[rjoslin414]

Bought this .357 Rossi revolver used on-line and love the weapon. I'm having an maddening intermittent (the worst kind) malfunction that occurs as follows:

Usually after firing a few rounds (not 40 or 50, but usually more than a dozen) I will pull back on the trigger (double action) and after the trigger pull has gone perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of its total travel distance, I cannot pull the trigger any further, no matter how hard I try. Although it's true that the DA trigger-pull on this revolver is not easy anyway, I never have any trouble pulling the trigger normally. By trial and error, if I release the trigger and try again, the same thing happens. However, if I manually cock the hammer, it will always fire successfully and the problem is (at least for time being) gone. It doesn't occur often enough that I can even depend on it to occur again the same shooting session at the range. Except for an occasional .357 round just to get the "feel" of the heftier cartridge, I shoot almost exclusively plain vanilla .38 FMJ at the range.

I've tried to reproduce the malfunction with both SnapCaps and spent shells in the chambers, but cannot do so--ever. This leads me to think that the condition that causes it must be caused by the ignition or just the recoil of live ammo. I am new to shooting (2-3 years) and especially to revolvers (this is my only one), so I might butcher some of the terminology--please forgive this. The closest I've come to reproducing the "feel" of the malfunction is to hold the cylinder in place right after it starts to move, i.e., pull the trigger back just enough to have the cylinder start to revolve and then clamp down on it with my other hand and just prevent it from turning. This is what it feels like when the malfunction occurs. I know there is something called the "hand" which actually rotates the cylinder between shots and I'm wondering if somehow it can be hanging up and prevent the cylinder from turning. This is just rank-amateur speculation on my part, however.

I have written to Rossi/Taurus to make sure this weapon is (or isn't) covered under the lifetime warranty, but am skeptical of sending it in only to have them find nothing wrong because they can't reproduce the problem. That's part of the reason I'm posting here, hoping someone will say "Oh yeah, I had the same problem and here's what fixed it," or "yeah, I had the same problem and no one could ever fix it." I guess I can take it to a local gunsmith, but the same problem exists in that case as well.

Can anyone tell what this problem is called? (The title of this post is just something I made up.) If it has a name? Or can anyone tell me what they think could be wrong?

Thanks ahead of time for any advice, help, info.

Rick J.

PS Unrelated issue: the serial # of this Rossi starts with a letter "S" and then something that could be a numeral zero or a capital "O". When I looked at again this morning with magnification, that character could also be a capital "D". Is there a list somewhere of serial #'s that I can reference?

 

[Jake3501]

Check to see if your ejection rod is unscrewing, if it is loose, use a little lock tight on it.

Also check to see what clearance you have between the cylinder and the forcing cone and if it is closing up when the cylinder heats up after firing a couple of cylinders of ammo.

 

[GhostHorse]

Having found a pic of a 461 action (ignore the little circle, it's someone else's):

And considering that moving to SA solves the problem, I wonder if what might be happening is that the sear sometimes isn't being pushed forward fast/completely enough to reach a full forward position. The trigger lever, instead of being fully under the sear the way it should be, is kind of balancing on the tip of the sear, meaning there isn't enough room to complete the range of motion it usually follows.

You might be able to diagnose this with a bunch of dry firing. Pointed up, the sear is more likely to fail to move all the way into position. Pointed down, gravity is assisting the sear. So if you get more jams while the barrel is pointing up, then that would confirm that this a all about sear movement. The question is, now many trigger pulls would it take to figure it out? Could be hundreds. Of course, you might get lucky and get confirmation quickly.

But it might be something completely different too. There are lots of folks who know more about revolver action than I do.

 

[rjoslin414]

Thanks for both these replies. Can you put a big red "x" on the "sear" on one or both pictures? I've heard the term countless times but still have only the vaguest idea of what it does or where it's located in the overall scheme of things. And I'll certainly try tightening up the ejector rod if it's loose, but I don't honestly think it is.

And, in terms of checking the clearance between the cylinder and the forcing cone, I assume I'd check this with a feeler gauge? And the problem could occur if the clearance was too narrow? i.e., heat would make things swell and bind? But in this case, wouldn't the binding continue instead of going away with manual cocking and not returning for quite a while? And looking ahead, if the clearance between cylinder and cone WAS the problem, what could be done about it? Insert a bushing or spacer of some sort, perhaps?

Thanks so much for getting back to me so SOON. I am impressed.
Rick J.

 

[rjoslin414]

Addendum: found the that second character of the SN is indeed "D" and not zero or "O". I just entered that SN into the taurus website SN checker and found it with the "D" character. So that is no longer a problem.

 

[RandyP]

MY 461 went the way of the recall program, so I now proudly own a Taurus 605. It's a nice snubbie IMHO.

Yes, a feeler gauge is used to check the clearance between the cylinder and the forcing cone, and yes the clearance reduces as the gun heats up and also yes, it 'could' be that only one or some of the cylinders get too close. The forcing cone face would have to be filed/sanded to increase the gap. I agree that since it works single action, the gap is not the most likely suspect.

I would add that IF your 461 is among the recalled serial number ranges, my respectful suggestion would be to send it back and eventually enjoy your Taurus. I'm kinda anal about following safety recalls for anything I own, guns included. A number of folks have posted that they are choosing to keep their recalled pistols instead, so your pistol, your choice, your consequences.

Here is a link to an Owner's Manual for your revolver. Scroll down to the exploded parts drawing, the SEAR is #29. Hope this helps.

https://assets.academy.com/mgen/23/10166423.pdf

Finally - DO NOT mess with any internal gun parts, especially the sear. That IS the realm of a competent gunsmith IMHO.

 

[Mattinseattle]

Bought this .357 Rossi revolver used on-line and love the weapon. I'm having an maddening intermittent (the worst kind) malfunction that occurs as follows:

Usually after firing a few rounds (not 40 or 50, but usually more than a dozen) I will pull back on the trigger (double action) and after the trigger pull has gone perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of its total travel distance, I cannot pull the trigger any further, no matter how hard I try. Although it's true that the DA trigger-pull on this revolver is not easy anyway, I never have any trouble pulling the trigger normally. By trial and error, if I release the trigger and try again, the same thing happens. However, if I manually cock the hammer, it will always fire successfully and the problem is (at least for time being) gone. It doesn't occur often enough that I can even depend on it to occur again the same shooting session at the range. Except for an occasional .357 round just to get the "feel" of the heftier cartridge, I shoot almost exclusively plain vanilla .38 FMJ at the range.

I've tried to reproduce the malfunction with both SnapCaps and spent shells in the chambers, but cannot do so--ever. This leads me to think that the condition that causes it must be caused by the ignition or just the recoil of live ammo. I am new to shooting (2-3 years) and especially to revolvers (this is my only one), so I might butcher some of the terminology--please forgive this. The closest I've come to reproducing the "feel" of the malfunction is to hold the cylinder in place right after it starts to move, i.e., pull the trigger back just enough to have the cylinder start to revolve and then clamp down on it with my other hand and just prevent it from turning. This is what it feels like when the malfunction occurs. I know there is something called the "hand" which actually rotates the cylinder between shots and I'm wondering if somehow it can be hanging up and prevent the cylinder from turning. This is just rank-amateur speculation on my part, however.

I have written to Rossi/Taurus to make sure this weapon is (or isn't) covered under the lifetime warranty, but am skeptical of sending it in only to have them find nothing wrong because they can't reproduce the problem. That's part of the reason I'm posting here, hoping someone will say "Oh yeah, I had the same problem and here's what fixed it," or "yeah, I had the same problem and no one could ever fix it." I guess I can take it to a local gunsmith, but the same problem exists in that case as well.

Can anyone tell what this problem is called? (The title of this post is just something I made up.) If it has a name? Or can anyone tell me what they think could be wrong?

Thanks ahead of time for any advice, help, info.

Rick J.

PS Unrelated issue: the serial # of this Rossi starts with a letter "S" and then something that could be a numeral zero or a capital "O". When I looked at again this morning with magnification, that character could also be a capital "D". Is there a list somewhere of serial #'s that I can reference?

I found in my 462 the rebound slide was buckling against the trigger pin. Gave it a good internal cleaning. Shot of brake cleaner. Problem solved. I think too much oil caused it

 

[Czechbikr]

I actually had that issue and sent it to Taurus paying 30 bucks for the privilege of them telling me it was fine and they sent it back. 11 months later they had the recall and replaced it with a model 605.

 

[RimPhyr]

I actually had that issue and sent it to Taurus paying 30 bucks for the privilege of them telling me it was fine and they sent it back. 11 months later they had the recall and replaced it with a model 605.

That is a terrible experience. I wanted to give your comment a LIKE but it seems weird to LIKE your misfortune. How do you feel about the 605?