"New" S&W 19. Are these marks normal?

[Gungnir]

I finally found just the right first revolver for me, a S&W 19-3 that is a decade and a half older than me, but made just the way I want it and beautiful to boot.

Here she is:



However, there is a few marks on her that I need your opinion on. Some were there when I bought her, and some have only become visible now that Ive run 300 rounds of Magtech .38 LRN (158gr) and 12 rounds of Magtech .357 SJSP (158gr) through her.

First, blank spots on the cylinder above the chambers:



These were definitely not there when I bought her, and not very pretty IMO. I think that these spots are lead residue from the LRN ammo Ive been shooting, and I wonder if they are an indicator of something not being as it is supposed to? Signs of lead residue can be seen on the cylinder face as well, which did not have any significant marks before I started shooting the gun:



Is this normal? I have not noticed any lead spattering while shooting, but I worry that I might have a cylinder gap or and endshake problem on my hands.

There is also a drag line on the recoil shield, that were there when I bought the gun:



I wonder of the ejector rod is properly mounted, or if this is normal? The cylinder drags a little on opening and closing, and In my mind it should be more smooth.

Apart from these concerns, I am loving my very first revolver She is a joy to shoot, accurate and with a smooth and crisp trigger like no gun I have shot before. If she needs a trip to the smith for tuning, so be it, I want this gun to last.

 

[NoSecondBest]

All looks normal to me. Every SW revolver I've ever owned got marks in those spots as well as in some other spots from holster wear, etc. It's impossible to keep the front of the cylinder looking like new. Heck, you don't even have a ring around the cylinder from the latch...lucky you.

 

[SaxonPig]

Wear. That's why collectors pay so much for pristine gun that are unused and lock them in safes. Here's one after almost 60 years of use...

 

[cslinger]

Normal revolver wear and tear. Beautiful gun and nil grips to boot.

You can obsess and clean it perfectly but it will return in the next shooting session. So own it, love it.

Also you will start to see a turn line towards the back of the cylinder. Also normal.

 

[James K]

Most of those marks on the cylinder are lead spatter from firing lead bullets which tend to throw free lead into the barrel-cylinder gap and deposit it on the front of the cylinder, the rear of the barrel and the front side of the cylinder. It can be cleaned off with copper screen or a stiff copper brush. It is not wear and there is no real point in trying to prevent it, since it will only come back and will rarely build up enough to interfere with anything.

(FYI note to Americans: the stamp marks on the side of the frame are (West German- Ulm) proof marks; the gun was originally imported into Germany.

Jim

 

[UncleEd]

One thing you can do is after a through cleaning and before shooting again,
wipe the gun down with a silicon cloth. Then, every few cylinders full, do
it again.

The silicon film I believe helps keep the splatter from building up as fast
or sticking as hard as usual.

To SaxonPig: Is that a .38/44 HD?

 

[cslinger]

How cool is that. I missed the proof marks.

 

[JohnKSa]

The silicon film I believe helps keep the splatter from building up as fast
or sticking as hard as usual.

Makes sense. I read an article at one point where a guy experimented with preventing lead buildup in a .22LR silencer and found that soaking the parts in silicone oil was the best solution.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

Check your cylinder throats, they may be a little tight. I have 2 Model 57's, a 6" and a 4". The throats on the 6" are a little too tight and I get the lead splatter, but the 4" has slightly larger throats and no splatter. I'll eventually get the 6" fixed but for now I just shoot either Copper plated or HiTec coated bullets with no problems in either gun. Easy way to check is take a jacketed bullet, measure the diameter of it and then see if it will push through the front of the cylinder with light finger pressure. If the bullet diameter is correct and it pushes through then you should be fine, could be the lead Boolits are too large in diameter and are being sized down by the cylinder.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

The Model 19 was the continuation of the 357 Combat Magnum. The 357 Combat Magnum was the brainchild of lawman Bill Jordan, who suggested to Smith and Wesson that they build a 357 Magnum revolver on a smaller frame than the N frame 357 Magnum. In 1957, when S&W went over to a numbering system instead of model names, the 357 Combat Magnum became the Model 19.

The Model 19-3 was produced from 1967 until 1977 when the 19-4 was introduced.

I bought my Model 19-3 brand-spanky new in 1975 when I was in my twenties. It was my first centerfire revolver. Mine has the six inch barrel, and Patridge front sight, yours has the four inch barrel and Baughman front sight that was typical of the 357 Combat Magnum.

Your Model 19-3 shows very little wear for its age. One thing I noticed is it has not been shot a lot over the years. Here is a photo of the recoil shield of a K-38 from 1957. Notice the impressions of case heads left on the recoil shield. When a revolver is fired, the round under the hammer recoils and slams into the recoil shield. After many rounds have been fired, the brass will wear away the blue, leaving a round spot around the firing pin. An instant after the round fires, recoil will slam the rest of the rounds back into the recoil shield too. They will also wear away the blue, but because they have not been fired they do not strike the recoil shield as hard. But eventually, after many rounds have been fired, these rounds will wear away the blue too. I see no evidence of the blue on your recoil shield being worn from the unfired rounds, so I conclude it has not been fired much over the last 40 or so years. The scrape mark on your recoil shield is completely typical of a revolver that has been opened many times, the spring loaded pin at the center of the ejector rod rubs along the recoil shield as the cylinder is closed. Eventually it will wear a path through the blue. You can see the same wear on my K-38 photo. I suspect over the years somebody played with your Model 19, opening and closing the cylinder a lot, but probably did not shoot it a lot.

As mentioned, the rings on the cylinder face are carbon rings. They happen each and every time lead bullets are fired in a revolver. What happens is as the powder starts to burn, the hot expanding gasses atomize a small portion of lead at the rear of the bullet. As the rear of the bullet passes by the barrel/cylinder gap, hot gas as well as carbonized lead are ejected from the b/c gap at high pressure. Some of the lead and carbon gets deposited on the cylinder face in the exact same shape as the forcing cone. Because the pressure is high, the carbon and lead blasted onto the cylinder face is difficult to remove. I always tell new revolver owners not to bother trying to clean it off. No matter how well you clean it off, it will return the next time you shoot lead bullets. Once you own enough revolvers, you will stop trying to remove the carbon rings on the front of the cylinder.

 

[Master Blaster]

These were definitely not there when I bought her, and not very pretty IMO. I think that these spots are lead residue from the LRN ammo Ive been shooting

It is Normal. Use a brass brush to remove them if they bother you.

 

[cslinger]

Use a brass brush to remove them if they bother you.

......and never shoot it again.

I get a wild hair up my butt from time to time and I really clean my revolvers but if will be shooting them ........ what's the point. 20 rounds later and back to square one.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Like I said, once you have enough revolvers you will stop worrying about cleaning off carbon rings on the face of the cylinder.

 

[Ibmikey]

Your 19 probably has seen service abroad as is evidenced by the extra proof marks, love this weapon and carried mine as a Police Officer for many years until I was able to move the dept to S& W 39 & 59 pistols. I paid $82.57 for that first 4" and shot it in untold PPC matches through the years, even after my peers were shooting K38's with sight hoods and other aids my duty 19 soldiered on.
I used a Lewis Lead Remover from time to time to remove the pesky lead particles in the bore and a bronze tooth brush for the cylinder face and forcing cone.