Smith and wesson 30-1 issue

[axxent]

Howdy, my dad inherited a s&w 30-1 32 long revolver from my grandfather and we recently went out to go shooting in the AZ wilderness. It was a fun trip, but that revolver was the only sticking point of the outing. When the cylinder was “locked in”, the hammer couldn’t be pulled back, trigger couldn’t be pulled…. I used my extensive knowledge of gun smithing to determine that lubrication was not the issue. Basically the issue comes down to, ( please forgive my lack of knowledge of terminology… this is going to be painful for many of you) there is a thing on the cylinder that allows it to swing in and out of the revolver. When this is attached to the cylinder, it does not properly lock in to place, will not cock, will not fire.

but, if I take the swingy thingy off of the cylinder, and just put the cylinder into the frame, it will cycle( no I have not live fired it without mr swingy)

the issue as far as I can tell is the cylinder lock. If I pull the release backwards the gun operates. If I don’t, the gun is locked up… this is the end of a very painful message, brought to you by a less than amateur gunsmith

[john323]

Give me a call 323-722-3903 John

[ar15barrels]

If you don't hookup with John to have him fix it, I can also do it.

[kendog4570]

The "swingy thing " is called the yoke, and its bent causing misalignment. This usually comes from snapping it closed with the Hawaii Five-0 Flip. Ten dollars to a dog turd that is not the only thing out of whack on the revolver.Get it to someone that really knows his sh*t. Frank Glenn in Phoenix forgot more about these than all of us here combined know.

[Fjold]

A quick check for a bent "swingy thing", is to look at the front of the revolver when the cylinder is closed. There should be a thin even line where the swingy thing meets the frame. If the gap is wide or uneven, the swingy thing is bent.

[ar15barrels]

A quick check for a bent "swingy thing", is to look at the front of the revolver when the cylinder is closed. There should be a thin even line where the swingy thing meets the frame. If the gap is wide or uneven, the swingy thing is bent.

I use yoke and crane interchangeably as they are two names for the same part.

I have the crane alignment tool which is the next step up from visual inspection.
You pull the crane out of the frame to remove the cylinder and then you re-install the crane into the frame without the cylinder and then slide the alignment checker tool into the crane and close the crane.
The alignment tool pilots on the inside of the crane and you can slide it to the rear and in a proper straight crane, the tip of the tool will slip into the center pin hole in the read of the frame.
When the crane is bent, you bend the crane back to straight as determined by the alignment tool.