Basic S&W tighten-up?

CBA Member

Pepe Ray posted this 18 February 2018

Heads up for David.

I was messing around tonight, trying to get more acquainted w/the ways of the site. Found the link to the instructions you ,so generously, posted plus pictures.

got them printed with pics IN COLOR. Thanks, Pepe Ray

Only in His name.

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CBA Member

tturner53 posted this 12 November 2016

I'm looking forward to that article. In the meantime I'll try some heavier bullets. Just got a new mold.

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CBA Member

Wineman posted this 11 November 2016

My mistake. I was experimenting on how to brighten up the photos for TT and I got kind of crazy with the editing software. Unfortunately, I was unable to edit the edit and change the text. The original photo is back.

Dave:D

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CBA Member

tturner53 posted this 10 November 2016

Note re. post #24 above photos of two targets. Both were shot at 25 yds., about 15 min. apart. I'll see how that 10 yd. caption got on there. New to me.

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CBA Member

RicinYakima posted this 10 November 2016

Great! Handguns articles are always well received.

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 10 November 2016

John Alexander has asked me to write an article about this thread topic for the Jan/Feb issue of The Fouling Shot, which I will do.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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tturner53 posted this 06 November 2016

Again. EDIT; This is a test. Moving to test thread.

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tturner53 posted this 06 November 2016

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David Reiss posted this 03 November 2016

Just make sure the bullet diameter is the same as the cylinder throats. If the cylinder is not spinning freely when opened, there is a really good chance it is just dirty. Remove the cylinder from the yoke, it just slips off. You don't need to unscrew the ejector rod unless there is an issue with it. Clean the yoke barrel and inside the cylinder where it goes. Little lube on the end of the yoke and put it back together. It should spin freely now.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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CBA Member

M3 Mitch posted this 03 November 2016

Not to be a name dropper, but Glen used to work where I still work, and I have met him. He's a hell of an engineer well beyond just guns.

Wonder why the 148 grain wadcutter won't shoot? Were they keyholing? I recall 2.7 grains of Bullseye being sort of a classic wadcutter load. One thing I always do with a bullet new to a particular revolver is to drop a bullet into each cylinder throat from behind. If the bullet falls on through, no need to try it, it won't shoot. Found this out with my Officer's Model Heavy Barrel Match in .32 S&W. Tried some 77 grain bullets for the .32 ACP, they wouldn't shoot, turns out they were undersize, but it shoots very well with the 93 grain intended for the 30 Luger, it's fat enough to fill out the throats.

It's amazing sometimes how loose a revolver can be and it still shoots well.

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tturner53 posted this 03 November 2016

Thanks for the compliments! I am definitely happy with the way both these old girls shoot. That Lee 125 has shot well in all my .38s and .357s. But, I am going to try some 158s. I have a boat load of molds, including some old Ideal classics. Reading Glen Fryxell's articles makes a guy want to use the oldies, like 358477 and 358429. My intended target load with a 148 WC didn't do well at all in either gun. I may have reduced it too far, around 650 fps. After this new test I agree with Dave, if it aint broke don't fix it. That said, the Victory cylinder absolutely will not spin freely when the thing is opened up. Something wrong in there so fixing that will be the new goal. Loose or not, these guns still shoot as is.

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M3 Mitch posted this 03 November 2016

The longer barreled gun may “like” a bit heavier bullet, that should bring it's point of impact up a bit. I think 125 grain bullets were seldom used in .38 Special when these guns were new, no doubt a 158 grain of some sort, why not a Keith type, would do well.

That is damn good shooting, speaks well of both the two revolvers and the shooter.

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 03 November 2016

That's at 25 yards with those fixed sight beauties! Leave'em alone, back away now, don't come within 10 feet with a screwdriver. That's pretty good, 90% of the thousands of officers I trained over the years couldn't shoot that well, even the “gun guys". Seriously though, I was being serious. Let me know how the pistolsmithing is coming when you get a chance.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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Wineman posted this 03 November 2016

Tim asked to post these for him. I used Photobucket years ago but the amount of adds makes it a frustrating experience.

I'm sure Tim will chime in and let you know his thoughts: Dave

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CBA Member

tturner53 posted this 03 November 2016

I think we have struck gold here boys. I believe Dave is the new official CBA S&W revolver guy. I feel lucky to have his help. I must admit I am tempted by some shortcuts but now don't want to let Dave down! He is determined to 'do it right' so as to avoid problems down the road. Like having a shim come apart and locking the gun up, for instance. My 'Victory' model looks like hell but shoots pretty good. I went to the range yesterday for a quickie. Shot a 10 shot group with each gun at 25 yds. from sandbags. The 'Victory' held about 3 1/2” and the 6” 1905 stayed in 4” with most closer than that. The load was randomly selected from my stash as one that has shot well in about everything I have. My buddy, Wineman, has agreed to post a couple pictures here for me on the condition I learn how to do it myself in the future. I admit I am a stoneage man, really good with an axe or club.

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R. Dupraz posted this 02 November 2016

Exactly

Only so much can be learned from books.

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David Reiss posted this 02 November 2016

Jerry's was a superb gunsmith & his books are good, actually the best on the market, covering a lot of techniques, but I can teach you things not in his books, only learned at the S&W, Colt & Ruger factories. Some of my techniques & tricks were also learned from the firing of over 25,000 rounds a year during my 33 year career and literally working on more than 50,000 (a conservative estimate) revolvers & semi-autos used in law enforcement during that span. http://www.castbulletassoc.org/images/emoticons/fire.gif

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 01 November 2016

hey tt:: somebody told me that if you are smart enough to spell * kuhnhausen * you could probably fix the dang gun anyway ...

ken

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tturner53 posted this 01 November 2016

OK. Why not? I'll shoot some paper as is for starters. Dave has told me not to expect a big change in accuracy based on our conversation and what I told him about my old Smiths. I've had them for a long time. The idea was to learn how to work on them. This project is about 25 years overdue! Procrastinate much? Now to select a test load.

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M3 Mitch posted this 01 November 2016

tturner53 wrote: Wow! Thanks Dave. This really helps compared to just reading Kuhnhausen's book. I'm dropping the before and after accuracy comparison from this project. Not really necessary or likely to be helpful. My understanding of how these babys work has jumped way ahead in a short time. Thanks again for your help and time. I'm thinking I'll need a new hand, cylinder stop, and a little work on the yoke barrel. At least the lockup seems a-ok. On the side, I'm hearing S&W will still take these old war horses in for a factory service. Nice to know just in case. EDIT; And probably a new cylinder pin. Got a tiny bit of that side to side cylinder wobble on the back end. Next year I think I'll shoot one of these old girls in the CBA's postal match. Well, unless the gun is spitting/shaving lead, it might be at least interesting to shoot a few groups as-is, then a few after tightening up.

Could make a decent FS article.

You might want to check the cylinder throats for uniformity, and get them honed to match the biggest one, while you have things apart. Maybe just using a bullet that fits/shoots well now, just to check that it has the same fit in all 6 holes.

Let me say thanks as well to you, Dave, I certainly learned something reading your posts!

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Basic S&W tighten-up?

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