Model 36

[hinton03]

I picked up a late 70's unfired Model 36 with Nickel finish the other day and when wiping it down I noticed that the cylinder will rotate clockwise with very little pressure.

Once the cylinder is locked I can apply two finger pressure and with a small about of resistance it will break free and rotate clockwise.

Is this a real problem that should be corrected?

Thanks,

Mark
__________________

 

[john323]

Sounds like it needs a complete cleaning.It could be just dirt from over the years.

 

[DB Smith]

There's a little spring that holds your cylinder lock up tight to the cylinder when the trigger is relaxed and again just before the hammer falls. It may be weak or broken.

If you look through the frame just below the cylinder you should see the cylinder lock releasing and then grabbing again as you pull it though double action.

Here's a nice little free video about taking down and reassembling a J frame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4GtXq2XXOI

Congrats on picking up the old Chief Special. Nice little guns !!!

 

[Shimitup]

John323 +1

There are lubricants that at that age nearly turn into hard wax.

 

[DB Smith]

Yup, Shimitup's got that right. Mine was full of that waxy gum. It had been sitting in a box since 1969. Getting all that out made it feel like a different gun.

Mine did lock up tight though.

 

[hinton03]

Cool, someone at work suggested gun scrubber.

 

[rcmodel]

If you feel unqualified to take the side-plate off and service it, then I would suggest this:

Get a can of WD-40 with the little red tube thing.
It is most excellent at cutting old gummed up factory oil & grease.

1. Flush it out real good with lots of WD-40 while dry-firing the action.
2. Then blow it out with compressed air.
3. Then re-lube with a couple of drops of light gun oil on each side of the hammer, trigger, the hand cut inside the frame, and down the bolt cut slot.
4. Then dry-fire some more to allow the gun oil to work it's way down inside the action.
5. Then blow it out with compressed air again.

That should fix it.
If it doesn't, it will need to be completely stripped down and serviced by someone familiar with the inner workings of S&W revolvers.

rc

 

[hinton03]

OK, I took off the side plate and as expected all was new. I didn't find much in the way of residue but sprayed with a pressurized cleaning agent and then with WD-40 and the problem persists.

The cylinder stop seems to depress very easily with slight pressure from my finger but seems to be seated correctly. Is there a possibility that the cylinder stop spring isn't seated correctly? I didn't take it down any further then removing the side plate and I am not sure how the spring seats against the frame. What about purchasing a stronger spring?

One other thing I noticed is that one of the cylinder chambers does lock up but the other 4 do not.

Thanks for the assistance.

 

[Hanshi]

You can open the cylinder and press down on the locking bolt and tell if the spring is broken. Clean out the cylinder bolt notches and if the cylinder still turns with finger pressure then you probably need a new spring. This is based on the gun being NIB; a used M36 could have worn cylinder notches. I would not fire the gun until the cylinder can be locked and not turned with finger pressure.

 

[hinton03]

I just heard from S&W and they gave me a number to have the FEDEX folks pick the gun up at my house and ship to them for repair at no expense........hard to beat that!!