S &W alignment issues

[44 AMP]

First rule of ...(pick your mechanical specialty)...

If it does't fit (won't work) get a bigger hammer. If it breaks, it was defective, and needed to be replaced, anyway.

there's an art to using the BFH

Of course there is, but few actually understand that, and so if they watch, not understanding, they think you're an idiot...

OMG HE'S BENDING the barrel!!!!
so?? nice when a barrel is straight, looks good. But what matters is that the barrel SHOOT straight.

I know how mechanical things work, and how they don't, and sometimes the right answer is "a good bash!"

And, as a plus, if it doesn't fix the problem, at least you get to hit the thing that is ticking you off!

 

[old bear]

Does Smith and Wesson still have that alignment problem with their revolvers?

Sadly from time to time they still do. This is caused by over
tightening the barrel. This is also believed to be one of the causes of frame cracking in their line of “air weight” revolvers

 

[Dave T]

This "alignment problem" along with the IL, and in my experience the frame mounted firing pin are all reasons I will no longer purchase newly manufactured S&Ws.

In the last 18 months or so I purchased two S&W Nightguard revolvers, intending to have them as carry options to the Glocks I generally carry daily. In both cases I have had constant problems with poor ignition (miss-fires). One of the guns has finally become mostly reliable but the other I am giving up on. You can only try so many combinations of springs (main and trigger return) and firing pins (after market extended FP) before disgust over takes you're willingness to bother any more.

I have been a handgun shooter for 50 years. I've owned so many S&Ws I can't even guess the number. This is the first time I've had a problem of this magnitude and it has completely turned me off to newer S&Ws. The canted barrels and poorly aligned cranes just pour gas on the fire.

Dave

 

[DPris]

As a finer point- in using the babbitt (which, again, is not a hammer) for making barrel adjustments, you're not bending the barrel, as such.
You're actually minutely "bending" or slightly altering the barrel shank, where it joins the frame.

Movement ("bending") does not happen along the length of the barrel itself, you're not curving the barrel.

Colt had a press set-up for the Python to accomplish the same function, but that was for their top-of-the-line model.

The babbitt can be traumatic to see.
When I first saw it, our firearms instructor told me as he was pulling the babbitt out of his toolbox at the range, "Don't look."
Denis

 

[Carmady]

You may notice a slight tingle.

 

[DPris]

A fine illustration of what a babbitt isn't.
Denis

 

[FrankenMauser]

Sometimes, the best tool for the job is a professional with a slight adjuster.

Other times, you may as well take matters into your own hands and use the wrong tool the right way.


(Yes, the pictured items have 'met' before. When you combine 30 years worth of parts from two different manufacturers and add custom stuff on top of that, some adjustment is required.)

 

[Salmoneye]

"Babbitt" is the alloy of the metal being used...

Babbitt metal can be in any shape...It originally was used as the alloy for poured bearings...

Some smiths took ingots and/or bars of babbitt metal and used them in place of 'lead' hammers...

 

[DPris]

Babbitt has more than one meaning.
It's a type of person, it's a type of alloy, and it's traditionally a bar used by gunsmiths in adjusting barrels, as described previously.
Denis

 

[Salmoneye]

We're saying the same thing from different directions...

A 'babbitt bar' used by a gunsmith is just that; a bar made out of babbitt metal...

Babbitt metal has different properties than unalloyed lead...That is why smiths do not use dead soft pure 'lead bars'...

 

[DPris]

Then what are you arguing about?
Denis

 

[Carmady]

Babbitt is also used in engine bearings, where a thin layer of oil is between it and harder metal such as a crankshaft or camshaft. Iirc, it's also there as a place for metal particles to become embedded, thereby protecting and prolonging the service life of the shaft.

 

[44 AMP]

Gunsmith/magician : can pull a babbit out of a hat...

 

[DPris]

And when he does, he won't call it an engine bearing.
Denis

 

[buck460XVR]

........as has been said,

The majority are OK.

While I have seen a few canted barrels in shops, the majority of the ones I have seen are photos on the internet. My local smith and owner of my LGS tells me the same as DPris stated, while they are out there, and one should be aware of them, they are not the norm, nor is it the end of the world if you get one. That said, of the newer Smiths I have bought, none have canted barrels, but then I looked them over well before filling out the 4473 an taking them home. Of those folks I know of personally, that got one, S&W fixed the problem for free. Of those folks i know that got one, they bought the guns online and took possession without looking the gun over thoroughly. Complaints of the canted barrels seemed to have dropped off a tad from a few years back, so one wonders if the assembly process or QC has improved or the slowdown in demand has given production more time to do it right. Either way, of the "lemon" guns I have bought over the years(from various manufacturers), all were bought in a hurry and without doing research or thorough inspection.

 

[jumpingeezer]

Driftwood,

I'm curious. Are you going to send that piece back to S&W for repair? I sure wouldn't let them off the hook when that revolver has an obvious manufacturing defect and should have never left the factory in that condition.

Who knows, they may do the right thing and repair it properly.

 

[JDinAZ]

The newer Smiths run pretty good for me. Still real partial to the crisp internals on my earler guns. One thing that can help miss fires is a longer aftermarket firing pin. Was talking to Teddy Jacobson over in Texas today and he got to telling me about light strikes when you change out to lighter springs inside. Says use a little longer firing pin with stronger spring. Far as the lock goes throw one of my Lock Delete sets in it and that takes care of that.

 

[Devolver]

Alignment

Speaking of alignment, this is my Taurus 38 special model 68, I think. I don't know if this caused a squib load or after a friend filled the barrel with them.

 

[Devolver]

Here is the barrel:

 

[Carmady]

That timing looks a little off.