End Shake in .22 Revolver

[Confederate]

I have a M511 Rossi .22LR revolver that has a bit of end shake in it. When the cylinder is in, the b/c gap expands from .006" to about .010" just by pushing it back with the thumb. Naturally this is a bit troublesome, but apparently there are no parts available that will fix it.

The gunsmith I spoke to did say, however, that during the firing process, the firing pin pushes the cartridge forward and this, in turn, pushes the cylinder forward so that, while the hammer is down, the cylinder should be at the .006setting (which is in the acceptable range). "As long as the barrel and cylinder line up," he added, "there shouldn't be a problem."

Does this sound reasonable or would you try to have the problem fixed? Let me know.

McGunner, I know you recently picked up one of these. Does yours have the same problem?

Thanks!

 

[dfariswheel]

The problem is, while the cylinder is thrust forward when the hammer hits the firing pin, the cartridge firing blows the cylinder backward, where it bounces off the recoil face and slams forward again.

This is like a small impact hammer slamming back and forth in the frame.
While a .22 is less violent than a more powerful gun, over time the end shake will get worse and worse.
In a center fire revolver, the back and forth impacts will eventually batter the frame and cylinder to death.

Your Rossi .22 is safe to shoot and will be for some time, but I'd still recommend sending it in to Taurus, (Who now own Rossi) and get it repaired.

 

[Old Fuff]

And if you don't get the problems dfariswheel described the cylinder being pushed forward by the firing pin will cause misfires or hang fires. The later could be dangerous.

 

[MCgunner]

Yes, mine and others have a bit of slop, seems to be normal with these guns. I don't sweat it. .22 ain't gonna pound a revolver. Mine has about .004" of shake to it. It is very accurate and quite reliable. Even the new one I had that got stolen had some end shake new out of the box. Never bothered it. I had 20K+ through it before it got stolen and it never got any looser. Just seems to be the way these things were built.

I shoot this thing nearly ever range session. Have had it a while now. All I ever do is clean it up. That much end shake in a .357 I'd worry about, but not the .22. You can get a "crane stretcher" (not sure the actual name of the tool) I've been told, from Brownells, that will take out some shake. I've looked at it, costs about $35. You could tighten it up with that tool, but it'll increase cylinder gap.

 

[Confederate]

The firing pin will stay embedded in the rim of the cartridge as the blow back occurs. This will keep the entire cylinder from bouncing back and jolting everything. The gunsmith said if it were a centerfire, it would be an entirely different problem, but told me not to sweat it for now.

Of course, from a quality standpoint the cylinder should not have that play in it, but mine has been accurate and reliable. Every now and again I get a misfire, but looking at the cartridge, the firing pin indent looks fine. I may put a stiffer spring in it if I can get the part.

 

[Old Fuff]

In the case of a rimfire cartridge, sometime the priming compound doesn't fill the entire rim, leaving a void where no firing pin indent will set it off. It may fire if the cartridge is turned in the chamber before a second hit. If the misfire's became more consistant, or occured regardless of the brand of ammunition... then and only then would I worry.