Need S&W gunsmith near Philadelphia

[pennlineman]

Yeah, those guns are classics that's for sure especially in .44 spl. I have a target model of 1955 in .45 ACP and it is still a sweet shooter.

I used to work on S&W model 15's when I was in the service, the lock work on the N frames is the same just a little bit bigger than the K frames. I wish I could see the revolver in person as it may be a simple fix. It's odd that it functions with the cylinder closed yet binds when open. I was trying to separate the workings of the internal lockwork and cylinder. If when the cylinder is open the weapon cycles good in single and double action that would point to a problem with the cylinder binding up. If it bound up with the cylinder open I would be thinking broken hammer or trigger stud. If it bound up with the cylinder closed I would be thinking someone improperly tried to install a new hand or dirt such as an unburnt flake of powder under the extractor star.

Regardless, the fact that you have to push the thumb piece rearward with the cylinder closed tells me you're having a problem with the center pin and bolt working with each other. Both should have spring tension and the center pin should push the bolt along with the thumb piece rearwards. Difficult to figure out without seeing it.

The good news is there are plenty of parts out there to fix it. Find good revolver smiths is becoming harder though. All the new revolver have more or less drop in MIM parts. You may have to sent it off to get fixed. I commend you for trying to save this old classic though. Good luck.

[KML]

Yes this was to good of a price to pass up. I will let you know what was wrong when it's fixed. My first thought was the springs that's why I got a new pin and spring set. I am thinking either the cylinder release bar or spring or both were changed .