Author Topic: disapointed in my 629 (Read 6013 times)

halfbreed · « **Reply #30 on:** February 17, 2005, 03:37:26 PM »

Unspellable, you are quite right, sometimes things happen that just don't make sense!
Halfbreed

sawfish · « **Reply #31 on:** February 18, 2005, 07:10:52 AM »

:oops: Halfbreed,

I am almost regretting that I asked you to give S&W another chance. For what it is worth, Peggy Cowell is the S&W Director of Public Relations. It may be helpful if you contact her with your tale of woe. You can write to her at the address on the S&W website, or call the toll free number and ask for Peggy Cowell. She usually answers her own phone. Good luck.

halfbreed · « **Reply #32 on:** February 18, 2005, 05:00:11 PM »

Sawfish, don't feel sorry, send me yours and I wil let you off the hook for this one :shock:
No seriously, it is the right route to take. I think I have alot of looking to do, and asking my smith some hard questions.
I thought about a 44 taurus tracker, but I am hearing too much bad stuff to consider it. to do, to do.
I am thinking the EAA/Witness is looking mighty darn good, or a ruger redhawk. I do want a 44mag though, I feel naked without it. And where I like to play, there are black bear, wolves and sometimes moose in a bad mood. Not to mention 2 legged critters that might need a lesson in manners.
Halfbreed

S.B. · « **Reply #33 on:** February 18, 2005, 05:12:57 PM »

Don't forget Freedom Arms make .44 mags too. And darn good ones.

halfbreed · « **Reply #34 on:** February 18, 2005, 05:25:03 PM »

S.B. About the only thing I don't like about SA revolvers is they don't carry concealed very well. And don't make for a quick second shot in most cases.
Halfbreed

Locoweed · « **Reply #35 on:** February 20, 2005, 01:15:29 PM »

I just love revolvers and among them S&W are my favorites. But, hey Halfbreed, come over into this dark corner with me and let me whisper something in your ear... (Glock). :lol:

halfbreed · « **Reply #36 on:** February 20, 2005, 02:08:25 PM »

Locoweed, I once had a Glock 40, I could not hit the side of a barn door with it, I traded it off for the S&W, as soon as I fired up the wheel gun, oh boy, I was able to put them where I wanted them.
Afriend of mine had a Colt gold cup, i really enjoyed shooting that one too. put them right where ya aim them to go!
i really need a .44mag though, where I like to play there is a good chance to run into wolves, black bear, and an ornery moose or two. Not to mention a few 2 legged vermin as well. I fell really comfortable with a heavy loaded 44 in this area.
Thinking about a Redhawk with a 4"bbl, already talked to my smith about a trigger and action job, and cutting the bbl down to 4" Yeeeehaaaaaw,
Halfbreed

Locoweed · « **Reply #37 on:** February 21, 2005, 10:16:23 AM »

I understand how you feel about revolvers. Too bad you've had so much trouble with this one. Like you, it is hard for me to regain confidence in a gun that was once a problem like yours. Just like a woman that cheats on you. I'd get it back into shape and then relegate it strictly to the target range or sell/trade it. I lived in Alaska for many years and carried a model 29 with a six inch barrel. When the wife and kids went berry picking I'd carry a 12 gauge full of buckshot.

HappyHunter · « **Reply #38 on:** February 27, 2005, 02:24:43 PM »

halfbreed,

I recently had a S&W M19 "lock up" with or without rounds in cylinder.

After disassembly I discovered a misaligned cylinder stop spring. It has been fine ever since.

I realize your gun is in for repairs but this may help others.

Fred

halfbreed · « **Reply #39 on:** February 27, 2005, 05:39:39 PM »

Happy Hunter, I was called by a customer service rep at S&W the other day, they have gone through it, including a fella who worked at the performance center. He claims to have fired 18 rounds through it with no problems. He also tried to say the smith who worked on it 3 years ago messed up the cylinder stop and other parts in there, because no way would a S&W smith let work like that out of their shop. I asked him if he thought I would carry a ccdw weapon for 3 years without firing it, or if this bad a job would have gone un noticed for 3 years. I was shooting this handgun till I sent it to them for timing problems, and possibly a bent crane. I am getting more and more disapointed in S&W and their services the more I talk with them.
Halfbreed

halfbreed · « **Reply #40 on:** February 28, 2005, 01:47:59 PM »

Well the 629 came back home today, I will take it to the range tomorow. See what it will do, this time there is quite a bit of copper fouling in the bbl. so I am taking it they shot it more than just a time or two. Of course there was no explanation of what was done to it. But it looks like there was considerable work done, action is smooooth, trigger is smooth, the cylinder face looks like each cylinder throat has been reamed possibly, a slightly cut ring around each individual chamber. the trigger pull seems quite a bit stiffer than before, i may need a Wolf spring kit, just have to see how that works out. We will se tomorrow, I bought a box of new winchester jacketed ammo, to try to see what they did. I will let you know how it works out.
Halfbreed

halfbreed · « **Reply #41 on:** March 01, 2005, 02:09:45 PM »

Well I took it to the range today, Lots of snow flurries, shot the pistol about 125 rounds of near full throttle, 240 swc, and 25 rounds of factory winchester jsp. Not a single glitch. It shot alot better than it ever did before. The trigger is definatly better than it was before. I think the trigger pull may still be a bit heavier than it was. I will be getting back to the range soon, just loaded 150 rounds this afternoon
Halfbreed

Leadlum · « **Reply #42 on:** March 01, 2005, 04:44:25 PM »

Good to hear that Halfbreed. Have faith. I sent my new smith 1911 back to get a new barrel. The barrel had an unfinished crown and the rifling looked uneven to me. They said "just send it to us, and well put a new barrel in it" I asked them to put a target barrel in it if they would and I`ll pay the difference.

halfbreed · « **Reply #43 on:** March 02, 2005, 03:32:32 AM »

Leadlum hello, Good to hear from you, I loaded another 150 rounds of full throttle swc's yesterday. I was going to go to the range today. Forgot i had another appointment, ooops. I am going to check on a slightly lighter wolf spring, I am not sure what the trigger pull is at the moment, but it is stiff, I know that much. Hope they get your 1911 straightened out soon. It is very disapointing to have to send something in for repairs, then have to send it back for some kind of screw up.
Halfbreed

Leadlum · « **Reply #44 on:** March 02, 2005, 06:19:27 AM »

Keep us posted with your results Halfbreed. I`m curious now,and following this closely. Hope they fixed your pistol. I wish they would have told you what they done to it though. 150rds of "Full House" should give it a good test.

halfbreed · « **Reply #45 on:** March 03, 2005, 11:58:23 AM »

Leadlum, After 300 rounds of full house loads, not a glitch, not of any kind.
It is still shooting tighter groups than it ever did before. Today was a good day at the range.
I hope your 1911 comes back in as good a shooting condition as my 629 does now. It was just a shame I had to send it back the second time. Todays shooting showed me I need to paint the front sight red, lost sight of it a few times in the bright daylight.
Halfbreed

sawfish · « **Reply #46 on:** March 03, 2005, 01:18:16 PM »

Halfbreed, I am pleased that S & W finally resolved the problem with your 629. Hopefully, it will continue to give you the service you expect. Regards.

Sawfish

halfbreed · « **Reply #47 on:** March 03, 2005, 04:45:51 PM »

Sawfish, I am glad it is shooting good too, tomorrow i am going to call them up and ask what they did to it. they did not put it on the return paperwork. It will take some time to really get my confidance back in it, but 150 rounds a day shooting is helping that somewhat.
halfbreed

Leadlum · « **Reply #48 on:** March 03, 2005, 05:52:01 PM »

Good to hear that your gun is performing good so far, and your confidence is returning in your gun. what kind of sight do you have on the front? mine is the changeable kind; I bounch back and forth from the patridge sight to the red ramp. Mostly the patridge sight for all target work. I hope they do a good job with my pistol too. I should get mine back Mon or Tues I hope. Been casting bullets meanwhile. Take it easy Halfbreed.

halfbreed · « **Reply #49 on:** March 03, 2005, 06:00:35 PM »

mine is a pinned black ramp, I am needing to change it to something that will stand out a bit, my target was kinda facing the sun, against the hillside bluff, and I lost the front sight a couple of times. I painted it with some hobby paint, I don't know how long that will last. I will have to see what else I can find.
Halfbreed

sawfish · « **Reply #50 on:** March 04, 2005, 06:47:36 AM »

You can either install a colored insert, or have your gunsmith do it, as it requires cutting a slot in the front blade and pouring and shaping the colored epoxy filler. Another (possibly better) option is to install one of the fluorescent tube front blades such as those from Hi-Viz, Tru-Glo, Marbles, etc.. These are available through Brownells.

I have installed these on my two Super Redhawks and my 629 Classic DX. I had some concerns about the durability of the plastic tube, but no problems so far. These are probably more durable than they look. I have had a Williams Firesight blade on my 1895 Marlin for a few years, and it has endured more than a few days hunting Black Bear in Alberta and California.

My old 12 gauge Ithaca has basically the same type of front sight. No problems with that one since I purchased it in 1967, and it spent the first twenty years of its life as a duck hunting gun in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana (aluminum boats are Hell on guns). Good luck.

halfbreed · « **Reply #51 on:** March 05, 2005, 06:29:53 AM »

Sawfish hello, You have always given good advice. It is very much appreciated, thank you. I have been invited to a class 3 shoot, I was asked to bring a few of my toys out for the weekend, I am going to Gander Mountain for a set of quality electronic earmuffs, something that will handle the 50bmg, I will also check to see what they have for front sights as well.
Halfbreed

sawfish · « **Reply #52 on:** March 07, 2005, 06:30:43 AM »

Halfbreed, Thanks for the kind words. I have a set of the Peltor Electronic earmuffs with the behind the head band, that I like very much. These do not interfere with your cap. Believe it, or not, the muffs amplify the sound of the bank rubbing on your cap, if you have the over the head kind. There are great for hunting with a HG. Be sure to use only Duracell batteries (advice from Peltor). I send mine back because I had no sound in one ear. Turns out, the contact area on the other battery (the "E" word) was too small. We noticed the same problem with UW camera equipment and some dive lights.

When I go to the indoor range (very Loud), I have a set of the custom molded earplugs, and over these I wear a set of Silencio Magnum muffs. I am happy to report no hearing loss with this system despite having fired thousands of rounds through braked, ported, etc. magnum rifles and handguns. Good luck.

gcf · « **Reply #53 on:** March 12, 2005, 05:35:15 PM »

Halfbreed -
Thought I'd chime in on this one...

Bought a used, but little fired 4" 629-4 about 3 months ago, & proceeded to work up a suitable load. Try as I might, I could not get any load combination to group for beans.

Finally, it came to me that this gun just might not like 240 grain XTPs, & that maybe hard cast would be the answer.

This led me to measure the cylinder throats w/ my dial caliper (for proper bullet sizing), & I kept coming up w/ .426" - which seemed a bit tight. At this point I started eyeballing the forcing cone (big burr, & roughly finished), & the lockup, which was.... "poor", on four chambers. Did I mention that the barrel was tightened a couple of degrees past top dead center, as well? Hmmm.

Contacted our friends at S&W "Repair Dept.", & their suggestion was to run a box of factory ammo through it, & to let them know if I was still having problems. Must be sub-standard reloads - right?. Duh.

Ran a full box of WW 240JSP through it w/ totally dismal (no better - maybe worse) results.

Off she went to S&W accompanied w/ a diplomatically worded (no - really), documented list of my observations. I also requested that they provide me w/ the cylinder throat size measurements.

Couple of weeks later, she shows up w/ super tight cylinder lockup (replaced the hand), a sticky trigger return, a rough DA pull, a new rear sight blade (

), a repaired barrel (looks the same to me...), no mention of the cylinder throat (they told me "not to worry about it") measurement, and last but not least, "inspected / tested, & passed" to their "standards".

A trip to the range today, confirmed my suspicions that the grouping was still....piss poor. Minimal improvement, if any.

Interestingly, w/ 2 different loads (2 full cylinders each) & same point of aim (off bags - at 20 yards), she seems to be printing different groups for each chamber. This is most clearly seen on the cardboard backing that was under the 2 targets.

I'll post links to a few "group pics" for your viewing pleasure. ;=]

So I guess, as w/ your 629, mine will be going back for a second visit home.

Hell..., maybe it's just ME, huh? Comments & suggestions are welcomed from all.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2131969283&idx=17

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2131969283&idx=16

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2131969283&idx=15

S.B. · « **Reply #54 on:** March 12, 2005, 06:38:56 PM »

I ran a model 18 through the repair center more than a couple of years back, from what I've read here the same people are runnig the show there. They replaced the barrel and cylinder(cylinder later rechambered to .224 Harvey Kaychuck and still shooting fine,new cylinder's face was not square with bore, had to have it squared up to shoot right) My impression is the guys running the shop are dealing with smoke and mirrors? S&W must like it because, they're still there? I think they cover their as* with repairs that don't need to be done? I had a friend who went thru their armorers school that loves their work?

gcf · « **Reply #55 on:** March 13, 2005, 05:25:16 AM »

Quote from: S.B.

.....from what I've read here the same people are runnig the show there....

......My impression is the guys running the shop are dealing with smoke and mirrors? S&W must like it because, they're still there? I think they cover their as* with repairs that don't need to be done?

When I started talking numbers (barrel bore & cylinder throat diameters) w/ these guys, they just drew a blank. Even admitted they had no idea what the correct measurements are. Said an "engineer" might be able to tell me.....

Seemed like they were more on par w/ "sling shot" tech.

I'm really curious what you guys make of this grouping - if you can call it that...?

halfbreed · « **Reply #56 on:** March 13, 2005, 05:37:53 PM »

Well guys, I only have 300 rounds through mine since I got it back. It is shooting good now, I have loaded 250 rounds up working on load development. I will be shooting it again soon.
I talked with them a while back about the throat diameter, as about all I shoot is hard cast, there is a .005 diameter differance in throat size on my 629, they said it was all within factory specs. I just said I guess so, but it does not help shooting cast at all. They reamed the throats the last time it was in their shop.
Overall, I am not too happy with them, but at least I have my shooter again. But, I guarantee the next time I have a problem with it. I will sell it, get a Ruger and have some work done on it!
Halfbreed

gcf · « **Reply #57 on:** March 14, 2005, 03:57:08 AM »

Quote from: halfbreed

....I talked with them a while back about the throat diameter, as about all I shoot is hard cast, there is a .005 diameter differance in throat size on my 629, they said it was all within factory specs. I just said I guess so, but it does not help shooting cast at all. They reamed the throats the last time it was in their shop.
Halfbreed

Based on their response to my questions to them regarding the apparently undersize throats on my gun, I'm surprised that they even touched yours.

Is that a .005 difference in diameter between chambers? Also, can you tell me what the diameters were before & after they were reamed?

I am considering sending mine to either a competent smith, or the S&W Performance Shop - instead of back to the repair shop. It appears the the repair shop personnel either don't have a clue, or worse, just don't care.

All that talk about "factory specs", is just a sorry ass excuse for sloppy workmanship. If I ran my business that way, I'd be OUT of business!

halfbreed · « **Reply #58 on:** March 14, 2005, 06:44:33 AM »

GCF, the best I remember, the cylinder throats ran from .427-.432, it made for a bear of a time trying to get cast to shoot worth a hoot. Now the cylinder throats have a ring cut around each throat, reamed?, the cylinder face has been turned to smooth it out, looks much better, I will try to get the camera out and take a few photos. I will look up how to post them here.
Over the weekend I handled a 629 that was smoothed out by Mag-na -port, man was it smooth. I will be sending mine in, if it continues to hold up. I will not have it ported though. Hope this helps
Halfbreed

halfbreed · « **Reply #59 on:** June 11, 2005, 05:05:45 PM »

well it started acting up again, so it is gone down the road, I lost all confidance in it, I just can't and won't carry a gun I have no confidance in.
I traded it for a Ruger P97DC, I took it shooting today. Man what a differance. it hits what I aim at, with no problems. I know these are 2 entirely differant weapons. But I think I will be happy with this one.
Halfbreed