Scratched firing chamber

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I just bought a used Colt Detective Special in .38. It appears that one of the chambers is scratched at the entrance, and consequently cannot load cartridges. Is there something I can do at home, do I need professional service, or am I doomed to carry a five-shot revolver?
 
Please elaborate on what you mean by “scratch”. Is the scratch inside the chamber or on the back surface of the cylinder? How does it impede the insertion of a cartridge? A photo would be very helpful.

That said, I cannot imagine that anything I would consider to be a “scratch“ could not be fixed by a competent revolver ‘smith.



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Welcome to tfl!

You should seek professional assistance, but do some research first, as not everyone who does "gunsmithing" is the right person for the job.

Colt doesn't work on these guns anymore (as far as I know), and if you give to bubba the AR builder to fix, you might permanently have a 5 shot revolver...

and don't, for goodness sakes, try to "polish it out" with your Dremel tool...no matter how easy an internet expert says it is, or a U-tube video makes it look.

Have a qualified profession evaluate the damage, and determine the correct fix. Will take some time and some $ but anything else is a disservice to you, and to your gun.

Take some good, clear photos of the damaged area, so what ever smith you settle on can get an idea without having to send them the gun first.
 
If it is a burr preventing a round from chambering, that can be worked out by hand with a stone. Beyond that, I would consult a gunsmith.
 
There's a guy on facebook that goes by cylinderhone. He can fix that right up if you priority mail him the cylinder. He only does facebook and communicates via facebook messenger only as far as I know.

He hones cylinder throats out for cast bullets, throats semi-auto barrels and does chamber work. I've used him several times. I have no connection to him other than being a satisfied customer. The cost is reasonable.
 
This was the best I could do. It sounds like I need a gunsmith
 

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If a Colt Detective Special in .38 is a valuable collectors item, I would take it to a Pistolsmith. Not a Gunsmith, but someone that could be called a Pistolsmith. Someone that specializes in handguns. The American Pistolsmith's Guild web site should help.

If that was my Taurus M83, a half round stone would fix it right up. ;)

But I'm curious, how could something like that even happen?
 
I would characterize that as a "ding" rather than a scratch. I can't imagine how it could have happened, but ... there it is. I agree that the proper fix would be to ream that chamber again, but it needs to be done carefully so that only the protruding material is removed back to the original chamber dimension. You don't want to let the ding drive the reamer and enlarge the chamber.
 
It probably happened when the gun was dropped with the cylinder open.
Have the alignment of the cylinder/crane assemblies checked, too.
 
Yeah, that's something to think about. If something hit the back of that cylinder hard enough to displace metal like that, cylinder alignment could have been affected.

You have a couple of options.

Option 1. carefully run through the revolver checkout process at the top of this forum.

If the revolver checkout fails, it's time to call Ruger.

If everything checks good, then you have the option to repair it yourself. Get a very fine round file and very carefully (I mean it, don't get in a hurry) file off the excess metal that has been displaced into the cylinder. This is not hard unless you feel like you need to get it done quickly. Just go very slowly, take off the metal evenly where it's pushed out into the chamber and keep checking with an empty case. Check it very frequently and don't get in a hurry--you can always take more metal off, but you can't put it back. When it's very close to being correct, get some fine grit sandpaper, wrap it around a hardwood dowel or some other similar object and use that to take off the last little bit and leave a nice finish. You do NOT want the resulting opening to be oval and you don't want the file to even TOUCH the part of the chamber that's not been affected by the damage.

A good way to not get carried away with the file is to use a marker to highlight the surface that is pushed up from the damage. Then file carefully and evenly until the mark is gone. Then check with an empty case, mark the raised portion and repeat.

Option 2. Just call Ruger and tell them your situation. My guess is that they will be pretty helpful.
 
Its misleading to call it a scratch. A scratch is generally below the surface,and metal has been removed. You can't really "polish out" a scratch. You can polish the surface the scratch is in away,till you have lowered the surface to the bottom of the scratch. To do that,you change the dimensions and typically the geometric form of what you polish. In other words,yu can polish a chamber to egg shape.

But a scratch is not your problem. A scratch would not impede you inserting a cartridge.

You have a dent. Or,as some have mentioned,a ding. The metal was not removed,it was displaced. And its not compressable. The metal is still there.

Its been pushed down,and it flowed in the direction of least resistance,which is into the chamber. So,you have metal sticking up high,and that interferes with inserting cartridges.

I spent a long time making and repairing steel plastic injection molds. They sometimes get similar damage at the edga of the cavity on the parting line.

I would guess the metal is displaced as much as 1/8 in down the cylinder wall. Hard metal will chip or crack. That metal was mallable enough to displace, to a degree,it can be displaced back where it belongs. I myself would not start with cutting. There are a number of possible approaches.

I might use a drill blank,which is a round,hard piece of high speed steel,ground and polished, or I might order a replacement pin gauge for the pin gauge set,,and "borrow" (ruin) a pin from the set that will just slip through the chamber past the ding. Pin gauge filling the entire chamber,not part way in,I'd tap,tap,tap the pin with a little hammer ,on the side of the pin opposite the ding. You are using the pin as a form to forge the metal back into place, Now,don;t make a low spot! Reduce the high spot, If you can reduce it 70% or 90%,its all good! Don't educe it 105%

Toward the finish of the project,a little burnishing action may help.

When that was close enough,I'd use a fine round India stone to gently "float: the high spots off.For a final finish, I might run a drill and tap into the primer pocket of a piece of ,38 or ,357 brass,thread some form of handle into it,and use it for a lap with some 600 grit aluminum oxide lapping compound.
Just stroke a bit ,always to float off high spots without making low spotsCareful not to bellmouth the chamber. A swab of cold blue will give you contrast to see what you are doing.

Thats probably what I would do, but again,I have experience doing such things.Molds,revolvers...its all a piece of steel.
 
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Do remember that the money you pay to a "pistolsmith" is to cover the cost of getting it fixed. Not just doing the work, but fixing the gun. IF you do the work and screw it up, (and that's VERY easy to do) all costs are on you.

If a gunsmith screws up the gun in the process of repairing it, all additional costs to repair or replace his screwup are on him.
 
It's a Colt
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:( I don't know why I was thinking it was a Ruger.

Hmmmm...

I guess calling Colt is still an option. I'm a little less optimistic about how they will respond compared to Ruger.
I might use a drill blank,which is a round,hard piece of high speed steel,ground and polished, or I might order a replacement pin gauge for the pin gauge set,,and "borrow" (ruin) a pin from the set that will just slip through the chamber past the ding. Pin gauge filling the entire chamber,not part way in,I'd tap,tap,tap the pin with a little hammer ,on the side of the pin opposite the ding. You are using the pin as a form to forge the metal back into place, Now,don;t make a low spot! Reduce the high spot, If you can reduce it 70% or 90%,its all good! Don't educe it 105%
Click to expand...
This could work. If you do this, you're going to need to be very careful how you hold the cylinder in place for the operation. You don't want to mar it during the process, and you don't want to knock something out of alignment. Ideally, the cylinder should be out of the gun and in a vise of some sort with provisions made to prevent the vise from marring the cylinder.
 
Since it's no longer in production, I doubt Colt would help. I'll try some local smiths first, and if that doesn't work I could always try with Colt.
 
I doubt Colt will do the work but you never know until you call and ask.

Overall, the gun doesn't look in great shape but they are still cool old guns. I've got a couple of Colt beaters myself and they shoot way better than they look. Hope you get yours back up and running quickly and easily.
 
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