S&W 53-2

C

Classic12

New member
Until recently I did not know anything about this revolver and especially this caliber (.22 Remington Jet). Back in March a thread was started by a member asking if he should buy one (which he did). I commented that I should be safe, never having seen one in Switzerland.

How wrong I was, again. While I roamed the grounds at the LGS, I spotted this 53-2, 1973 made. But I went home and refrained … for three days. Then I reserved it.

I brought it home yesterday, cost me $550. Oh and it came with two boxes of Remington ammo.

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I read once, years ago... to avoid having any oil in the chambers of those .22 Jets, apparently it causes the cases to stick during ejection attempts, much more so than contemporary rounds due to the sharp angle of the necked down cartridge. Not sure if it's true as I never shot or owned one.
It may not matter if you don't plan to shoot it (I sure would!:D).
 
That's nice. I'm a sucker for a 4" barrel revolver, especially a S&W. I probably would have jumped on that one at that price. Actually I don't think I've ever even seen a 4" one. I have seen at least one with a 6" barrel.

I believe the problem with the 22 Jet was cartridge setback jamming the revolver when fired. The tapered case slips backwards under recoil, so keep the chambers dry when firing.

I see you have the 22 LR inserts with the gun. They're nice to have and somewhat hard to find I believe.

I just noticed. It appears it had a spare 22 Magnum cylinder at one time.
 
Mike Irwin said:
You had to think about it for 3 days?

I'd have thought about it for less than 3 seconds... You got an absolute steal.
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I thought I didn’t need another S&W in an exotic hard to find caliber. But then since it was cheap, and pretty, and came with two boxes of ammo ...
 
Just having all 6 chamber inserts makes it something of a unicorn.

4", box, paperwork, and chamber inserts AND 2 boxes of factory ammo?

Yeah, as I said, you got a freaking steal.

Tell you what... since you were unsure about it, and appear to still be on the fence, I'll give you $560 for it.

That way you make $10 profit immediately! :D
 
As CajunBass said, keep the chambers and cartridges completely oil free. You need every bit of chamber grip you can get to help keep the cartridge from backing out during firing and locking up against the recoil shield. Even a fingerprint on the case body can make it more prone to doing so.

But, even that sometimes isn't enough to keep it from locking up.

S&W and Remington pooped the bed with this one. The long, shallow shoulder is the biggest problem -- it's a fulcrum that allows the case to push back during high pressure. Combine that with the relatively short neck and the short straight wall section of the body and you simply don't have enough case to grip the chamber walls effectively.
 
shurshot said:
I read once, years ago... to avoid having any oil in the chambers of those .22 Jets, apparently it causes the cases to stick during ejection attempts, much more so than contemporary rounds due to the sharp angle of the necked down cartridge. Not sure if it's true as I never shot or owned one.
It may not matter if you don't plan to shoot it (I sure would!:D).
Click to expand...

It's true that it's important to keep the chamber walls clean. The way I heard it was that the sloped neck tries to push the cartridge backwards upon firing. It's important that the cases can cling to the chamber walls under pressure to prevent this. Any trace of oil with allow the cases to push backwards against the recoil shield, which can prevent the cylinder from turning.
 
It appears it had a spare 22 Magnum cylinder at one time.
Click to expand...

Doesn't look like the cardboard was punched out, all the boxes had a place for a .22 LR cylinder.
Not .22 Win Magnum. The Jet is a .222", not the .224" of most .22 centerfires and the WMR.

I bet the 4" barrel will be the loudest thing you have heard that day.
 
Natman, yes, you and the other posters are correct, it was in the 80's I read that, I had forgotten the details. Makes sense the hull would recoil backwards in the chamber and lock up, given the angle. Thank you for clarifying.
I would still love to shoot one.:D
 
Mike Irwin said:
Just having all 6 chamber inserts makes it something of a unicorn.

4", box, paperwork, and chamber inserts AND 2 boxes of factory ammo?

Yeah, as I said, you got a freaking steal.

Tell you what... since you were unsure about it, and appear to still be on the fence, I'll give you $560 for it.

That way you make $10 profit immediately! :D
Click to expand...


Thanks for your generous offer to enrich me, but I’ll have to pass, it’ll be too much trouble to spend it from Switzerland to the US.
 
S&W 53-2

jglsprings said:
any case setback?

we shot one all day - once upon a time in a prairie far, far away... it only happened once or twice
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Yes some, but it didn’t seize the cylinder, just made it a bit harder to cock the hammer for the next shot. I didn’t clean and dry the chambers though, will have to do that.

Some evidence of high pressure and setback : flattened primers

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