How tight do your cylinders lock?

[Gunsmoker]

I have maybe 100 rounds through my new revolver and I'm just wondering how tightly like-new guns lock.

How tight are your new guns?

 

[asknight]

Tight.

 

[pinkymingeo]

Depends on the gun. S&W revolvers, by design, have a little wiggle in the cylinder at lockup. Colts lock tight. I have an old Charter Arms cheapie that locks like a Colt. Don't know about Ruger or Taurus.

 

[ronto]

All my Rugers lock tight.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

My SP101s lock so tight, there is absolutely no movement of the cylinder. My GP100 is tight but has an almost imperceptable side to side. All my S&W revolvers don't lock up as tight, including a PPC revolver based on a S&W M10 that easily outshoots any other gun I have.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Smith & Wessons always have play. Properly timed and tuned Colts never do.

That said™, half a skosh of play in the cylinder won't affect accuracy to any measurable degree.

 

[Gunsmoker]

I have the 4" GP100.

There is side to side play in the cylinder. About 1 mm in either direction.

Will this keep getting worse over time or is this locked in at this side to side play?

 

[Old Fuff]

That play is intentional, and my source for that came from Bill Ruger Sr. himself.

If the notch in the cylinder is too close to the width of the cylinder latch, the least little bit of fouling or dirt could prevent the latch from entering the notch and locking the cylinder as its supposed to. The consequences of this would be far more serious then the little bit of wiggle you see now, and no – it shouldn’t get worse. In the unlikely event that it does Ruger would likely fix it under warrantee.

 

[Euclidean]

There's at least a tiny degree of side to side play in all my wheelguns although the pattern conforms to what already's been said.

Side to side is okay (as long as it not ridiculous), it's front to back play that's bad.

 

[thebaldguy]

I have fired both Taurus and Rossi revolvers; both had a little play. I haven't seen many revolvers that lock up totally tight.

 

[Fatelvis]

The only revover I've ever owned, (out of about 30), with NO perceivable movement, is the Freedom Arms Casull. The rest have a small amount of play.

 

[the naked prophet]

My S&W model 10 has a bit of play, but my S&W model 29 has been to a smith at some time in the past (I picked it up at an estate auction for cheap, cause there was a worn and loose pinned and recessed model 29 next to it that got bidded up to high heaven - I did Jim March's revolver checkout on both, and decided that the blued 29 had been smithed by a pro, so I bought it) and locks up as if it has been welded into place.

 

[CU74]

My Colts lock up like a bank vault. My Smiths have a slight bit of "freedom", as do my Rugers.