Alright, i know tp check the top strap and forcing cone. Of course timing, but anything else i should check? Also what do you guys use to clean the barrel, cylinder and forcing cone to prevent lead and carbon build up?
Keep the forcing cone clean. This model, more than any other it seems, cracks the cone. A theory I follow is that carbon deposits cause hot spots that effect the metal.
Check to see if any of the screws are buggered. Spin the cylinder and see if the ejector rod is straight and true. Run your fingers lightly down the length of the barrel and try to detect a bulge. Look -under- the ejector star and ensure both of the locating pins are present and not bent. Look at the ratchet to see that it also is not buggered up, and see that the notches on the outside of the cylinder are also not dinged up and peened badly.
If the double action trigger is better than you have EVER FELT, expect that some chump has loosened the strain screw.
The 19 's are great weapons.
I have 3 of them and love them
Follow what the other repliers are advising, plus I check with the hammer back to make sure there is no push back and also Smith's should have 3 distinct clicks when pulling the hammer back.
Hold it to your ear, slowly pull the hammer back, you should hear one click, then two, then three
If not, I would be concerned a bit.
Good luck
My 19-4 has tight throats, contraindicating use of lead bullets without reaming. Take along a jacketed or plated bullet at .357 and a lead bullet at 358, preferably resized to ensure being round, and see how much it resists passing through the throats. You will need something to poke it through or back out, if necessary. You might also need permission to do that.
Point is my gun is too nice to be messing with the throats, so I shoot only jacketed or plated bullets in lieu of cleaning a lot of lead fouling and creating unknown pressure levels and bullet distortions. You could say it is not a gun for a bullet caster. I haven't tried lead 9mm though. I would want a crimp groove.
The forcing cone is the back part of the barrel. It is the shape of the mouth of the forcing cone that is the issue. The bottom, six o'clock, is flattened so there is clearance between it and the yoke which carries the cylinder. Check there for cracks. Or get the new version.
Check it out very thoroughly.
Don't buy one with existing problems & expect to send it to S&W for repairs.
They've lost the ability to service some aspects of the gun.
No more barrels, no hammers, etc.
Denis
Right now I have 6 m-19s and 2 m-28s. These are the guns I shoot more than
the others combined. I very seldom shoot jacketed ammo. I cast my own bullets
sized to .358. One 6" gun I use for medium velocity WCs, another 6" is used
for 158 gas check cast. They have shot thousands of rds. The cracked forcing
cone issue has been tracked to the 110-125gr jacketed bullets in the hi- vel
loads, it has nothing to do with cast bullets.