help with my m37

S

springmom

New member
My S&W m37 is becoming increasingly hard to pull the trigger on, and increasingly hard to pull back the hammer. I have been very careful to clean the extractor, the cylinder, everything I can reach without disassembling the gun (which I don't know how to do). Someone suggested that it's gotten dirty down inside. I have no clue how to take the cylinder off (one suggestion I've recieved) and I certainly have no idea how to take the thing apart so that I can clean down inside where the trigger is.

HELP???? Thanks in advance!!!!

Springmom
 
Some aerosol parts/brake cleaner will flush everything out if you hose it down, including the proper lube, though.

You could try blowing the filth out with the brake cleaner, then dribble some of your lube of chocie down into the frame from the front of the hammer and the cylinder stop nub.

I've taken my Model 38 apart awhile back to see if filth was ruining the timing. There's a screw by the swing arm, or whatever its called, for the cylinder that lets it slide out.

If you wanted to open the frame itself, you'd remove all the screws then tap on the opposite side of the plate with the wooden handle of a hammer (not the metal part). After a few taps, it'll pop out. However, you really shouldn't need to do that.
 
Well, you can swing the cylinder out to load, so, with the gun empty, do so.

Now, pull the latch (the part you push to swing out the cylinder) to the rear, opposite the direction you push to release the cylinder.

Hold the latch to the rear and work the gun. If the problem goes away, the trouble is in the cylinder assembly somewhere.

If the gun is stiff with the cylinder swung out, the problem is somewhere else.

That helps narrow the trouble down.

If the problem is in the cylinder, first make sure the extractor rod (the part you push to eject the empty cartridges) is not loose or coming unscrewed. It MIGHT have left hand threads, so check both ways. If it is loose, get back to me. If it is OK, unscrew the front sideplate screw. That screw holds the cylinder and crane in place. With the screw out, slide the crane out of the frame and pull it off to the front of the cylinder. Use a good penetrant (I like G96 Gun Treatment - don't use WD-40) and spray the heck out of everything in there.

If the trouble is in the frame, cock the hammer and spray the penetrant down in the front of the hammer. Do the same in front of the trigger.

Also, did you try to relieve tension on the mainspring strain screw in the front of the grip? If you did, screw it back in where it should be.

HTH

Jim
 
I'm making progress...some....

If the problem is in the cylinder, first make sure the extractor rod (the part you push to eject the empty cartridges) is not loose or coming unscrewed. It MIGHT have left hand threads, so check both ways. If it is loose, get back to me. If it is OK, unscrew the front sideplate screw. That screw holds the cylinder and crane in place. With the screw out, slide the crane out of the frame and pull it off to the front of the cylinder. Use a good penetrant (I like G96 Gun Treatment - don't use WD-40) and spray the heck out of everything in there.
Click to expand...

Jim, you're the bomb. I did the first part and the gun works fine (well, I still want the DA trigger lighter, but it's acting normally now, anyway) when I pull back the latch. Here's my next question...define the word "crane" and tell me where the front sideplate screw is. I think I know where it is...it's on the side of the frame under the cylinder, just in front of the word "Airweight" and bfore the "Spfld, MA" stamp. It's on the right hand side of the gun. Is THAT it? (I don't want to unscrew something I don't mean to).

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the Gun Treatment stuff from Carter's or Gander Mtn., so I'm not going to disassemble it further tonight. But I love being able to solve this problem myself (with your help!)

Love the fact that I learn something new every day on here.


Springmom
 
thank you!

Yeah, that's the one I thought it was. It's the only one on the frame on that right side, so that has to be it.

I've got about 18 things to do tomorrow morning (the price of being a mom) but one of 'em will be to go over to Carter's Country and get some stuff to clean out the insides of that gun.

Once again, y'all are the greatest. :D Absolutely.

Springmom
 
Rats

Well. I had something of a saga, getting the cylinder off, since the hubster or one of my sons had run off with and lost my screwdriver set :mad: I didn't find that one kind of penetrant that Jim had mentioned, but Carter's did have Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. Once I made my side trip to Home Depot for a new set of screwdrivers (WHICH NONE OF THE MALES OF MY HOUSE WILL EVER KNOW HOW TO FIND EVER AGAIN!!!!) I got the cylinder and the crane out with no difficulty. There was some gunk, yes but nothing remarkable. I used the aerosol straw that creates a high pressure wash to thoroughly clean out the seating for the crane, and of course cleaned the crane itself. For good measure, I 'scrubbed' out the trigger/hammer mechanism although I did not disassemble the entire revolver.

Got some gunk out, certainly, although no visible bits of anything. Got everything dried out, cleaned up, and well lubed. The gun is back together. It helped a very little bit, but the DA trigger action is still atrocious, and pulling the hammer back, while a little better, is still way too difficult, and is definitely more difficult than it should be.

So. I can either go ahead and disassemble the revolver (a job I would approach with great reluctance) or find a gunsmith or send it back to S&W. Or trade it for a .357, LOL....

I'll have to think about the next step. It's probably too late in the day to get ahold of S&W, so this will at least wait until tomorrow.

:( :( :(

EDIT: I did get in touch with Smith & Wesson. They said to ship it back to them and let them take a look. Sounds like good advice.

Thanks to all who went out of your way to be helpful and help me make sure it was something I couldn't fix myself. Y'all are the bomb.

Springmom
 
And the answer is....

...the yoke and the cylinder.

It came back today, 10 days gone at most. I'm floored at how fast they got this back to me. It's DA is great now. I think they loosened it up a wee bit beyond the standard, which is nice.

Got my baby back, I'm happy. :rolleyes: :D :D Thanks to all of you who helped with the initial triage!

Springmom
 
Nope. Just said "repaired: cylinder, repaired: yoke"

I have my own sneaking little suspicion as to what may have done this, but I have absolutely no proof, really. A few months ago, I took it over to shoot and the first round was a .38 special shotshell (I have always had one in there for snakes during the rainy seasons). Well, I only got to shoot about 75 rounds that day before the thing seized up. It was obvious to me that the shotshell had gummed something up. When I got home that day, I cleaned the bejeebers out of it, and *thought* I'd gotten everything fixed.

I suspect that some tiny bits of shotshell got in there somehow. I'd have to call and ask to speak to the gunsmith that worked on my gun (not sure you can actually even do that) to make sure, but henceforth, shotshells aren't going through my snubbie. Just in case I am right.

Springmom
 
That's interesting.

I had an issue with homemade shotshells but never Speer/CCI plastic capsules if that was what you were using.

Glad you got it fixed though, I'm sort of a S&W fan-atic.
 
Yes, it was the Speer/CCI shells. As I said, it is only a hunch; it could have been coincidence, too. I may never know.

But I'll be EXTREMELY thorough cleaning it from now on, even more than before.

Springmom
 
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