Some chambers more accurate?

D

Dave R

New member
Has anyone had a revolver where some chambers are more accurate than others? Could this be a timing issue?

I have a well-used S&W 34. I was noticing a lot of 4+2 groups. 4 clustered holes very near point of aim and two flyers. So I marked the cylinders, did some testing, and confirmed that 4 of the chambers in this revolver consistently shoot well, and two cylinders consistently send out flyers.

I checked timing as best I could with the "rod through the barrel and chambers" method, and couldn't see any differences.

Has anyone else seen something like this, or is my revolver just weird?
 
yup...

it could be one of several things or a combination

you might have already eliminated the first factor with the "timming rod" - alignment of chambers to the bore

it might be that the rachets for those two chambers are machined slightly "off" or there has been uneven wear of the timming star.

worst case - the two chambers might have been bored oversized and the varience in pressure is causing your problem.

take it to a gunsmith to see if there is a cure...best of luck
 
Dave: It's quite common for chambers in a revolver to have varying degrees of accuracy. Before auto pistols took over the bullseye game, shooters would carefully test each chamber of thier target revolver to determine the least accurate chamber which was then marked and the other 5 used for competition. The variation usually isn't huge, and could be timing, or perhaps offsize cylinder throats. Sometimes the cause is more difficult to isolate though. A good revolver type gunsmith might be able to help you or the factory service center.
Hope that helped!

Don in Ohio
 
S&W Model K22

Had the above gun and 4 of 6 would shoot to 1 inch at 25 yards. One of the remaining would do 2 and the 6th did 5"!
I sold it and then my 'smith friend said that in the '60s,
exact time frame is fogged out, they made a lot of K frames
that had poorly bored cylinders. I'M A BELIEVER ! ...dewey
 
I have one charge hole of my 6" 657 marked; the other 5 will print into one ragged hole; #6 will print off 1"; as long as you know it helps.
 
I shoot bullseye with a SW 625. One bore in the cylinder is off a small bit. They are numbered so I don't use the different one. All 3 of my 625's have one bore that is a slight bit off. For plinking it makes no difference. I'm considering shooting only one bore for the 50 yd line.
 
cylinder

Top gunsmiths can align the chambers to the bore using laser technology. Most factory guns will have one or more off center to the bore. If you can get the chambers aligned and cylinder gap close etc., a revolver can be a magnificant target machine.
 
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