[MadJohn]

First off, brass frame open top (Colt style) revolvers can be quite weak. On the other hand, after several rounds of firing there can be a build-up of fouling on the cylinder face, preventing easy rotation. In battle during the Civil War Remington Army and Navy revolvers were notorious for this problem. Actually they were machined so well that the clearance between cylinder and barrel was quite tight. Tapping the wedge out slightly is a quick fix but it needs to be cleaned to keep a healthy gun. Sloppy wedge can be a bad thing as it causes undue force on the frame where the wedge goes through and it is really hard on the cylinder mandrel (cylinder pivot pin) causeing alot of stress on the wedge slot. I have seen cracked frames and broken mandrels If the wedge is kept tight the forces of firing propels the ball down the barrel not hammering your gun to death. Happy shooting....