[Iggy]

I recently bought a used a S&W model 19. It has some end shake. I took it to the local gunsmith and he felt it, moved it back and forth and said "Hell, I shoot looser ones than that all of the time".

I have to admit, I don't have a lot of faith in this guy, and I would take it somewhere else to get any serious work done on a gun of mine..

I measured the fore and aft movement of the cylinder and it 0.20"

I can feel the cylinder move when I raise or lower the muzzle of the gun.

Am I being overly concerned on this or do I need to look into adding a shim?

I don't shoot heavy loads, but I don't want to worsen the condition

TIA,

Iggy

[GeorgeR]

Did you gauge that with a dummy or fired case in the cyl? With a shell in place you should be measuring certainly no more than .012. How's the yoke?

[Iggy]

I measured it without a case in the cylinder.

With cases in the cylinder, movement is .008

The yoke "appears" to be OK.

None of my other S&W's have any perceptible movement, this what got me to wondering about this one.

[GeorgeR]

It should be OK. I believe the factory says .010 and many smiths think .012 is about the limit.

[Iggy]

OK, thanks, I will quit worrying about it and enjoy it.

Thanks again.

[jaybar]

The proper way to measure endshake: Make sure that the area under the extractor star is clean and free of any unburnt powder or other particles. With the empty (no cartridges) cylinder closed, push the cylinder forward and measure the barrel/cylinder gap with a feeler gauge. For the sake of this example lets say it is .006". Now repeat the measurement while pushing the cylinder to the rear. Again, for this example lets say you get a measurement of of .014". Subtract the smaller from the larger and you get and endshake of .008". Ideally the endshake should be no more than .002". If you have more than .002" endshake get some endshake bushings from Power Custom. They are available through Brownells in two thicknesses (.002" and .004").

[dfariswheel]

A pistolsmith's method:

A simpler method is to clean the front face of the cylinder and the rear face of the barrel.

Gently push the cylinder forward and hold it there.
Use a feeler gage to measure the barrel/cylinder gap.

Gently push the cylinder to the rear and hold it there.
Gage the gap again.

Subtract one measurement from another and that's how much actual end shake you have.

On S&W's Minimum end shake is 0.001", Maximum is "about" 0.006".
Note that these specs are good for S&W DA revolvers ONLY, other makers have different specs.

[Iggy]

Hmmm... Using that method, pushing the cylinder forward, I can barely get a .002 gauge between the cylinder and the barrel and if I push hard on the cylinder, it binds the gauge and makes it hard to remove.
Pushing it back, I get .008. It is a tight fit, .006 is easier.

Looks like a bushing is in order.