Spent all weekend on a single revolver cylinder

I was ready to throw this old Smith & Wesson out the window. The cylinder just would not lock up right, and it was driving me nuts. I checked the timing over and over, looked at the bolt for wear, even took the ratchet apart to polish it. Nothing worked. After two full days of messing with it, I finally spotted the issue: the hand spring was so weak it barely pushed the hand forward. I had to make a new spring from scratch, which meant digging through my spare parts and shaping it by hand. Once I got it in, the cylinder snapped into place like magic. It's crazy how such a tiny part can cause so much trouble, but that's the job sometimes.

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_smith641mo ago

Buddy's cylinder wouldn't lock, was the spring all along.

viola941mo ago

Was it actually the main spring that gave out, or did one of the little ones inside the plug snap? I've had a weak spring keep the pins from setting right, making it feel like the key was turning to mush. How did you even figure out that was the problem, did you take the whole thing apart? Tbh a lot of lock issues just come down to a cheap spring getting crushed over time.

tyler_smith1mo ago

In third grade, my pen spring shot across the room.