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Colt 357 Python Cylinder not Turning

Help357
Can anyone help me.
I have a old mistreated Colt Python, hammer cocks fine with cylinder open and single action and double, but with cylinder closed it locks after one single action pull of hammer and fails to turn!
I have pulled it to single pieces and can find no wear of parts .
I have not worked on revolvers for over 12 years when I had to clean every part of black powder Remington 44 and Colt detective 36 so am swinging blind here need help ASAP
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7 comments

Date Votes
  • 11b6r
    First, would check the ejector rod, and be certain it is screwed in snugly. Smiths, more than Colts due to cylinder rotation, are well known for unscrewing the ejector rod. If it is loose, before tightening it, put a couple of rounds of fired brass in the cylinder, then tighten rod. Takes strain off alignment pins in ejector star when tightening.
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  • Help357
    Putting together and checking ejector rod can I over tighten it?
    Only got gun less than 24 hours ago been apart 4 times and blued again.
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  • dfletcher
    Just a suggestion - reassemble the gun to include closing the cylinder, but leave the sideplate off. You can manually push the cylinder bolt in place to hold the cylinder. Obviously you'll have to cock the hammer slowly and not let it fall on its own. But you'll be able to see what happens. It could be that the hand is not pivoting forward & moving the cylinder. Maybe the interaction of the hand & rebound lever is off.
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  • Help357
    Thats it the hand and rebound lever are not connecting properly.
    What do I do now?
    Buy new hand ,rebound lever?
    And is there a take down manual available.
    Becase sometimes when I reasemble the hammer trigger only works in single action then I pull it apart and do it exactly the same and double action is back working.
    I know I must be doing some thing wrong what ?
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  • dfletcher
    deleted
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  • dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by Help357
    Thats it the hand and rebound lever are not connecting properly.
    What do I do now?
    Buy new hand ,rebound lever?
    And is there a take down manual available.
    Becase sometimes when I reasemble the hammer trigger only works in single action then I pull it apart and do it exactly the same and double action is back working.
    I know I must be doing some thing wrong what ?


    Beats the heck out of me, I was just guessin' ....[;)]

    Just a suggestion, but it could be the gun is being reassembled incorrectly and you may find that through repeated assembly you may learn what you're doing wrong. That's how I learned and I'll bet many others did the same. You may want to bring the gun to a gunsmith simply for a cleaning and reassembly. But on the possibility there is a problem, and I'm probably going to do a lousy job describing this, here goes.

    First, the hand has a little round edge to it on the inside bottom where the hand's post sets into the trigger. The bottom edge of the rebound lever needs to rest on that ledge and in doing so, the downward pressure from the V mainspring pushes on the rebound lever which in turn uses those angles on the hand base to cams it forward. You should be able to visualize how the gradually sloped flat edge of the lever cams the hand forward. Sometimes during reassembly the rebound lever isn't properly seated, or perhaps there's some gunk on the hand that changes the angle.

    Lift the rebound lever, fully seat the hand and give it a few functions - the rebound lever must ride on the angled ledge, not the hand's stem. If the angles on the base of the hand are off they can be reworked, but it should be done by someone who knows their way around the gun's insides.

    If the current hand can not be saved, the fix should be a new hand, not a new rebound lever, which you can get from Numrich Arms. The hand must be fitted to ensure proper timing and lock up.

    Unlike Smiths, older Colts such as the Python, the D frames and the New Service, OM types have parts that are very much interdependent. So the part will have to be fitted to the gun as opposed to a drop in. If you have to bring the gun to a gunsmith ask him if he's installed a Colt hand - if he has and yours needs to be replaced you should be fine.
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  • mrs102
    The Gun Digest Assembly/Disassembly manual has the Colt steps in it. The NRA Handgun Assembly book does too. All the Colts with the V shaped main spring disassemble and reassemble the same. Not too difficult but has too be right. Without one apart in front of me I'm working from memory. When the hand goes in over the rebound lever I believe there is a ridge on the hand that has to be engaged by the lever. Be sure the connector slots for the trigger and hammer are properly attached and the hammer block is riding properly in its slot. That can bind things up.
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