629-2 Repairing endshake, which bearings?

[FullEffect1911]

Hello,

I just bought a 629-2 S&W on Heller Day. This is my first square butt smith, and I am very pleased with it so far except for an average amount of .007" of endshake. I understand the the yoke barrel needs to be reamed and then faced square with the proper tools. Setting the cylinder back will give a B/C gap max of .009".

But what would be an acceptable combination of endshake bearings? Would 3 .002" bearings work just as well as a .004" and a .002"? Or is is much better to use the least amount of bearings? This question is really based on saving money on the price of a separate pack of bearings.

 

[Old Fuff]

There may or may not be a misunderstanding.

You ream and square the yoke’s barrel, not the revolver’s one.

Only remove enough metal to get it square. The best way too do this is to blacken the end of the barrel with a felt-tipped pen, and only remove enough metal to remove that mark. After doing this reassemble the extractor, cylinder and yoke; and again measure the end shake with a feeler gauge, first while holding the cylinder as far backwards as possible, and then forward the same way. The difference is the end shake, unless the forward measurement is zero (no gap at all). An ideal gap would be between .003” to .005” if you use jacketed bullets exclusively, and between .005” to .009” if you shoot lead bullets as well.

Use the thickest bearings that will accomplish what you want. For example if you had .005” or .006” of end shake, one .004” bearing would be better then two .002” bearings. That could leave you with .001” to .002” of end shake, but that is acceptable. Or you could remove an additional .002” from the end of the yoke and use two .004” bearings.

One hint: After you drop the required number of bearings into the cylinder, reassemble the extractor and yoke, and then while holding the cylinder in your left hand, give the front of the yoke a rap with a plastic mallet. This will insure that the bearings are fully seated.

Proceed with care. It is easy to remove too much metal from the yoke barrel.

 

[BBBBill]

Is it cylinder end shake, yoke endshake, or a combination?

 

[HammerBite]

Shouldn't you also square the shoulder in the cylinder upon which the yoke barrel bears?

 

[FullEffect1911]

You ream and square the yoke’s barrel, not the revolver’s one.

Man alive, that was one heck of a typo on my end. I even proof read the darn thing and still glazed over that one with my eyes. I am going to go back and correct that in my original post. I must say i feel a bit silly lol.

Is it cylinder end shake, yoke endshake, or a combination?

I believe it is just cylinder end shake. The yoke is pretty darn solid.

Thanks for the details Fuff, I appreciate it.

One more question. What is the actual diameter of the yoke barrel? I could probably get a hand reamer from McMaster-Carr much cheaper then from Brownells.

 

[dfariswheel]

I could probably get a hand reamer from McMaster-Carr

Don't.
Buy the one from Brownell's because it has a pilot stud that fits into the yoke barrel and keeps the cutter perfectly square.
Using the Brownell's piloted cutter, you can more easily make sure the end of the yoke barrel is perfectly square with the barrel and flat, without ripples or high spots.

It's the little things that count, and making sure the barrel is perfectly flat and square not only makes the washer job easier, it also makes it last virtually forever, especially if you lightly grease the end shake washers.

 

[FullEffect1911]

Don't.

Alright, fair enough. When I do the job, i'll do it proper like. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[texagun]

Use the thickest bearings that will accomplish what you want. For example if you had .005” or .006” of end shake, one .004” bearing would be better then two .002” bearings.

That is an EXCELLENT piece of advice. I used 2 small bearings (from Brownell's) on an old S&W 686 and one of them tore and jammed the cylinder up. Then switched out to just using one, and it worked beautifully. Old Fuff knows some stuff!

 

[Old Fuff]

The Old Fuff is indeed a genius…

But only in his own mind.

Others have serious doubts…