H & R 929 light strikes

[351 WINCHESTER]

I took the hammer strutt out and it looks fine, other than being made of plastic. It has developed a crack though so it needs replacement. The firing pin is square and sharp. I have tried different brands of .22 ammo and still getting missfires. They will fire on the second strike.

I see Numrich has steel and plastic replacements for about $25. Jack First has them too and with shipping it's about $38. ($10. for shipping) for the steel one. This is for the spring and the hammer strutt. The lady at Jack First answered the phone on the first ring (kinda shocked me as I'm not used to such customer servive these days.)

Have I missed anything that would cause missfires?

 

[rcmodel]

Check end-shake & firing pin protrusion too.

If the cylinder has excess end-shake, it slides too far foreword for the firing pin to reach the rim.

rc

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

It does have a little endshake. At this point I don't know if it's worth fixing or not. I'm guessing it's about a $150 to $200 revolver in working condition.
I wonder what regulates the endshake on these guns?

 

[mtrmn]

I have a "sidekick" revolver that does the same thing. Not sure what the actual model number is cuz I'm at work.

I replaced the hammer strut/spring, hammer, and tried adding shims in front of the cylinder and removed enough slack that the cylinder would barely turn. Nothing worked so far and I ran out of ideas. :banghead:

The mis-firing rounds are never on the same cylinder from one time to the next, so I can't really blame it on the cylinder itself. I can put 9 rounds in the gun and usually get 2 or 3 misfires. If I cycle the cylinder around again the misfires will fire every time. I even tried turning the cartridges in the cylinder so the firing pin would hit in a different spot, and they still fire the 2nd go-round.

All fired rounds have good strikes, and the unfired rounds are barely marked.

The gun was given to me and I found myself investing enough in it to buy a used Ruger, so I stopped working on it and just use it for shooting rats etc when I bush-hog the field.

 

[JRH6856]

took the hammer strutt out and it looks fine, other than being made of plastic. It has developed a crack though so it needs replacement.

Yes, it does. The crack in the plastic allows the strut to flex and absorb the energy from the spring rather than transferring it to the hammer. The result is light strikes. It will eventually crack all the way resulting in no strikes.

I had the exact same problem once with a 929 and the new strut cleared it up. An all steel strut would probably prevent future cracks.

 

[JRH6856]

mtrmn, do the rounds chamber easily? I ask because excessive dry firing can burr the chamber mouths, making it easy to not seat rounds completely when loading. A firing pin hitting an "unseated" round can just push the round forward without firing it. Next time around, the fully seated round fires with no problem.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

The crack is small and the rounds chamber easily and fully. I think I will try a steel replacement, but from Gunparts or Jack First?

 

[JRH6856]

I've never dealt with Jack First. I have dealt with Gunparts/Numrich over the years and have no complaints.

 

[mtrmn]

"mtrmn, do the rounds chamber easily? I ask because excessive dry firing can burr the chamber mouths, making it easy to not seat rounds completely when loading. A firing pin hitting an "unseated" round can just push the round forward without firing it. Next time around, the fully seated round fires with no problem."

Yes, all rounds drop right in and flush with the rim. My original strut had a plastic END on it, but the replacement I got from Numrich/Gun Parts is all metal.
I also took the spare hammer I had left over and filed down the hammer face around the fixed firing pin so the firing pin would protrude further. All results were the same, and I removed the modified hammer so it would not damage the cylinder. I haven't done any more work on it in the last 2 years or so because I ran out of ideas and didn't want to spend more money chasing my tail.
It's really a fun little gun to plink with and it can be totally relied on to fire all nine rounds with 18 trigger pulls I keep it loaded with rat shot and carry it with me on the tractor-a job it handles quite nicely.

 

[Catpop]

By all means get the steel mainspring strut. I went through 2 plastic ones in my 1973 HR 929 before I found the steel one was available. No more problems since. I bought mine from Numrich.

 

[Catpop]

Answer to a question- my HR 930 has very littlemost end play less than .010 at most. Some star wheel indents very lightly.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Mine has a little more endshake. I'm reluctant to sink $40. into a gun that may or may not work. I wish I could replace the hammer spring assembly for $25. I'd be willing to spend that.