I'm just starting to look at handguns and when looking at some revolvers, I see that it said "Ejector Rod is Locked".

Can anyone tell me what the necessarily means and the implications?

Also, can anyone point toward some good resources for picking a handgun?

My guess is that they are referring to the front latch of a Smith&Wesson. It's under the barrel and holds the front end of the ejector rod in place when the cylinder is closed. AFAIK, all revolvers with swing-out cylinders lock the back end of the ejector rod.

Bye
Jack

What said the "ejector rod is locked"? On a Colt Single Action or Ruger Blackhawk single action pistol the ejector rod is mounted on the barrel co axially with it. To eject a spent round, you open the loading gate, align the chamber and push the rod toward the rear, thus ejecting the empty cartridge case. Why the ejector rod would be locked is beyond me. I've had cylinder base pins that would lock to prevent backing out during recoil, but not an ejector rod. On a double action revolver the ejector rod is located through the cylinder, and pushing it towards the rear will eject the cartridges simultaneously. I've had these back off in older S&W M29's due to recoil and Smith modified the M29 in the mid 80's to rectify this, but I've never heard of one being "locked".

As far as picking a good handgun, you need to define what your intended use will be before anyone can give a good answer on that.

Come to think of it, if an ejector rod on a Smith & Wesson unscrews itself, it does lock up, as the front latch can't release it.

Bye
Jack

Saw it on an old colt 61 navy that's being sold locally.

I mostly have late 19th to early 20th century rifles. I had wanted to possibly get a few revolvers from 1860 - 1910. Am not looking for self defense purposes or hunting. Mostly something usable, but with a bit of history behind it.

That's a blackpowder cap&ball revolver. I don't think they've got an ejector rod, but they do have a loading lever under the barrel where the ejector rod is on a modern revolver. Pulling down on it forces the oversized ball into the cylinder. Some loading levers were latched at the front and some weren't. Some, mostly the smallest, didn't have a loading lever at all. Sorry, but I'm more than a bit hazy on the various cap&ball models.

Bye
Jack

All of the Colt's revolvers with the exception of the first model Paterson and the Baby Dragoon had loading levers, but no ejector rods, as there was nothing to eject in a cap and ball revolver. All of the models with loading levers, with the exception of the second model Paterson and the Colt's Walker had latches to keep the loading levers in place, especially during recoil and the rigors of combat. The later conversions of the cap and ball revolvers to cartridge, as well as the open top Colt's cartridge revolvers that preceeded the 1873 had ejector rods and no loading levers. It's all pretty confusing, and one needs a scorecard to keep up.

Colt Navy/Army revolvers had swing out cylinders. Made from 1889-94. There would be an ejector rod just like any double action. The first issue lacked the cylinder locking notches. The second issue has them. These were made from 1892-07.