S&W Model 29 problem

[Wesson Smith]

I've always wanted a 'Dirty Harry' gun, and I picked one up today for a reasonable price. It was NIB, but is several years old. I believe it's just been sitting collecting dust, so to speak. I gave it a quick cleaning and lube (no detail strip) and I'm sorta bummed because during dry fire, the trigger fails to reset in DA about once every 12-14 pulls. Is it possible that the rebound spring might need replaced on a 'new' revolver? Could the timing be off? Or might it be that it just requires some break-in? I sure wasn't expecting this!

 

[Shimitup]

Before you worry about mechanical problems give it a detailed tear down, cleaning and oiling. Old lubricants can get as hard as pariffin wax. I would suspect you may find that is your only issue.

 

[MountainBear]

Pick up a rebound spring removal tool. Pull out the rebound spring and check it. Like Shim said, that will probably be the issue. When you clean out the revolver, there are only three places that need to be re-oiled. A drop on the hammer pin, trigger pin, and rebound slide. Small drops, don't drown the revolver. Excess oil picks up contaminants and voila, you get failure to reset, or other "sticky" problems.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

I have found that S&W revolvers come pretty filthy from the factory.
The most noticeable effect this has on the guns is a heavy, inconsistent trigger pull, that feels sort of "gritty", although issues such as yours could also occur.

What I do is:

Take the grips off of the revolver, completely hose out the action of the revolver with GunScrubber using the hammer and trigger openings.

Use an air compressor to blow out any excess GunScrubber from the action.

Spray Breakfree CLP into the action until thoroughly soaked; work the action a bunch of times by dry-firing.

Again, use an air compressor to blow out any excess breakfree. Wipe everything down and reinstall the grips.

If the above does not fix the issue, and you feel comfortable doing so, then you will have to remove the sideplate and check everything out, or, give it to a gunsmith and let him look it over.

If you are going to remove the sideplate you might as well replace the rebound spring with a lighter one and give it a trigger job.

 

[Oro]

Sir Aardvark's proceedure is pretty much exactly what I do. Brake cleaner is functionally the same as gun scrubber and easier to come by cheaper (auto parts store).

His procedure will fix about 98% or more of all "new to me" older S&W problems. Per Mountain Bear's instructions, check that the rebound spring is not cut-down too far. I opened a 1942 Navy Victory last weekend and found this inside:



Yikes. This is what you want it to look like after a careful cleaning and judicious specks of grease or oil on the working surfaces:



However, before you dig into it and disassemble your gun, you may want to check this - remove the mainspring screw from the front of the grip strap (it is the one behind your ring finger in a shooting grip - if your grips cover the front strap of the grip frame, take them off and you will see it). Unscrew it and check the end to make sure it hasn't been filed down, and that it is securely screwed in all the way.

If you do dig into it, you can also remove the rebound spring/slide without buying the dedicated tool from S&W. I find a cheap 3/32" punch with a tapered tip works great. Removing isn't the problem (except possibly loosing the spring as it shoots out; be careful), it's installation. With the tapered punch you can use it to hook the spring end on the retaining post in the frame very easily, then pop the slide all the way in. Saves getting a $20 specialized tool good for nothing else:



Lastly, check that spring is not cut to short. This one had been - as you can see the ends are snipped and it only has 12 full coils. It should have 15.



Before you go inside the gun, read the sticky near the top of the Revolver forum, he walks through the proper way to get in there without doing damage. Very nice post by member Sylvan_Forge.

 

[Wesson Smith]

Wow. Thanks for the great replies, everyone. And thank you Oro for the really informative pics and narrative. Man, I've heard stories about how fouled up the innards on an old revolver can get, but there's living proof!

I got sidetracked, but plan on at least removing the sideplate tomorrow for an inspection. I will look for all of the points mentioned, and go from there. This is why I stop in and check THR out every day. A lot of good folks here,
with a lot of good knowledge. Again, thanks much!

 

[rcmodel]

That gun in the picture is not all fouled up from normal use.

It is full of cosmoline.

It was hot dipped in cosmoline and put in storage at some time in it's life.

rc

 

[Wesson Smith]

Well, I removed the sideplate this morning, and sure enough, it was a little crusty in there. All I can think of is that it's because the gun sat unused for a couple of years. I judiciously sprayed a little Ballistol (man, I love that stuff) into the problem areas, and then q-tipped and air blasted it out. That seemed to do the trick. Nonetheless, I ordered a couple of rebound springs just in case.

Now, for the range report. To be perfectly honest, I've never shot a .44 mag. I own a S&W 686 in .357 and shoot hot loads out of it all the time, but I must admit I was a tad unprepared! I started out with .44 Specials, and was thinking to myself "this is gonna be a piece of cake". Oh, boy. Call me a wimp, but after about 3 cylinders worth, the gun was brutalizing my palm. I managed to stay "minute of bad guy" on an OPOTA silhouette at 55 feet, but it was work. The thing that amazed me most was the muzzle rise on the dang thing! I didn't notice it so much when I was shooting, but I let a couple of buddies have at it, and it was kinda fun standing behind them and watching that barrel flip up in the air. And the one guy is a big dude, and an experienced shooter, so I'm consoling myself that it wasn't all me!
Anyway, it's a fine, fine gun and I have absolutely no regrets on the purchase. It just ain't one that I'm gonna get 'hours and hours of range shooting pleasure' out of.

Once again, thanks much for all of the helpful replies, folks.

 

[Jim K]

A bit late now, but with a sluggish gun I never remove the sideplate or get into the innards before using a good cleaner and good gun oil. Remove the grips and spray the cleaner in front of the hammer, into the frame through the grip opening, and ahead of the trigger, then on the extractor rod.

That should clean out most dirt and gunk without taking a chance on marring screws or damaging parts. Follow with a good gun oil.

Jim