[Smoke-Wagon]

Hi guys, I recently acquired a 1963 python that was a duty pistol then sat in a safe for a very long time. I took it to the range yesterday and ran into a couple problems. First problem was the trigger had problems resetting, after firing a round it wouldn't go forward unless I applied a little pressure to the rear of it. The second problem was light primer strikes which happened more on .357 than .38 special. After a closer inspection I noticed the side plate screw looks to have been worn a little and the grips were sanded down smooth which makes me think someone may have worked on it at some point. After a little research I found that both problems can come from the springs being lightened or some old dried up gunk inside the action. My question is this, my local range has an ultrasonic cleaner, would that clean the action? Also I'm wondering if that would pose any threats to the finish? As of now there is quite a bit of holster wear. Thanks!

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

Pics under the grips

 

[chaosrob]

I had this issue with a king cobra. I didn't feel like removing the sideplate so I removed the grips and shot a lot of powder blaster into the action . A ton of gunk came out, and I kept spraying until there was no more darkness coming out. I then sprayed a lot of break free clp into the action and let it sit upright for a couple days. I wiped it off, replaced the grips and no more problems.

 

[oberon]

That thing might just be ginked up with crud & congealed gruk over 50 years of use. There is nothing lost in removing the sideplate and gettin' in there real good.
You can get the correct screws to replace the buggered ones. Be sure to have the correct bits on hand so's you don't re- bugger it when you reassemble it.
There's no reason whatsoever you can't have that thing runnin' like a spotted ape.

 

[Seabee_CO]

Light primer hits while shooting DA? This happens to me when I happen to try slowly squeeze my DA trigger instead of a smooth straight through pull. If your light strike fire does not occur in SA mode or continuous DA pull, its you. If you try that and you still get light strikes, (assuming good primers) the it's the revolver.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

I watched a YouTube video on the disassembly of the python and it doesn't look too hard to just take the cylinder and side plate off to take a look, maybe ill give that a try and take a pic. Does the cylinder have to come off just to remove the side plate?As for the light strikes it is a possibility I was pulling the trigger too slowly, I haven't fired full power rounds in quite some time to the recoil was massive compared to my .22 I've been practicing with. Thanks so far guys and keep them coming.

 

[KMKCOLT]

Put it in the sonic cleaner. Dont worry about the finish since it has wer anyway what difference will it make, its a shooter. i also dontthink he cleaner is going to harm the finish by using it one time. As for the light hit that can happen in many ways. Someone may have had a trigger work done or the spring may need replacement or it is dirty.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

Put it in the sonic cleaner. Dont worry about the finish since it has wer anyway what difference will it make, its a shooter. i also dontthink he cleaner is going to harm the finish by using it one time. As for the light hit that can happen in many ways. Someone may have had a trigger work done or the spring may need replacement or it is dirty.

I am definitely over cautious with this gun and with my luck it will come out like stallones mom cleaning his gun in "stop or my mom will shoot"

 

[MtnSpur]

Take the path of least resistance FIRST, that would be to spray the begeeezus into the action as stated above. If you still have issues, sideplate removal using the correct hollow ground bits so as not to further mess up your screws (get replacements btw). Once screws are out place the frame sideplate down in your palm or a cushioned surface like a towel and a few raps on the grip frame will loosen the sideplate and pop it off. DO NOT pry. Make sure to have the cylinder latch, spring and insert, as they can fall apart, together. You don't need to disassemble the revolver further to be able to adequately clean. If this is your first sideplate, reassembling can be a little tricky so make sure STEP ONE didn't fix the issue before going further

 

[dfariswheel]

DEPENDING ON WHAT THE CLEANER IS FILLED WITH, ultrasonic cleaning will not harm your Python.
If the sights have a white outline rear ultrasonics will instantly or eventually remove the paint, again depending on the cleaner solution.
Red front sight inserts can be attacked by some solvents like lacquer thinner, etc.

An ultrasonic cleaner will TOTALLY clean your Python surgically clean, including the sight assembly, the entire action, the firing pin assembly, and the complete cylinder assembly.
It will help in removal of carbon fouling, may help removal of leading, but will not remove copper fouling. Again, how well it cleans normal fouling caused by shooting depends on the cleaner solution used. Normally, you still have to clean the bore and chambers.

The only necessity is after cleaning and rinsing you have to get everything totally dry, then use a good lubricant that will infiltrate into every hidden crack and crevice.
This includes the rear sight, the cylinder and crane assembly, and the action.
Solvent based cleaners and rinses evaporate. Water based cleaners and rinses are more difficult.
I used a hair dryer to warm the metal to force dry it. NOTE: hair dryer, NOT torch, heat gun, or oven.

A lube like CLP Breakfree is a good penetrating lubricant that will work very well, but the spray can can type does not spray a mist, it comes out in big slurps that can over do it.
Even so, if you spray it in and shake out the excess, then give it a few hours it will penetrate or creep into every recess.
You may have to wipe off leakage for a few days but that's no problem.

This will leave the gun totally clean and lubricated. Then you can more easily determine if something is off mechanically that's causing the trigger reset problem.
If you still have trigger reset or ignition problems, a common cause of that is someone bent the mainspring to try for a lighter trigger pull and went too far.
The Colt "Vee" spring powers the entire action including trigger reset, and will cause mis-fires in double action and even single action if they really went too far.

 

[weagle99]

Looks like that monogrip did a number on the finish underneath, or perhaps it is just the lighting of the picture.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

Looks like that monogrip did a number on the finish underneath, or perhaps it is just the lighting of the picture.

The mono just went on the other day. I put some CLP on the frame before mounting so it may just be the lighting and smudged lube. In person it just wipes away

 

[BlackKnight]

If you are not comfortable taking the sideplate off take it to a competetant gunsmith that really knows Pythons and have them give it a thorough cleaning and inspection. They would be able to tell you if it simply needed a complete cleaning or if some parts need replacing. The screws you need can be easily obtained. Colt may still have some, Numrich Arms or even Brownells may have them as well. Depending on labor and parts this may cost you about $100 to $150 maybe even less but it would be money well spent.

 

[RDak]

As dfariswheel alluded to.........the first thing I thought when looking at your pictures is someone bent the mainspring too much to make it lighter.

If it was me I'd be thinking of buying a new mainspring in addition to strip cleaning it real well.

 

[Mike1969]

The trigger on my Python would not reset either. I asked questions on this forum and someone suggested to remove the grips and then soak the gun in Kroil. It worked great for me. Just do not do that in the house. Kroil has a very strong odor.

 

[Jaymo]

Yep. Kroil smells like Pine Sol to me. Not the worst, but not my favorite scent.
As far as CLP spray goes, you can buy Tri-Flow lube in a trigger spray bottle.
It's the same as the old, 1990s Break Free CLP.
The nozzle can be set for spray or stream.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

I'm hoping to make it to the range Sunday for the ultrasonic clean and then shoot it to see what happens

 

[KMKCOLT]

After cleaning don't forget to lube the action since dry action can cause problems as well.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

Ok ill find out what solvents they use and supervise the cleaning, thanks. I did notice on Friday, a couple hours after shooting I could get the trigger to stick at home with snap caps and today the sticking is gone. It was Probably the heat from the magnums.

 

[Smoke-Wagon]

Update: I took the python to be cleaned on Wednesday, they use break free CLP inside the machine. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to try it so I only put 12 magnums through it. No trigger sticking but the light primer strikes still occurred, I only shot DA. Next week when I have more time I will run a full box of .38 and .357 and see what happens.