lax in the cleaning of my 629 (like having to push the ejector rod on the shooting bench to eject cases because of dirty charge holes) but have never experienced a failure caused by crud and corruption. It has invariably been ammo related.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

I carried the revolver as a peace officer for 10 years and competed in shooting matches with the revolver for that length of time too. I had a Smith N frame sieze up on me with the old Unique due to fouling, and the Ruger Security Six would get unburnt granulars of 2400 under the ejector star which would restrict closing the cylinder.

An ejector rod backing out would restrict opening the cylinder. I learned with the Ruger and the Smith that if the ejector unscrewed, one could put their thumb on the knurling and rotate the cylinder by pulling the trigger and that would tighten the ejector rod enough to allow the cylinder to open. Obviously I was shooting combat style matches.

The OP mentions carborator cleaner and engine oil on a carbon steel Smith that is preventing even single action cocking. And that the gun had been around for while.

We had a motor officer that sprayed brake cleaner on his gun and I couldn't even pull the trigger of that gun.

My money is on lube as the fix for this situation.

[Outpost75]

Alliant #2400 powder is NOTORIOUS for leaving unburned particles under the extractor if you don't elevate the muzzle when ejecting empties. The other advice regarding keeping the ejector rod tight and carrying a toothbrush to clean under the extractor and also its recess in the cylinder is also essential.

Carb cleaner, Gun Scrubber and such are not recommended as they leave residue which leaves bare, naked stainless parts prone to galling. I really like and prefer Kano Kroil as my all purpose cleaner-lubricant-preservative for stainless guns.

Blow out all excess with compressed or canned air and wipe clean . Heavier gun oils or greases will attract grit and cause problems.

[PAT303]

Excellent replies,I did have unburnt powder in the gun,we have had supply problems like you all have experienced and I was forced to use a powder thats not really suitable but it was that or nothing.My 586 is a no dash and has the problem of the firing pin bush moving forward,I've had the mod done but every now and then the bush moves out a mil or so which can cause the case rims to snag it.I think the ejector star could be the cause of my problems but when I broke it down to clean it the rebound slid is polishing the frame were it slides,yesterday I shot a match with it and it worked throughout so I think not keeping on top of the cleaning is mostly to blame,thanks again for all your replies,it's nice to know I can get help when I need it. Pat

[stu1ritter]

If you 586 has the "M" modification stamp and the firing pin bushing is occasionally moving forward, I think your 586 should go back to the mother ship for some attention. Call S&W customer service and I'm sure they will send you a shipping label. They are pretty quick on the turn around.
Stu

[Tatume]

Will S&W pay shipping to and from Australia?

[stu1ritter]

Simply go to http://tinyurl.com/3sdzdk8
There is a live chat and various telephone numbers so you can ask them when they open this morning.

Stu

[w5pv]

Stu1,The horse they couldn't ride,the line they couldn't cross and the color of the patch is the reason why.lol wore the patch my self

[stu1ritter]

Only those that were know that little ditty. We knew it as the horse they couldn't ride, the line they couldn't hold and the color speaks for itself. That was pre Air-Mobil days in Korea when the Cav was a tank division.

[w5pv]

Land of the sliding doors,heated floors and ?? another one I learned while there.

[stu1ritter]

Gads W5PV, you have a better memory than I do.
Stu
N0LEF