Problem with my 629

A

almtiba

New member
Hi,

I had a problem with my 629 this weekend, as I described in other post:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167153

Yesterday, I talked to a gunsmith and he saw what really happened:
The gun is not locking the cylinder in one of the chambers, because the cylinder notch has some wear on it... :(

Do you guys think it's fixable ??

I live in Brazil, so I don't have access to easily buy extra parts, or send the gun to the factory.

Please, give me some advice.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 
Hi again !

Here's some pictures of the notch and the fired ammo:

I painted the notch with a marker, just to know wich one was it;

You can see the firing pin mark on the empty capsules;

Please, tell me what you think !

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 

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He could be right

I would try to find a set of mikes and I know its hard but try to measure the depth of the knotch.
Also try to get another picture of the knotch from the oppisit direction so that you can see the depth of the wear.
The odd firing pin mark like a double hit I have seen before and this would be just a guess, is the deep one is the initial hit which set it off and the second like indention is from the case moving back against the face of the gun and also moving the hammer backward which also would change the angle of the firing pin on the hammer.
But thats just a guess on my part and I am not to sure correct.
BUT the missed hit where the hammer hit the line between the primer and the case is really scary. It meant that the gun did not lock up and your gun smith could be right. If so I would put it down RIGHT NOW.
I would also check the barrel for debree in the barrel, if one side has bullet materal more than the other side you have a real problem.
Timming issues are a real danger on wheel guns. Personaly I would put it down until its checked and fixed by a rep gun smith.
 
maybe

couple of thoughts
1. email tenring precision in texas and ask the man..he is a good gunsmith and doesn't seem to mind answering some questions as long as don't bug him.
2. try this...a) straighten the extractor rod (will need a tool for this available from brownell's and the dial indicator set up to measure run out and a babbit bar of lead)...b) check cylinder yoke for alignment and end shake and end play...and align yoke (a good gunsmith can do both of these for you easily).
if you are still having this problem..you might consider installing an oversized cylinder stop...OR a temporary fix MIGHT be to peen the oversized cylinder stop notch (if you are SURE it is too big and wallowed out) in order to reduce it a bit and then dress it gently with a light file and check for carry-up (proper cylinder alignment when hammer is pulled to single action lock very slowly)..if lines up ok will probably hold for a little while, but if you are using full loads wear is going to happen...and you may have to bag it up and ship it home to S&W for a rebuild. FOR sure, don't be shooting the thing if the carry-up on the cylinder timing is very far out of time..spitting lead and worse is likely andf gun should not be considered safe in that condition. Good luck.
 
Send it back

Hi

Although I do not even own a 629, My recommendation (based on the S&W's I own) is to (a) Contact Smith & Wesson
(b) Send the unit back

They might either fix the problem or send you another product. Certainly worth the effort - rather than having an accident. !!

Good Luck -- I hope you get this resolved
 
First, DO NOT SHOOT! My eye says that you are NOT in alignment/out of battery/UNlocked on the view of the firing pin indents. I believe you will risk a KB/damage from that. You should attempt to contact S&W. They probably have a factory authorized repair center nearby. I interpret the problem as locking bolt spring related. The single lock up notch isn't the area of concern. A gunsmith needs to check and repair/replace the lockwork with more durable parts.
 
With the cylinder empty check the lock/release. Is the spring OK? Does the release pin move in and out freely?
After that close the cylinder and rotate with the trigger 'til you hear it lock, then turn the cylinder with your other hand if you can move it with reasonable(but not too much) force then the lock-up is faulty. If it only happens on one station then it looks like a replacement cylinder will be needed. While you are at it check the spring tension on the rotation lock and check that it is not worn - that might be the problem too. Good Luck. Maybe someone who really knows how to diagnose this fault will come along - My opinion is only guesswork.
 
ok worn locking cuts look worn, yours does not. it may have burr to forstall the lock from seating deeply into the cut. it may be that as you say the gun was dirty and it kept the pistol from grabbing the cut at that time.

I would clean it like a church, really srub it, if you have access to compressed air, wet the lower frame and blow compressed air into he works mechanism(wear old clothes when you do this) crud will come flying out. then cycle the pistol double action but just before the hammer falls, catch it and lock it into single action, cocked. now wiggle the cylnder back and forth. does is move or is it locked, then this get complicated to write but easy to do, hold the hammer back but pull the trigger, with the hammer back and the trigger back, there should be absollutely no play with the cylinder. nice and tight. then release the hammer down and hold back the trigger, there should be no wiggle then either, if there is, then you may have arevolver that has fallen out of time, and that means no shooting
till it gets fixed. none. buy a kuhnhausen manual money well spent and he knows more about what should and should not happen in a gun than most any man alive
 
Thanks for the inputs, Guys !
I'll send it to my gunsmith tomorow morning.

Hi, Lone Star

The battle against this stupid idea is getting hot around here.
What are suspended here (not banned, for instance) are the CCW permits for all civilians.

In october, 2006, we'll have the presidential election, and together with it, people are going to vote if they want to ban the commerce of guns and ammo for civilians.

With all the marketing the government and all the media are doing, blaming the guns for the violence, and, counting on th ignorance of our citizens, who belive this marketing, if the voting were today, we (gun owners) would certainly loose. :(

Of course, the sport shooters, collectors and hunters would still legaly survive, but not for much time.

We're doing all we can to fight this idea, but we're weak and poor, comparing to the other side. I say we, because I'm directly involved in this process, since I'm one of the directors of SCI - Chapter Brazil.

Well, I had a lot to say here, but it would be much long and boring.

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 
sorry this isnt an answer to your question but whats shooting that thing like? what is that, a 3inch barrel? how brutal is it and how accurate can one be w/such beast of a revolver? i ask because the one time i shot a .44 it had a 51/2-6inch barrel the gun would come back to about my forhead, follow up shots wee completley out of the question. i have no idea how heavy the bullets were as it wasnt my gun. i was standing next to a dude at the range who offered me a few shots. i didnt wanna look like poon infront of my now fiancie so i fired a cylinder. it was by far the most brutal handgun i have ever shot.
 
DA revolvers with heavy recoil can exhibit an "unlocking" behavior, especially when fired one handed.

The recoil moves the gun and compresses the grip/hand enough to reset the trigger (finger is still pressing the trigger from the shot). As the gun recovers from recoil and the grip/hand, the finger against the trigger can activate it again either unlocking the cylinder, or in some cases actually firing the gun a second time.

I don't know if that's what's going on here, but the locking notch looks pretty good in the pictures.

Does this ever happen when dryfiring? Or only during actual shooting. If there's a problem with the locking notch, I would expect that during dryfire you would note that sometimes the cylinder isn't locked when the gun is cocked (SA mode) or isn't locking up during the DA pull.

If it's only happening during actual shooting, I would suspect something related to the "unlocking" behavior I mentioned above.
 
Thanks Lone Star !

About the recoil: It's a blast !
It's that kind of thing only we (gun nuts) can understand.
It's hard, painfull and beautiful... You come back home dirty as a miner, but you come home happy ;) !

As for accuraracy, I shot plates at 50 yards, and no problem !

I can post a video of me shooting this snubbie, but I thik it'll be too big.
Any ideas of what to do to share the video ?

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 
I prefer to shoot .44mag out of single action revolvers. They seem to handle the recoil a bit better.

I have a 629 Magna Classic w/ a 7.5" barrel. It's probably my best and most accurate DA revolver. It still doesn't handle recoil as well as my Ruger Super Blakchawk Bisley.

I love recoil and all but w/ carpal tunnel, I can handle only so much.
 
Problem Found !

Hi guys !

I found the problem.
the hand that turns the cylinder had a micro-crack on it, and was starting to break down.

Finally it broke down in two parts, so I could see the problem.

Have you seen this happen before ? :confused:

Some pics fore you...

Regards,

Andre Tiba - Brazil
 

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