Judge: forcing cone issue? or ammo? You be the Judge

[MissKitty]

We have always had on and off issues with our Night Court Judge. Jack decided yesterday to take it to the range with us. We stopped to get some ammo, and they were out of the PDX1 shells, so we had to get Federal #4 shells. In the past we had always had a slight issue with the cylinder locking up after a few rounds. At first we thought it was just dirty so we'd often bring along a brass brush and use it in between shooting. So yesterday Jack became very frustrated as every other shot locked up the cylinder tight. Our first thought was ammo. So this morning I'm getting ready to clean all the firearms from yesterday's trip, I have one of those head gear thingy's with a magnifier and a light. First thing I notice is a very clear scrape mark on one side of the forcing cone. Upon further inspection I notice that the forcing cone is lop sided, if you will. It is not perfectly flat and dragging on this one side. Could this be the real culprit all this time?

.....And, I was having a similar problem with my Tracker. I sold it to a guy at work who's brother in law is a gunsmith (with full knowledge that it was having issues). Even though I had strongly suggested they send it in, he had his BL look at it. He told me it was the forcing cone dragging on the cylinder, they filed it back and it shoots like a flawless dream now. So now I'm wondering if this is our issue with the Judge as well.

I've tried to take pictures, I don't know if you can see the odd shape of the forcing cone, so Jack quickly drew up a picture to help explain what we can see.


In the first picture, I was trying to show how the forcing cone is not flat, it's 'warbled' or 'uneven'.



The second picture I am trying to show the obvious rub marks, but I don't believe it does very well.



In this last picture, Jack is trying to show in his drawing what it looks like to us. The shaded area's are the area's that have some 'play' and do not touch the cylinder. The none shaded area's are tight and actually touch and drag on the cylinder.




Now my main question is....is this something we can fix with some simple careful filing? or is this so precision that we should send it back?

[Robby]

Just in case, it is more like the barrel being slightly off, I personally would send it back. However if it is out of time for them to pay for shipment, I might try to carefully fix the problem myself. I am a cheap skate!!

[MissKitty]

Robby, Can you refresh my memory on the time frame that they will pay for it? We purchased it brand new on 12/18/2010. I can't remember now if I ever filled out anything online as far as registration with Taurus.

I'm going to call them Monday after we get home from work. I guess now I'll get to have my own customer service experience. LOL! I have no worries that this problem will be resolved and I plan to be the model customer. My Dad always said, you get more flies with honey.........

[Robby]

Ok, they have been known to pick up shipping up to one year after purchase! Your a bit over that?

[MissKitty]

Ah ok, well that's alright. It can't be all that much.

[whodog]

My problem w/ my poly defender is the all the Federal shells lock the cylinder up, but never had a problem w/ PDX1 or Remmy shells. So I'm not sure that the cone is my problem. But thanks for sharing, because I will keep that in mind...

[dbeardslee]

Ah ok, well that's alright. It can't be all that much.

IIRC you can't send firearms through the U.S. mail - pretty sure it's gotta be fedex or UPS, and I think they both want firearms shipped second-day air so they're kept in more secure areas. One thing to do if you think the forcing cone is lop sided is to measure the gap with a feeler gauge on both sides. That'll at least give you some numbers when you talk to customer service.

[Jake3501]

If you bought through a local gun dealer, perhaps you can get him to ship it at a reduced rate.

[MissKitty]

My problem w/ my poly defender is the all the Federal shells lock the cylinder up, but never had a problem w/ PDX1 or Remmy shells. So I'm not sure that the cone is my problem. But thanks for sharing, because I will keep that in mind...

We always contributed it to being dirty from the ammo and would constantly clean the star in between lock ups. I think we had gotten the idea that revolvers can get dirty fast and cause these issues from the LGS we had purchased it from, because we did call him after the first few times it did this. We were told it wasn't broke in yet and to clean around the star. Well, we lost our local range not long after and just never got a chance to keep testing it or get it completely 'broke in'. Since we've been going a lot now to a new range, each time it gets worse and worse. To the point that yesterday with the Federal handgun .410 #4 shells, it locked up from the very first one in a completely clean gun. He would have to force the cylinder to turn each time. The ammo casing is never stuck, as others have complained about, you can slide the case out easily. He would even load one shell into a different chamber each time to see if he could figure out if it was just one chamber causing problems and it was locking up with every single one. This is the worst it's ever been.

[Montkun]

Yeah, no firearms through the USPS. Must be FedEx or UPS only due to Federal Restrictions. I would definitely send it in, as other problems could develop from the forcing cone rubbing against the cylinder. The star can be taking premature damage from forcing it around with so much contact, and there's no use working down the cone yourself if you end up having to send it in later for a new star. Think of it as a preventative check up just in case any other problems have developed which are hidden at the moment.