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I was giving a CHL proficiency test on Saturday when something I've not seen before happened. One of my students was shooting a Ruger .32 caliber 5-shot revolver, and when she went to extract the spent shells, one shell remained in the cylinder. It was underneath the extractor star and she couldn't get it out. Even pulling the star wheel out as far as possible would not allow the shell to clear the cylinder. I finally got it removed by the application of a fair amount of force with the extractor pulled out as far as I could force it.

This is the first revolver I've had in any of my classes, and I'm somewhat stuck for what the proper solution for this problem is. And is this something that happens often? Advice from those more experienced with revolvers would be appreciated.

Edit: looks like it was probably a .38, not a .32

I have seen that happen on more than one occasion. I started shooting in the early 70"s, and cut my teeth on revolvers. You just have to work with it until it comes out.

It is a pain.

Many years ago I had this happen. The first time I took the gun to the range a case seperated about half way and it wouldn't budge. It was a .38 special handload, so it could have been a defective case or maybe a loading error.

What I did was to make a little tool to extract the shell. I got a hex socket bolt and turned down the head on a lathe to a diameter slightly smaller that the cylinder bore. Put a couple of washers on the protect the finish on the gun, put a nut on the other end. A couple of turns with a wrench popped it out without any damage to the gun. I was fortunate enough to have access to a lathe.

WildBill wrote:Many years ago I had this happen. The first time I took the gun to the range a case seperated about half way and it wouldn't budge. It was a .38 special handload, so it could have been a defective case or maybe a loading error.

What I did was to make a little tool to extract the shell. I got a hex socket bolt and turned down the head on a lathe to a diameter slightly smaller that the cylinder bore. Put a couple of washers on the protect the finish on the gun, put a nut on the other end. A couple of turns with a wrench popped it out without any damage to the gun. I was fortunate enough to have access to a lathe.

Well, the case was moveable within the cylinder, but I couldn't pull it out because it would hit the back of the extractor wheel before clearing the cylinder bore. I've never understood why the extractor only pushes the shells most of the way out, but not ALL the way. If I could have pulled the extractor wheel out another quarter of an inch, the shell would have come right out.

I am surprised you couldn't just use some needle nose pliers to crush and twist it out. I guess there is a risk of scratching something that way.

MechAg94 wrote:I am surprised you couldn't just use some needle nose pliers to crush and twist it out. I guess there is a risk of scratching something that way.

If I'd had a pair of pliers, I might have tried that...

I have never heard of that. I have seen cases bulge and stick with some handloaded ammo, but I have never seen the extractor "hop" a case. I have a ruger LCR and an sp101 that I carry on rare occasion. This is definitely something for me to keep a look out for. Thanks for the heads up.

sjfcontrol wrote:

WildBill wrote:Many years ago I had this happen. The first time I took the gun to the range a case seperated about half way and it wouldn't budge. It was a .38 special handload, so it could have been a defective case or maybe a loading error.

What I did was to make a little tool to extract the shell. I got a hex socket bolt and turned down the head on a lathe to a diameter slightly smaller that the cylinder bore. Put a couple of washers on the protect the finish on the gun, put a nut on the other end. A couple of turns with a wrench popped it out without any damage to the gun. I was fortunate enough to have access to a lathe.

Well, the case was moveable within the cylinder, but I couldn't pull it out because it would hit the back of the extractor wheel before clearing the cylinder bore. I've never understood why the extractor only pushes the shells most of the way out, but not ALL the way. If I could have pulled the extractor wheel out another quarter of an inch, the shell would have come right out.

Sorry, I missed that part. It seems if the shell was still hitting the extractor you could have carefully bent the offending portion with some needle nose pliers.

As for the design of the extractor, it probably is more costly and less asthetic to have such a long throw. And as you know, most of the time you don't need it.

I assume that this problem fully disabled the revolver, is that correct? I would imagine that the empty case would hold the extractor up enough to prevent the cylinder from being closed, or was this not the case? It seems that in an engagement of some sort, this type of failure would be extremely problematic, and more difficult to deal with than a semi-auto jam. If the remaining four cylinders could be loaded and the revolver was still operational, at least the shooter would still be in the fight, but I am guessing this was not the case.

karder wrote:I assume that this problem fully disabled the revolver, is that correct? I would imagine that the empty case would hold the extractor up enough to prevent the cylinder from being closed, or was this not the case? It seems that in an engagement of some sort, this type of failure would be extremely problematic, and more difficult to deal with than a semi-auto jam. If the remaining four cylinders could be loaded and the revolver was still operational, at least the shooter would still be in the fight, but I am guessing this was not the case.

I suspect you're right, but I didn't try to close the cylinder with the shell in place.

Not uncommon if the extractor is not forcibly pushed with the barrel pointed in the air.

Murindo wrote:Not uncommon if the extractor is not forcibly pushed with the barrel pointed in the air.

Yeah, I've had this happen as well, and with S&W revolvers as well as Rugers. When the extractor star's at full extension, there's just barely enough "wiggle room" for a cartridge to get "under" the star and fall back into the cylinder if gravity is not assisting the extraction (or if the extractor rod isn't given enough "oomph" to kick the cartridges free). The fix is slow, but easy; extend the extractor star at full extension again and hold it there, while wiggling the stuck cartridge out. It's definitely not a "gross motor skill" and adrenaline in a high-stress moment won't help.

Prevention: always practice tipping the barrel up and using enough force to kick the cartridges out. It's in the same vein with allowing a semi-auto's slide to "slingshot" instead of riding the slide forward on a fresh magazine.

This definitely happens, and is one of several reasons why revolvers aren't as "foolproof" as people think (cylinder lockup being another). Unfortunately, the best solution is to always keep a brass rod in your range bag to forcibly "pop" the offending casing out. There are slight variances in casing sizes (between brands), and there's not a lot of "wiggle room" with extractors.

Keep this incident in mind when people tell you that revolvers are more reliable than semi-autos (because they aren't).

I would add a set of tools to your range bag, or a multi=tool of some manner, most multi=tools operate as long nose pliers.

I would avoid needle nose pliers, they are too delicate for that sort of job.