Revolver malfunctions

Over the years I've had more revolvers fail to fire than semi-autos. Good ammo is just as important in one as the other and that is the primary reason for failures. S&W revolvers are bad about the ejector rod backing out under recoil and making it impossible to open the cylinder. You are good for the rounds in the gun, but won't be reloading without some tools.

Kept in a nightstand revolvers are pretty fool proof. But they have more small parts with close tolerences which are more likely to be locked up by dirt and debris than semi's which have most of the moving parts enclosed away from stuff that can get inside. If dropped on hard suraces revolvers have many more exposed parts which could be damaged. Unburned powder and debris can get under the extractor making it difficult or impossible to close the cylinder or for the cylinder to turn. If involved in a close range struggle clothing, hair, etc can bind the cylinder or get in between the firing pin and hammer preventing the gun from firing. Same can happen with most semis, but striker fired guns have a slight advantage here.

In a nutshell as a nightstand gun that is well cared for, kept clean and fed good ammo there isn't much to worry about. As a gun carried in harsh conditions and having to work even after being abused a semi will be more likely to fire when needed.
 
As a gunsmith with over 40 years of experience I can tell you that even good revolvers can have parts breakage.
How often?
Well lets see............
On Ruger revolvers I have one time replaced the mainspring link on a Redhawk.
I also once replaced a hammer plunger on a Super Blackhawk.
I also replaced the barrel on my Super Blackhawk after I shot the throat out of it. I don’t think that counts however, but I’LL ADD IT ANYWAY JUST TO GET A COUNT.
That's 3

On S&W revolvers I have replaced a firing pin once, and a broken rear sight blade 3 times. I also have adjusted end-shake about 10 times on guns that were used so much that they were worn. (I think they all had over 75,000 rounds through them. Of them most were police training guns) So lets call this about 14-15 times
.

On Colts I have replaced V Springs on old guns from the 20s about 10 times and one time I saw a Python break a main spring.
I have had to re-build 4 Troopers that were not done right from the factory and were severely out of time, but I can't call that a breakage. Those were just guns that were not made right.

So if we add those to make the count higher we have a total of about 15

So in 40 years, if I had to count the times I had to repair a good American made revolver because it was broken or worn out I think I could come up with maybe 33-35 guns.

Then I have replaced a LOT of springs on Single Action revolvers imported from Italy and some from Germany. As a rule I have not been impressed with many impoted SA revolvers


If I compare American made revolvers to all autos………well I think I could come up with 35 repaired autos in 1year, not 40 years.

Some were not very well made-- like some of the imported Llama autos. I have fixed quite few of them.

Early S&W 39s were known to break extractors. In those guns alone I have repaired about 25.
I have had to replace an extractor in one S&W 645.

In 1911s I have had to rebarrel about 3 of them and I have seen plunger tubes come loose 2 times and I can remember 3 ejectors getting loose. ( As in interesting side note, there were complaints of the finger bushings breaking in the late 60s and early 70s and I bet I changed bushings for at lease 50 customers that didn’t trust Colt’s finger bushings, but in all my time I have never actually seen one break.)

I have had to replace recoil springs in about 40 High Standard 22 pistols

I have had to repair an OLD Colt Woodsman when it broke it’s mag catch spring

On top of all these I have probably fixed 100 small cheap autos of various manufacturers. Lots of small 22s and 25 have problems with strikers and sears wearing and either not cocking at all or slipping off so the gun will “double” when you relieve the trigger and the disconnector lets go.

I am sure I am forgetting some too. I may have forgotten a few revolvers but I think it’s less likely because when a good American revolver breaks a part it’s rare enough that I remember it. It’s unusual. Not unheard of, but rare enough for me to remember.
 
Competition's tough on revolvers, so if it's gonna break, you'll see it there.

I have about 80k tough rounds through my primary match gun, a 4" 686. I've broken the firing pin, the hammer, the front fiber optic (several times), as well as the firing pin spring, and the spring behind the underlug plunger that locks the front of the ejector rod. I've also bent the ejector rod and the gun's developed some endshake. All these were, of course, repaired, and the gun functioned fine afterward.

Another common breakage is the yoke screw - the Achilles heel of S&W revolvers, particularly new ones. It's the only thing holding the entire cylinder assembly on the gun, so when it gives, the cylinder moves forward (or off the gun completely and onto the ground) during a reload, rendering it inoperable. Hasn't happened to me, but I've seen it numerous times. I keep a spare yoke screw in my range bag, just in case.

Though not a breakage per se, getting a case caught under the ejector isn't unheard of. It doesn't render the gun permanently inoperable, but it does take a long time to clear, so in a match, the timer keeps running, and your match is pretty much ruined at that point.

Interestingly enough, despite all this, I've not yet seen the most commonly described revolver malfunctions in a match - an ejector rod unscrew or dirt under the ejector star tying a gun up. Go figure.
 
Probably beating a dead horse at this point. . .

For the average person, a revolver is almost always a better choice than a semi-auto for home defense. Yes, there are those who are well trained (LE, Military) and thoroughly in practice where a semi-auto is clearly a great choice for them.

I've been through a few civilian handgun training/safety courses, hold a CCW (have a semi-auto for concealment), shoot IDPA, along with shooting well over 10,000 round/year. With all that, I consider myself a novice and therefore my home defense gun is a S&W 686+ .357 Mag with Speer 38+P ammo in it.

Extremely reliable. No muss. No fuss. Nothing to second-guess in the middle of the night while an intruder has your adrenalin flowing - just point-n-click.
 
Ive owned three revolvers, and about 10 semi-autos. Out of all of those the only one that suffered a catastrophic failure that left the gun totally inoperable was a S&W 60 in .357 that had a hammer pin snap. As far as frequency of failures in my semi-autos, as in failure to feed, fire, and eject, it's such a rarity for my centerfires, and in many cases I have never had a failure in a particular gun, that the whole revolvers being more reliable than semi autos doesn't mean a thing to me.
 
Most malfunctions are user induced or can be traced to the ammo. One user induced malfunction is called short stroking the trigger. That is when the shooter does not allow the trigger to come all the way forward so it can reset for the next shot. I have a S&W model 10 that I loaned to someone to qualify on a private security range course. They complained it would skip shots. The instructor checked it and said the same thing. I took it and it fired each and every time. I told them user error, the gun had the springs replaced and they just were not used to it. That revolver is one of my most dependable and most accurate. The ammo problems can range from no powder (Squib load) to a double charge. Most ammo problems are somewhere in between.
 
For home defense, practically zero chance of a malfunction. For competition, unburned powder under the extractor can be a problem. I used to use Greendot in a .38 and it was a problem, now use WST, don't recall a problem with it. Just use good ammo and you shouldn't have any problems. All this with a revolver in good condition, no modifications to the action, S&W, Colt or Ruger.
 
Revolver issues

Malfunctions that have happened to me personally are as follows:

Smith Model 17 K-22, the ejector rod on this gun would work loose and bind on a regular basis. I found that odd for a rimfire. Usually seems to be a problem in guns with more recoil.

Smith Model 13, bought it at a show as it looked outstanding. At the range two hours later it fired one shot and locked up tight. Nothing would move. I had the card of the vendor and called his cell while he was still at the show. I had to sneak the gun in the side door of the show (it was still loaded) where the guy blamed me for using cheap ammo. He then gave me a refund.

Smith Model 64, bought used at a pawn shop. The gun would only cycle if held level. I suspect a worn out pawl/hand.
 
My Revolver Malfunctions

In 30 years:

Smith 686 8-3/8" bbl - cylinder would lock up after about 400 rounds without cleaning. I have two other 686's, but they don't seem to have the problem. It only happened twice - during extended camping trips and I didn't bring a cleaning kit. Solution: bring a cleaning kit - (duh). (The gun is a safe queen these days.)

Smith 629 8-3/8" bbl - the screw that holds on the cylinder release came off due to recoil. Amazingly, I found it (a very good karma day). Solution: Locktite. (The gun is a safe queen these days.)

That's it. In 30 years and many 10's of thousands of rounds.
 
As already stated, all guns are machines and can have failures. That said, for home protection guns:

Quality Revolvers are simple, pull & bang, opps it didn't fire, pull the trigger again. Issue, have you used it enough at the range to hit your target.

Simi autos, "kind of" pull & bang, however, is your grip strong enough to pull the slide? Can you recycle the fire arm without thinking if it fails to fire? Is the extra recoil of the slide going to pull you off a follow up shot? ETC..... point being is that a simi-auto takes a lot more range time to perfect its operation and you still need to hit your target.

Also without being mean, the slide grip and follow up shots are an issue with many women and older people who do not shoot as a regular "hobby". You really do not want to depend on adrenaline to overcome any shooting weakness if your life is in danger.

Never in 60+ years had a failure in a "quality" revolver other than ammo, but have had plenty of mechanical simi auto failure to fire with "quality" simi autos. Not a problem for me on the simi's, but thinking home defense my loved ones need a simple operating system that they can learn to point & shoot hitting their target without hours & hours tactical type of practice.
 
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Revolver failures

I have a S&W 38 bodyguard that is sensitive to short stroking the trigger. If I start to pull the trigger, then back off the trigger, the pistol will not work in double action until I spin the cylinder by hand.

Every auto pistol I have had has had a failure. Sometimes because of weak ammo. My most reliable revolver has been the Ruger SP 101 in 357 mag.
 
The primary malfunction I have experienced is shorter cases getting stuck under the extractor star.

Other malfunctions I have experienced are:

Broken firing pins
Cylinder endshake
Cylinder loose
Sideplate screws loose
Sight loose

The broken pins were all on S&W revolvers with internal firing pins except one.
 
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