Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Single Action Army action frozen

I have a Cimarron Single Action Army, .45 Colt, with exactly 51 rounds through it. Firing cast bullets with light loads. Upon firing the 51st shot, the action locked up and cannot be moved. The hammer is down and cannot be cocked or moved. The trigger cannot be moved at all. I got the pin and cylinder out ok but did not improve things. The fired round showed no signs of pressure. Before I took the cylinder out I checked for backed off primers, no joy. Remaining rounds look fine. Any ideas?

If it was mine, I'd be taking the screws out to see what broke.

DF

Trigger spring.

This is what I would do as well.

It is likely to be a broken "split leg" on the bolt (called the cylinder stop on every other gun but a Colt) The leg that catches the cam lobe on the hammer is lifted and that makes the bolt pivot downward to unlock the cylinder when the hammer is cocked only about 1/8" inch. If the leg breaks the bolt will not unlock.

Take the gun apart. Remove the grips 1st if they are 2 piece. Remove the back strap first if the grips are one piece.
Next, after the grips and back strap are off, remove the trigger guard. It's best to pivot the main spring to the side so it's not putting tension on the hammer while you remove the Trigger guard. Then take the screw out that holds the sear and bolt spring. It's a large headed screw inside the front of the gun and you'll see it easily when the TG is off the gun.

Then remove the 3 screws from the side of the frame which will allow the guts to fall out of the gun (hammer needs to be slipped down so the hand will clear it's "tunnel") the trigger and the bolt will fall out the bottom.

That is all there is to stripping one. The bolt (cylinder stop) is the 1st thing to look at. The gun is not unlocking. If the bolt is OK, look at the cam lobe on the hammer. If both are ok then the top of the hand is too long and need to have about .005" stoned off.

I wonder if the original poster found out what was wrong with his gun?