Sharp crack shooting 44 smith

Yeah, I was trying to imagine how to test that. Seems like you could at least measure whether the face of the forcing cone is square. It should protrude the same distance from the frame on each side if the inner face of the frame is flat.

If the forcing cone face is square to the barrel, wouldn't that imply the cylinder must be the part out of line?
 
I'll have to try to check the cone for square to the barrel. If it is that would indicate the cylinder out of square.
I never thought of doing it that way.
Thanks
 
Usually, with the feeler gauge you are trying to find one that slips all the way through from left to right between the back of the barre and the cylinder. If you have one that slips half way through from one side, but gets stuck on the way through and won't fit in at all from the other side, then, unless the frame is visibly bent or the cylinder visibly crooked in it looking down from above, I'd be suspicious that the back of the barrel isn't cut squarely. I don't know what kind of operation they use to cut that. I'd do it on a lathe, but they may saw it.

I would check the cylinder timing, too. Drag your thumb lightly against it while it turns to be sure the cylinder stop bolt clicks into the notch on the cylinder for every chamber. Put a white piece of paper between the frame and 12:00 chamber and look to see if the chambers are lining up with the bore. Look to see that the crack of light in the barrel/cylinder gap is even from top to bottom when looked at from the side.
 
I can get .004 all the way thru from the right side and .007 about half way thru from the Left side. Looking down from the top the cylinder looks pretty square to the frame. But I don't know how easy it would be to see .003 out of square by looking. Might be easier to tell than I think.
I will try checking the timing too like you suggest. Do I need to have the revolver in lock down position while doing the timing (Pull hammer back, hold trigger down while lowering the hammer and then keep trigger held down while checking each chamber?
Thanks Unclenick
 
Wow. Does sound like the back of the barrel is out of square. I think if you open the cylinder and lay a straight edge against the back end of the barrel and horizontal, you'll be able to see its edge not perfectly perpendicular to the barrel.

All you need to is cock the gun and let the hammer down. The bolt latch should stay in place until either it is cocked again or the trigger is pressed double-action style.

Looking down a gun barrel is not normally recommended, though I don't feel too badly about it if I open and check the cylinder and don't let the gun out of my hand until I'm done looking. If I do, I'll open and check the cylinder again. That said, the safest practice is to point it into a mirror and look at it that way. The mirror has the advantage that you can often bounce a flashlight off of it that illuminates the bore at the same time for a better view.
 
Well, here's an update.
I took my 629 back over to the dealer I bought it from and talked to them about it. He took it out and shot it to see for himself what it does. He shot it and said it made his left ear ring and didn't bother his right ear at all. Just like me. He said it sounds like all the noise is on the left side and none on the right.
They talked it over with their supplier, who also has a lifetime warranty of their own, seperate from S&W. They told my dealer to send my gun to them and they would send it to S&W and tell them to take it all apart and find what's wrong. In the meantime, if they get another new one in before they get mine back they will just trade me, otherwise we will see how it is when Smith is done with it. If not fixed they will replace it themselves.
I really can't say enough good about my dealer, S.O.S. Pawn in Newport, WA., or his supplier, Davidson's Inc. for the way they have treated me and went to bat for me over this gun. Couldn't ask for more.
Just wanted to let everyone that has been trying to help me figure this out know what is going on.
I'll post the outcome when it's taken care of.
Thanks everyone.
 
Well, here's an update.
I took my 629 back over to the dealer I bought it from and talked to them about it. He took it out and shot it to see for himself what it does. He shot it and said it made his left ear ring and didn't bother his right ear at all. Just like me. He said it sounds like all the noise is on the left side and none on the right.
They talked it over with their supplier, who also has a lifetime warranty of their own, seperate from S&W. They told my dealer to send my gun to them and they would send it to S&W and tell them to take it all apart and find what's wrong. In the meantime, if they get another new one in before they get mine back they will just trade me, otherwise we will see how it is when Smith is done with it. If not fixed they will replace it themselves.
I really can't say enough good about my dealer, S.O.S. Pawn in Newport, WA., or his supplier, Davidson's Inc. for the way they have treated me and went to bat for me over this gun. Couldn't ask for more.
Just wanted to let everyone that has been trying to help me figure this out know what is going on.
I'll post the outcome when it's taken care of.
Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update, I was wondering about this from the first time I read your post.

Kudo's for your local gun store and his distributor, they are another fine example of why I tell people they should support their local gun store and not the large chain stores.

Take that problem to the gun department of the local Wally World and see what the response would be.
Better yet go ask the person behind the counter in the gun department a question about ballistics, they will look at you like you are speaking a unknown language.

In my opinion S&W dropped the ball on this one, they should have had you send the gun back for correction and they should have picked up the tab on the freight both ways.

I wish you the best with resolving this, at least it sounds as if you have some good support.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
You don't get much help at all at the big stores. I had a Browning rifle that I bought from Sportsmans Warehoused and it had a problem right off the bat. Took it back to them and they wouldn't even look at it. Or call the company about it.
They just said there is nothing they can do and I have to get a hold of the company.
I called Browning and they were great about taking care of it.
I don't think Wally World hires anyone that knows anything about guns. As long as they can read the price tag and take the money that's good enough.
Most of the little stores are more one on one and try to take care of their customers. From my experiences.
I am curious to see what they find out also, if they do anything at all.
I will post what the outcome is.
 
In post #9 you said you'd already sent it to S&W once and they said it was OK. That's what blew me away. I hope the distributor has more clout with them and gets one of their senior or custom shop gunsmiths to look it over.
 
Ya. I already sent it to S&W once. The distributor is a big distributor, they sell a lot of guns of almost every brand. They will either get it fixed or trade me a new one. The dealer I bought it from is one of their top sellers too. So they are going to want to keep their dealer happy too.
It sounded to me like the distibutor is pretty much going to demand that S&W tear the gun clear down to see what's wrong and then if they don't fix it then just give me a new gun. At least that's the way I understood things. The dealer said that I would be taken care of one way or the other.
 
Here's an update on my 629.
Well here's an update on my 629.
The dealer I bought it from sent it back to his supplier and the supplier sent it in to S&W with an explanation of what it was doing. S&W had it
for almost 2 months and checked it out good this time. They turned the forcing cone and straightened it out and put in a new cylinder.
It works great now. Doesn't have the sharp crack or the kick to the left anymore.
They could have looked it over good and done that when I sent it down and been done with it. When it's the one's that is buying and selling a
lot of guns from them they do things right. When it's just the owner they figure they can tell you it's all within specs and you will just accept it and deal with the gun the way it is. Shouldn't be that way, but I think most companies are now day's. That's why I appreciate it when I get a
dealer like I got, Newport Gun and Pawn in Newport, WA., and his supplier, Davidson's Inc.. They really care about their customers.
Any way, it's fixed and I'm a happy camper now. Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
My 6" 686 shoots like a house a'fire....but after many thousand rounds, shows an odd wear pattern on the front of the cylinder. A S&W rep was asked to explain this, at a 'demo days' shoot...no answer. Our local pistol smith readily identified the problem: a machining 'goof' from S&W. Solution: take off barrel, recut the forcing cone, etc. Not at my expense! So, I shoot it, and enjoy it, as is. Just wonder what it 'could have been'.
 
I know my BC gap was .003" wider on the left than the right. I don't know if that could have caused an odd wear pattern on the front of the cylinder from more pressure and powder being forced out of one side than the other over thousands of rounds or not. Kind of sounds like your forcing cone was machined crooked like mine was for the pistol smith to say the barrel needs to be taken off and recut the forcing cone.
I wouldn't have noticed mine being crooked if it wasn't making that loud crack and all the noise come out the left side. I got checking things out pretty close trying to figure out the problem. Glad I got it taken care of early.
 
44smith,

Thanks for the follow up, glad to hear all is well now.
I always say, shop where service matters, it will be cheaper in the long run.
Your gun store and their distributor just proved this to be true.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
Yes! Thanks for the follow-up. Glad that all worked out well.

Your experience matches mine in finding good service worth paying a little higher sticker price for if that's what it takes. I don't feel it actually costs more in the end. And it isn't even a given that the local guys will have a higher sticker price, anyway. When I bought my Marlin 1895 from a local store, it was the weekend of a gun show I'd been to at which the lowest table price had been $50 over what the local shop had hanging on the wall. No brainer.
 
Thanks guys. Seems to me that the gun shows any more are getting more expensive than a lot of the stores. And if you buy there and have problems you don't have anyone to back you when needed. My dealer is pretty reasonable on prices. Besides, the difference of having a gun that you are dissappointed with and hate to shoot, and a gun that works right, are happy with and enjoy shooting is worth a little extra if needed.
 
Yes. Thirty years ago, when I first started going to gun shows you could rent a table for $20 for the weekend. In the interim, the facility rental and insurance costs have gone way up and the commercial promoters have taken the business over from the gun clubs and other associations that used to sponsor shows. Today it costs $200 to $400 per weekend to have a table at a show around here. As a result, the small private sellers who used to treat the shows as a social occasion and didn't really care if they sold anything or not have all been replaced by professional gun show sellers. It's so rare to see a bonafide private seller at a show around here now that the so-called "gunshow loophole" is, de facto, non-existent.
 
Most of the shows around here have turned into flea markets of junk that have nothing at all to do with guns or gun related items.
The few tables that do have guns or gun related items, the prices are high.
However I can understand that with what the cost of renting tables has become.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
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