Last time a revolver failed to revolve for me, it was a Smith & Wesson 686 whose lock failed. [Click here for that debacle.] This time out it’s a simple case of dirt. This is what happens to any revolver when something gets jammed under the ejector star. Burnt powder, lead, donut dust, it doesn’t take much and it will jam up (cylinder won’t rotate). I’ve run a whole lot of lead through the once box-fresh Smith & Wesson Model 60: some 500 rounds of Sellier & Bellot .38. And I’ve got to say it: that is some dirty ammo . . .

As you can see, once you eject the rounds, she’s good to go. So . . . I haven’t cleaned the revolver since unboxing. I’ll do so tomorrow morning before her photo shoot. Lesson learned: keep your guns clean or you may find yourself in the shit.

To disassemble the gun for a really good detail clean, I recommend the most excellent Smith & Wesson SPDTool from Brownells.

The Model 60’s FTF proves another point I’ve made here many time: shit happens. If you’re in a self-defense situation where you have to rely on your gun, don’t freeze if it fails to function perfectly. If Plan C fails (having tried to avoid, escape and evade), go to Plan D.

Just as fortune favors the brave, survival favors the flexible. Just sayin’.

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8 COMMENTS

  2. Sellier & Bellot is dirty ammo. I posted about it a while back but couldn’t get the name right (I called it Pellot). This stuff in 00 buck is terrible. It is like firing musket ball.

  3. That sounds like that Masters crap we used to use on the State Range. I got so tired of lead fouling there that I don’t use anything but jacketed anymore. I got tired of having to peel off lead with a pen knife.

    • hah. Try firing 100 or so shells of it at the range. I walk in all normal( as normal as I can be) and somewhere along the line I am drawn back to looking like I did when I was a kid burning dead falls with my Grandfather. Soot from forehead to waist and two eyes looking like I had just applied black ink to my eyes. Nice flame out though.

  4. Not to be an alarmist, but the failure of your 686 and others I’ve heard about, concerned me enough to send an email asking Smith if they intended to correct the failures and if they could see about strengthening their revolvers to meet the specs of Buffalo Bore’s recommendations for hotter loads. I fell in love with an old N frame I had years ago in .45 Colt. It was so accurate it was mind boggling. Unfortunately I sold it at the (nagging) request of my first wife. I should have kept the piece and sold her instead. Anyway, I always wanted to buy a new one, but not if I have concerns about reliability and if it can’t handle BB’s hot .45 Colt loads.

    • Cujo,
      until they do , I recommend a Ruger. They have a stronger frame than Smith. They are lower cost, but I recommend a trigger job. They can handle any of Buffalo Bore ammo.

  5. Robert is obviously cursed when it comes to revolvers. Now we need to see if he can use this curse to jam Glocks and AKs.

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