686 Spitting Lead - cylinder alignment - help

[walteray]

My old man is shipping me his 686 its an old Mass. Police gun. After shooting it for 20 years its now spitting lead. He is sending it to me to fix and keep.

I can re-cut the forcing cone but how do I go about re-aligning the cylinder?

I know the crane probably needs to be straightened also but the cylinder is way way out of alignment its spitting so much lead you can feel it on your face.
Help? any help please would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BBBBill]

That is a major project that few gunsmiths and far fewer hobbiests are qualified and equipped to attempt. Best left to S&W to repair at the factory.
Yoke alignment will need checking/straightening, yoke and cylinder endshake measured/corrected, forcing cone condition checked/corrected, then cylinder timing/carry up set.

If you must pursue it yourself, get a copy of Kuhnhausen's S&W manual and study it till you wear it out. Then buy another copy! You will need all of the info in there on cylinder fitting/timing and then some. Then there's the specialized tools. Your hand and ratchet are probably both worn. Cylinder stop, too. New parts may be needed. Old ones can sometimes be refit. I have a piece of tooling for that process that I don't believe is available any more. It is used to heat/bend the hand and swage the ratchet pads for a refit. The tool was pricey 30 years ago and few were made.
I just scratched the surface. Each step is involved if you wish to do it correctly.

 

[walteray]

wow

I have the forcing cone recutting tools and a crane swedger and alignment rod for .357 but thats as far as my "speciality" tools go. Ill pick up the manual though I have few books that cover the basics of everything and a few that cover the basics of handguns and rifles.

Thanks so much for the help if I decide to take this project on myself Ill post my progress ..........or lack of