[Gwar]

Long time lurker, first time poster/novel writer etc. I recently bought a S&W 4" 500 basically for giggles; a friend has a 2 3/4 " .357 and I felt the need to get something bigger and more destructive. Anyways, I ordered this thing last week and picked it up Tuesday. After going back to the store to have the gunsmith open the cylinder since it was out of time and wouldn't budge for me, I got home again and started the initial cleaning. I finished that and loaded it up with a mix of Corbon 275gr Barnes and 440gr cast lead rounds. The first thing I noticed was that the rounds were jiggling around in the cylinder and not secure. I opened the cylinder with the gun at a slight angle and watched $15 of ammo hit the floor from gravity. That's different. A day or 2 later I was thinking about a couple other little things that weren't right and wondered if they perhaps might have incorrectly machined the cylinder. After unloading the gun, I took a 440gr round and matched it up with the front of the cylinder just to see if the bullet intself would actually fit, and it was nowhere close. The 275gr fit but the 440s had, oh I don't know, about an extra 35gr that didn't appear that it want to go in or come out of the front of the cylinder. Both bullets fit into the barrel. Being as this is my first revolver, I'm concerned about anything that doesn't appear right. My question is: is this normal, or did I get a sloppy gun? The gun store is closed until Monday because of the SHOT show so I've come here for your shared wisdom.
Thanks.

[GaryP]

If new, and your post leads me to believe that is the case, I would take it back to the dealer. Either S&W dropped the ball on this one or ??? :cuss:


:evil:

[Gwar]

New gun, freshly bought Tuesday. Shop is closed until Monday so I'm seeing what the experts have to say :D or if I'm just being paranoid about it.
Thanks.

[Third_Rail]

Don't shoot that gun!


It sounds out of spec to me.... Better safe than sorry.

[BluesBear]

Well it's not ususual for cartridges to fit a little loose in the chambers. I worry when unfired ammo WON'T fall right out of the chambers.
A tiny bit of forward and back movement is normal also.
Upon firing the brass will expand enough to fit tightly and seal the gasses.

This is why we have to resize fired cases prior to reloading them.

As for the bullet fitting in the cylinder throat from the face.
Lead bullets are usually a little larger in diameter (.001"-.002") than jacketed bullets so they will give a little better gas seal in the throat and barrel.

Neither bullet should fit in the muzzle of a standard barrel due to the neccessity of the land diameter (rifling) being slightly smaller than bore diameter.
BUT every S&W .500 revolver that I have seen so far has a compensator chamber at the muzzle. So a bullet should fit on your gun.


However, if you don't feel confident about the gun don't shoot it.
Take it back to the dealer and ask them.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

[only1asterisk]

Please go shoot it and take video.


David

[Oderus]

I like your name! I figured I was the only Gwar fan in this place. :evil: