Yep. The motors ship with the wires already stripped and kind-of ‘bunched’ together, so it is very common for the conductors to be touching. If the proper wires are in contact, a stepper can be very reluctant to turning by hand. In fact, this is one trick some folks use to determine which coils are related to which colors.
Keep the wires separated when spinning the motor by hand and they will move very easily (you will feel the ‘detents’ as you turn the shaft)
BrianV