Disapointing range report for two S&W's

[teddy12b]

I went out to the range last weekend with my cousin and he brought two of his dad's (my uncles) S&W revolvers.  He bought both of these used and they're a little older (both had the fixed firing pin on the hammer and wood grips).  Neither of these guns looked had it had ever seen abuse or even moderate use. 

One was a stainless about 8" or so 357mag.  That 357 would occasionally not strike the primer good enough to light off the round.  At first we thought it was a fluke, but we had pretty new ammo and after that happened a couple times with different ammo I red flagged that gun told him to put it away because that just isn't safe.

The other one was a blued 44mag with about an 8" barrel and it functioned fine throughout the firing session right up until the end.  My cousin was firing the last couple rounds in a box when the "cylinder release thumb latch" popped off.  It just went flying off all by itself and we never did find it.

After all of that I just kept thinking, "Gee, maybe I should have brought my Ruger Super Blackhawk with us."  At least that gun works all the time.  I'm guessing that if I ever buy another 357mag, it'll be GP100.

[Dusty Miller]

One hot day does not a Summer make and one cold day does not a Winter make. 

[Evil Dog]

I'm sorry to hear of your disappointment at the range.  My first thought on the 357 is that either the strain screw had been backed off a bit in an attempt to lighten the double action trigger pull or the hammer spring had either been modified or replaced with a lighter weight spring.  Either of these could cause occasional missfires as you experienced.  As to the cylinder release button coming off of the 44, no doubt it had become noticeably loose as the attaching screw backed out.  Don't give up on the Smiths as they are generally quire reliable.

[Keith L]

Its kind of like classifying all cars of a certain brand over how one used model treats you.  It is hard to tell how others treated them.  I knew a guy who did a great job of washing and waxing his cars, but never changed the oil or had them lubed and serviced.  They looked great but didn't last.

[teddy12b]

I'm not trying to pass any judgment on S&W revolvers by any means.  Those were bought used as cheaply as possible and there's no telling what the previous owners did to them.  It is what it is though.  I've been wanting to buy a 6" 629 44 and that day at the range broke up my confidence a little.  I told my cousin that he needs to get them to a gun doctor and then they'd be fine.

[Ahab]

My guess is those guns were taken apart and not properly put back together.

[DWTim]

Yeah, sounds to me like a light spring on the hammer. All my Smiths hit hard. Luckily, it's easy to replace if you're familiar with the gun. This illustrates why I do a complete clean-up and tightening on every gun I acquire. Why leave anything to chance?

And I'm no stranger to screws that back-out on my revolvers. In fact, my Blackhawks are the worst offenders with that two-piece frame and five screws holding it together. Typically the Smith's cylinder latch and front sight ramp screws are the worst. I found that tightening them while the gun is hot gives the best hold. The cylinder latch on my 686 has stayed put since, although I got into trouble with a sideplate screw on one of my Dan Wessons, as I detailed in another thread. If I was smart, I'd just lock-tite them with the blue stuff, then hit the screw head with heat when I wanted to get them out.

I don't think wear makes much difference unless there was real abuse. My 686 has been beat on, but my pampered M67 and M25 had the same issue until I corrected it.

Sure the S&Ws have their idiosyncrasies. But I like to keep the important things in mind. I've never seen a bent frame on a Smith, and I'm not sure I'd want to trade down my 686 for a GP100 with a smaller cylinder. If I need more power than that will handle, I'll reach for my Dan Wesson 357 Supermag.

But I'm not trying to pass judgement on Ruger revolvers. I have two and that's still not nearly enough.

I recommend a careful inspection of any revolver that you buy, and don't be afraid to haggle when you see that things need fixing, but be polite about it. So far I've had good luck, whether in mechanicals or actual performance. I still regret that 629 DX I passed up many years ago. Man, I couldn't even touch anything like that now for $400 NIB.

[Lloyd Smale]

a revolver whether it be a smith a colt or a ruger needs to have all the scews checked before and after every range session. the cylinder button and main spring tension screws on smiths are as notorious for loosening as the ejector rod housing and main frame screws are on a ruger single action. CHECK ALL of your screws even the ones that hold the sights down. Some people will locktite the screws but i dont do that. I want to be able to take a gun apart easily. I just religoulsy check the screws. Ill even do it on a ruger in the middle of a range session.

[Redhawk1]

Lloyd, I was going to tell him the same thing but you beat me to the punch. 

[Hammerdown]

I went out to the range last weekend with my cousin and he brought two of his dad's (my uncles) S&W revolvers.  He bought both of these used and they're a little older (both had the fixed firing pin on the hammer and wood grips).  Neither of these guns looked had it had ever seen abuse or even moderate use. 

One was a stainless about 8" or so 357mag.  That 357 would occasionally not strike the primer good enough to light off the round.  At first we thought it was a fluke, but we had pretty new ammo and after that happened a couple times with different ammo I red flagged that gun told him to put it away because that just isn't safe.

The other one was a blued 44mag with about an 8" barrel and it functioned fine throughout the firing session right up until the end.  My cousin was firing the last couple rounds in a box when the "cylinder release thumb latch" popped off.  It just went flying off all by itself and we never did find it.

After all of that I just kept thinking, "Gee, maybe I should have brought my Ruger Super Blackhawk with us."  At least that gun works all the time.  I'm guessing that if I ever buy another 357mag, it'll be GP100.

Hello
The Two problems you discussed are Owner error. The cylinder release latch is held in place with a Castellated Nut. It should be checked from time to time with a Hollow ground flat screw driver as recoil can Loosen it, But in most cases Owner neglect to tighten it after a good cleaning is the case. The Light Primer strikes discussed are more than Likely Present from the Main Strain screw not being tightened all the way down. Some feel by Loosening it, it will have a smoother action if some of the spring pressure is relieved by leaving it loose, and this often causes Light Primer strikes. if the revolver has Target grips they will have to be removed to adjust this screw. once the grips are off, You will find the main spring adjustment screw on the front of the grip frame towards the bottom. Take the screw all the way up tight with a good Hollow ground flat screw driver and your problems should disappear. If it Loosens up again from Recoil, Simply apply a Little clear Nail Polish to the threads, and it will never happen again. I hope this helps, Hammerdown

[teddy12b]

That could be the case.  I can almost bet my life that the owner of those two guns never paid any attention to keeping the screws tight.

[Lloyd Smale]

Teddy dont feel to bad. Ill share a lttle story with you. I consider myself at least in the middle ground on handgun knowlege and did a pretty dumb thing once. I picked up a real nice model 24 4 inch smith and took it to the range the first day i had it with a varity of loads that i use in my other 44 specials. About the best the gun would do is a 3 inch group at 25 yards. I wasnt to pleased and had other projects i was working on at the time and stuck it back in the safe for future work. My buddy wanted one in the worse way and had a nice kimber commander that he wanted to trade so after the gun sat for about 6 months i traded him. He took it out to shoot it and had the presense of mind to check the screws before he shot it and found the rear sight was about falling off the gun. He tighted it and the gun shot into an inch with about every load he tried! It was a lesson i never forgot!!

[Old Griz]

I bought a new 66 that had the smoothest action out of the box that I had ever seen. It was better than my Colts.  At the range one day it worked fine with .38s, but real iffy with .357s. It wasn't hitting the magnum primers hard enough for half of them to fire. My gunsmith looked at it, and as you have guessed by now, the strain screw had backed out. It was loose when it came from the factory, and I thought I got a dream gun. Oh well. Now it's tight and it's just a regular S&W. But that's still pretty darn good.