Revolver issue

[Brinky72]

Subject of my issue is an older Taurus 607 seven shot 357 magnum. It has been very accurate and reliable for years. Issue has been just recently with a couple of light primer strikes that have barely marked the primers. I’m thinking it is likely due to the fact that I haven’t used it in years and things may need to be stripped down and cleaned real well. However, I have ran it real dirty before intentionally to test it and never had an issue. Not sure if something has worn out and needs replacement or what. I have cleaned it up as I have before and still had some light primer strikes. I’m no revolver expert by any means and wondering what I should be looking for and what I should be checking.

 

[Guy Miner]

Possibly a spring has worn out. Hammer spring I'd guess. Might not be the right name for it.

If the hammer isn't hitting hard enough, light primer strikes are certainly possible.

Guy

 

[HodgemanAK]

My guess is gummy internals. Dirt and old oil just slowing the hammer fall down enough to not detonate the primer.

Give it a tear down and good scrub and look for worn/broken parts.

 

[Brinky72]

Thanks gents. I’m going to tear it down as far as I feel comfortable and scrub it down real well. Take it out and burn a couple of wheels through it fast and hard to see if it improves. If not it’s off to the smith.
attached are a couple of the rounds. They are Winchester 158 grain JSP factory loads. If they were handloads I may think that it might be an error on my part. Which happened on a couple handloads prior and I wrote it off as maybe I seated the primer too hard or contaminated them some how. But these are factory and I have never had this issue before. So I’m thinking a tear down and inspection is in line.

 

[3 Meter Para Bellum]

What others have said would be my first suspicions, worn out spring, or gummed up internals. A less likely problem that comes to mind though is that the firing pin tip could have been damaged somehow and is no longer protruding properly, or perhaps the firing pin could have gotten burred and is snagging. Has it been dry fired at all?

 

[Guy Miner]

If a good clean & lube session solves the problem, that's excellent!

 

[truck driver]

Not familiar with Taurus wheel guns but if the firing pin is separate from the hammer more than likely there is crud in and around the firing pin preventing it from full protrusion when the hammer strikes it.
When I carried for a living, we had Ruger wheel guns and lint would get in the works from our uniforms and cause failures to fire, dust balls from storage can do the same thing.

 

[TackDriver284]

Possibly some old grease / oil / crud is the issue, hopefully its not the spring. I remembered my whitetail hunt I had around 15 years ago with the 7 STW, and it was working fine days before and on that hunt it was 34 degrees out and was so cold that when I settled the bead on a trophy whitetail, the hammer fell and nothing happened, barely marked the primer, rechambered and same thing, 3 times. Then the guide loaned me his 25-06 to do the job. Upon getting home, found out that the extreme cold hardened the grease in the bolt preventing the spring to work 100%. Gunsmith who built that rifle had put too much grease in the bolt.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Bought a used S & W 617 back in February that had been shot a lot and the internals were really dirty slowing the cylinder timing down. Good cleaning restored it. Dan.

 

[JD338]

I agree with the others, a good old fashioned soaking and scrubbing along with good lubrication should bring it around.

JD338

 

[Heavy Barrel]

How much end shake does the cylinder have? Too much end shake can cause misfires and light primer strikes.

 

[Brinky72]

No cylinder shake or timing issues. I’m thinking (and hoping) that a good tear down and scrubbing should do the job. I know crud can cause problems. I remember about thirty years or so ago my brother in law almost sold his brand new M77 30-06 because it “misfired”. My dad took the bolt out soaked it in gasoline for a couple hours and you could see the packing grease ooze out of it. The trigger group got hosed down with WD -40 and everything was blasted with the compressed air hose so it was dry. I think my dad lubed the bolt internals with a dry lube because temps were near zero. The next day it killed a six point without issue. The old 357 is likely getting the same treatment.

 

[Brinky72]

Not familiar with Taurus wheel guns but if the firing pin is separate from the hammer more than likely there is crud in and around the firing pin preventing it from full protrusion when the hammer strikes it.
When I carried for a living, we had Ruger wheel guns and lint would get in the works from our uniforms and cause failures to fire, dust balls from storage can do the same thing.

I remember the good old days when we would qualify with our secondary pistols, S&W 640’s 357 magnums. Half the time the flame from the pocket fuzz was as big as the muzzle blast. I loved those old magnums. If the hydra shock didn’t kill them the blast would.

 

[Heavy Barrel]

With no end shake in the cylinder, then that leaves only three possibilities. A dirty/gummed up action, a weak hammer spring, or a faulty firing pin.

 

[Vince2]

Some may not agree but I run my revolvers dry. I find it helps to reduce the amount of “gunk” inside the pistola.

I live in a very dusty climate and oil just attracts dirt like a magnet.

Vince