[Old Salt]

Have a S&W 586. The cylinder is not rotating well. Feels as if there is "gum" that needs to be cleaned out. To do so I will need to remove the clylinder. That means I have to unscrew the extractor rod. My problem is that it doesn't want to unscrew. Before I mess it up, is it right handed or left handed threaded? Any help?

 

[ktr]

Left hand thread on the ejector rod. Remove the cylinder assembly from the frame by taking the front sideplate screw on the right hand side of the frame out. Then line up one of the cylinder flutes with the frame contour ahead of it and slide the cylinder along with the crane (yoke) off of the gun. Then remove the ejector rod. They are in tight!. Don't be tempted to use a pliers on it. There are special tools for grasping the ejector rod to turn it. But lacking one of those, I put the rod end in my bench vise with wood jaw protectors and firmly clamp down on it. Place a couple of empty cases into the cylinder to help take up the torque of turning, and then by grasping onto the cylinder itself, unscrew the rod. Left Hand Thread! Keep track of the assembly sequence of the internal parts from the cylinder/ejector/rod/springs.
Just doing the first step,,removing the assembly from the frame, will allow you to pull the crane forward and nearly (but not quite) off of the ejector rod. Far enough forward to clean the surface and lub. Perhaps that will be enough to get the gun back working well again and avoid having to remove the ejector rod itself.

 

[Old Salt]

Thanks. Didn't want to do anything stupid (but then again I've been married 29 years). I'll let you know how I made out. Thanks again.

 

[Old Salt]

Thanks KTR.
You were right, didn't need to unscrew the extractor rod. Just took out the one screw and the cylinder came free. Blew all the crud out with Break Free, used a touch of gun grease and reassembled. The action is slick and like I remember it. Thanks again.