Because I’m just that awesome.
The first time, of course, was in October when I replaced the mainspring and grips and officially accepted the Taurus as my EDC pistol. A few months later I started to notice the action binding every five shots or so. It was minor at first but quickly grew to a crisis. At last the only way I could get the action to cycle – every five rounds – was to put both thumbs on the hammer and heave it backward. Double action was hopeless.
Since I was not raised around revolvers I naturally assumed it was something I’d done wrong that just took its sweet time manifesting itself. So I took the sideplate off and went looking for the problem. But the internals were clean, seemed to fit together fine, and as far as I could tell were working perfectly. What else was there?
This was distressing. I adopted the revolver because I wanted heavier cartridges, but also because my cheap-ass 1911 was falling to pieces. There really wasn’t anywhere else acceptable to go from here. The only other centerfire handgun I own is a bitsy thing chambered for Makarov, which is not an improvement. Angst and whining were beginning to look like real possibilities. I sat at my desk, idly spinning the cylinder, when it occurred to me that the cylinder was not really spinning at all. It was just sort of rotating in a reluctant manner, and only under direct compulsion. And furthermore, under closer examination, it seemed to bind slightly at one particular point.
When was the last time this thing was cleaned and lubed? It’s about 18 years old and has obviously emptied more than a few boxes of ammo. I’ve cleaned everything I can see to clean, and everything under the sideplate is confirmed clean. Are you supposed to lube the cylinder? And if so, how?
I figured out how to get the crane off the frame, but couldn’t for the life of me get the cylinder off the crane. But I do have a can of brake cleaner. And I do have a can of spray lubricant. And the brake cleaner caused all too much gunk to blast out from the cylinder axis. It was filthy! And when it stopped coming out filthy, the cylinder wanted to spin again. And the action wanted to work again. And even with the horrifying cost of .44 Special ammo and components, I’ve practiced enough by now that I know where the Taurus will put bullets at moderate range.
And since then, though I’ll never stop wishing for a longer barrel, I’ve grown quite happy with the ugly old plowhorse.
On my 627 Tracker, just turn the plunger while holding the cylinder. The ejector is three pieces- the star shaped bit on the rim side and the threaded rod on the chamber mouth side, and a little bitty spring in twain. Don’t know if its different on the bigger model (627 is the 7 shot .357)
That might be the case on this one, too. It kind of looks like it should unscrew. But it certainly won’t by hand, and I’m not willing to scar it up trying with pliers unless I actually know it will work. Besides, I seem to have fixed it.
I have had a few Taurus revolvers. I like them. Keep an eye on the extractor rod, it can sometimes unscrew itself. If that happens, it becomes impossible to open the cylinder normally. A small flat screwdriver to compress the extractor rod allows the cylinder to open. Then just screw the rod in tight and check it during normal maintenance.
Watch out for left hand threads!!!!!
The little nut on the end of a S&W ejector rod has a left hand thread. And real tight. Pliers padded with leather were needed on mine.
I suspect that the Taurus is the same. There are some youtube videos on dissassembly and cleaning of the cylinder assembly. It also needs lube of some sort, so I wouldn’t quit yet.
there is a tool available from Brownells.
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/handgun-tools/action-frame-tools/extractor-tools/extractor-rod-tool-prod26886.aspx
its around $20
its a 1/2 or so thick knurled split disk that slips over the plunger rod and tightens down with a allen screw. it holds the plunger rod damage free so that it can be unscrewed…its a left hand thread….at least, as caveat says, its that way on S&W, and taurus is usually a pretty close copy.
The Ruger SP101 .357 I got was defective out of the box, but it took me a little while to realize it. The cylinder would fail to advance all the way sometimes, and not others. I took it to a gunsmith, who discovered a tiny bur on the hand, smoothed it, and I never had another moment’s problem with it.
I clean my guns frequently, especially after shooting, and always work the ejector in order to clean behind the mechanism, but I never thought about putting any of the cleaner down the rod itself. I’ll have to do that. I shoot a lot of semi-wadcutters and most of them produce a lot of black residue in the action and barrel. It’s entirely possible there’s a buildup inside the center of the cylinder as well. Thanks for the tip!!
I just love Brake Clean in a can.
I used to get it by the case where I used to work.
It’s perfect for getting into tight spots like that one.