need to get s&w model 61-3 escort to eject and feed

[HawkEyeEarl]

I need to get my s&w model 61-3 escort to eject and feed. I just recently tried it out.

I tried 3 five round magazines of 3 different ammos. it fires and sometimes ejects but never makes the feed.

The first time I shot it the brass stuck in the chamber so I cleaned the chamber well with a brass bristle brush.

Now it pulls brass out of chamber and either ejects it or leaves brass on top of the round in the magazine.

I am reading that this gun needs fast ammo. I read some folks say theirs functions great and others have problems.

Have any you had my problem and solved it? Do you think I can solve it with faster lighter ammo which I will try shortly?

The gun is very clean. Would a stronger recoil spring with faster ammo finish the cycle? Maybe polish the chamber some?

[beltfed]

Check the chamber for roughness.
Probably send it back to S&W factory to fix
beltfed/arnie

[georgerkahn]

If I am not mistaken, yours is the aluminum-framed variant from the early 1970s? I had a close friend who had one, and it was quite problematic, similar to yours. He ended up sending it back to S&W for "repairs" -- with them sending him a brand-spanking-new replacement which they stamped the s/n of the one he sent them on it.
His best results were with the hottest .22 ammo he could find, and, bion, he found that by putting one drop of gun oil on the top of bullet on top round in magazine he'd get most to function most of the time. A couple of years later, at a gun show, he traded it off...
You might wish to try, say, CCI Velocitor ammunition with the drop of oil trick? OR -- perhaps ring S&W Service and find your options from them.
GOOD LUCK!!!
geo

[HawkEyeEarl]

I will work through some of your advice and let you know how it works out.

[Sasquatch-1]

he found that by putting one drop of gun oil on the top of bullet on top round in magazine he'd get most to function most of the time.

I have a friend who uses the drop of oil on the first round in the mag also. I believe this was in his S&W M41. Solved alot of his problems with the gun cycling.

[gunther]

This sounds a lot like the fun & games that can happen when trying to use recently manufactured CCI std velocity for bullseye. They are marginal at best and the weak ones do just what you are experiencing. If you can find any, try CCI Blazer. It is hot enough to work the slide.
You need a factory manual or a few minutes on UTube to find out how to disassemble/assemble it and clean the slide, recoil spring assembly and extractor. Use Kroil. Call S&W and ask if Velocitor or Stinger is too much for that aluminum frame.

[JRD]

When you say it doesn't extract the case, could the slide by cycling part way and then stuffing the case back into the chamber? Or is it truly not cycling at all?
In a blow back 22 the case is pushed out of the chamber by the chamber pressure. It isn't pulled out by the extractor. Make sure the gun is thoroughly cleaned so the slide will reciprocate without any sluggishness. The make sure your chamber is clean and has no burrs or damage that would drag on the brass.
In my opinion, contacting S&W won't help. They haven't made one of these pistols in 50 years and I'm not certain they still support them.
After doing what I mentioned, I'd try a high velocity round like Mini-Mag. My personal recommendation is to skip Stingers or other hyper velocity rounds.
This is my personal advice and comes with a money back guarantee. Good luck.

[JimB..]

S&W is great about taking guns in for repair, they even pay shipping, the problem I’ve had is that they refuse to work on any gun for which they no longer have parts. So it goes in, sits in queue of 5 or 6 weeks, then gets shipped back with a letter. Hasn’t cost me anything but time.

[HawkEyeEarl]

some cases completely eject but never feed the next round.
some cases stay in the area above the magazine. They do not get slung out.

I have several things to try here. I will report back here soon as I try some of them.

[FergusonTO35]

I know a fella that has one of these and shoots it alot. Let me ask him about it.

[HawkEyeEarl]

I cleaned much better yesterday especially the chambers.
shot 10 rounds. on the 9th round fired, ejected and loaded the 10th and fired. first time that has happened.
some of the rounds did eject, but not all. this is some improvement.
it seems to need more force to fully eject and feed.
I have not tried the drop of oil yet. I wanted to try first after a more thorough cleaning.

[HawkEyeEarl]

I picked Winchester hyper velocity 40 grain with a little touch of oil on each of 5 rounds.
all functioned perfectly.
I did the same with super aquila extra 40 grain.
4 fired and ejected but the 5th did not feed completely.
I will test some more super aquila extra 40 grain since it is about 200 fps less than the winchester hyper velocity just to see if high velocity can be consistent for 5 rounds at a time.

Since oil helps. do I need to polish chamber very well? I need find a way to get some way to polish in there.
I can spin a copper bristle brush by hand and that cleans rough out that I could on see on a patch until it started coming out clean. But it does not polish.

Or is there more friction somewhere other than the chamber? The gun looks clean on the slide. I cleaned where the recoil spring slides in and out.

[Sasquatch-1]

I don't know if this has been mentioned but, you may have weak magazine springs.

[FergusonTO35]

Aguila Super Extra is excellent ammo but mild in terms of velocity and recoil. Try some Interceptor 40 grain, now that will wake up that old pistol!

[HawkEyeEarl]

I found a recoil spring to buy just now. I cannot find magazine spring so far.
I may not have intereptor. I do have some Xpediter Super X 29 grain at 1,680 fps that I can try.

[HawkEyeEarl]

the next oiled 5 super aquila extra 40 grain functioned flawlessly.

then 5 un oiled Xpediter Super X 29 grain had 1, 2 and 4th fine, but had to manually eject 3, and 5. Perhaps there was some trace oil left from the previous magazine.

for now until I have a new recoil spring to try, just keep a mag full lightly oiled.

[georgerkahn]

the next oiled 5 super aquila extra 40 grain functioned flawlessly.

then 5 un oiled Xpediter Super X 29 grain had 1, 2 and 4th fine, but had to manually eject 3, and 5. Perhaps there was some trace oil left from the previous magazine.

for now until I have a new recoil spring to try, just keep a mag full lightly oiled.

HawkEyeEarl -- I am quite happy you tried the drop of oil I suggested, and happier that it is working for you! One prohibition I'd like to offer, though, is I was not the original finder of this "trick"! It came from a fellow named Carleton, who was the master-pistol-guru of all at our Bullseye shooting club. I recall him advising (to cover his derriere?) I might not wish to try the oil, but if I do, to do it ONLY right before shooting. He suggested that over not that long a time, unless your bullets are varnished-sealed like a lot of old '06 military Ball ammo was -- the oil may very well seep into the cases and if not ruin them -- surely alter performance.
Hence, for me I had a stainless steel oil dispenser -- the one that resembles a fat ball point pen, or cigar... with a flat bottom that dispenses one small drop of oil with each push -- on the carpet in the lane where from I shot. With the exception of requiring 2-mags in quick succession -- ALL other times -- the drop of oil was applied immediately before shooting.
FYI...
BEST!
geo