It Followed Me Home, Honest...

[wanderinwalker]

Yay, woohoo!! My 6" 629-1 is home now! I am so seriously over-excited about this it isn't even funny.

The revolver is a minty Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum. I picked it up for $469 OTD. Birthday passed on Saturday so today I went to Alstead Gunshop to pick up my prize. The background check cleared in what must be record time (<5 min) and I was soon ecstatic.

Swing by the range. I get about three dozen rounds off before the ejector rod backs out. Bummer. After a little fiddling I free the ejector and clear the pistol, done for today. Get home, find my dad's copy of "Gunsmithing Pistols and Revolvers" and fix the problem. Degrease threads. Check. No LocTite. Check. Hand-tight. Hmmm.... My hand-tight isn't very tight. Looks like I need to invest in a tool to tighten the thing back down. No real big deal, it is a screw. The guy next to me at the range said, "You should take that back to the shop" while I'm thinking "It's a screw, no big deal, I can fix that."

So anyway, I am happy with my new revolver. It shot well, the action is crisp, tight and the trigger is nice. And now we are working on seeing some flame-erosion around the chamber faces. Oh happy day to be breaking in a big revolver that is only 4 years younger than I am!

Thanks for listening to my rant. If anybody has any help on the ejector rod, well, I'll listen. I'll post pictures once I have a digi-cam up and running.

Happy happy joy joy!

(Oh yeah, must mention the guy shooting next to me had one of the new-run M-25 Mountain Guns in .45 Colt. Very nice piece.)

Edit: For S&W Gurus- on the crane there is stamped the numbers 3924x and the marking E1, which appears to have been added after the others. Any ideas what this means?

 

[JoeHatley]

To keep the ejector rod tight, here is what I do.

Remove the cylinder and yoke by taking out the front sideplate screw, and slide the yoke out of the cylinder.
Place empty cases in the cylinder to releave strain on the extractor.
Use strip of leather (old belt) to pad the jaws of a pair of pliers (or better a bench vise) to hold the ejector rod, and unscrew the cylinder. Left hand threads!!
Clean the threads, and put half a drop of Blue #242 Lock-Tite on the threads.
Reassemble (don't forget the empty cases) and let the Lock-Tite cure over night.

Sould stay thight for many years.

BTW: Congrats on the nice find!!! Enjoy...

Joe

 

[stans]

I do the same thing. I know that with clean threads, a strip of leather, and a pair of pliers you are supposed to get the same result, maybe I am a weakling, but I find a tiny bit of blue Locktite keeps ejector rods from backing out.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Hand-tight. Hmmm.... My hand-tight isn't very tight. Looks like I need to invest in a tool to tighten the thing back down.

Once again, JoeHatley has it nailed. If you don't have genuine official Lock Tight, you can use a drop of nail polish.

 

[Bullet Bob]

Be sure and heed the part about BLUE loctite; NOT the red loctite. Very important.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Thanks for the responses. I was thinking blue Loctite. (Actually, I was thinking of just taking it out next Monday and shooting it, knowing now what the problem is if it starts binding and being able to take corrective action.) IF it shoots loose again, I will go the Loctite route for certain.

I tried out some very mild loads using 240gr lead SWCs and W231 powder (9.2 and 9.7 grains in Magnum cases) and a not-quite full-power load of W296 with the same bullets. No leading to speak of, no spitting (thankfully) and they all shot to the sights at 50-feet and the 9.7s shot to sights at 25 yards. Seemed to shoot best at the mildest velocities, though I really need to go back and seriously wring it out. The chrony will be joining my next range trip without question.

Again, thanks to all.

 

[Bullet Bob]

Forgot to add; congratulations on your purchase. It may not be the latest and greatest, but if a big 'ol N-frame S&W in .44 mag doesn't make a person happy, they're not a gun nut in my book!

 

[44Caliber]

Hi:
Congradulations on your new purchase. Life can be great especially after a purchase of a handgun!
My experience with S&W 44 magnum goes back at least 15 years. I shoot a S&W 44 magnum 6.5 inch barrel Classic Dx stainless 629 with 240 gr lead or Rainier copper plated bullet sitting on top of 22.8 Gr Winchester 296 powder (which is a factory equivalent load). Works beautiful with excellent accuracy and bullistics. I agree with your other colleagues with regard to the treatment of the extractor rod. I do use Blue but only after I thoroughly clean the threads with alcohol to remove any oil or grease. Very important!
44caliber

 

[Old Fuff]

Yup ....

That ejector rod is just a screw ... but a very fine threaded one. If you turn it too hard to get it tight you may end up with a stripped thread ... !!

That's why experienced users use BLUE locktite, and are VERY CAREFUL when they tighten the rod. Also be sure you have empty cases in the chambers to support the ejector star. Twisting it is not a good idea.

Other then that, you have a fine revolver, so enjoy it.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Thanks for the advice. One of my coworkers/shooting buddies is a retired NYPD Detective. He just shrugged off the "Ejector unscrewing itself" with a "My service revolver used to do that sometimes too." His recommendation was just check it every once in a while, only handtight.

Oh yeah, I noticed it is finely threaded and read to place empties in the cylinder to support the extractor. No issues there. With my hand-strength I can't strip out the threads, no worries. I'm planning on shooting it again Monday. If I get through 50 rounds or so without the rod backing out, I will leave good enough alone. If not, out comes the BLUE Loctite.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Took "The Beast" out again today and it ate about 60-70 rounds with no problems. Well, I had problems holding onto after the first cylinder of full-power magnums, but what can you do?

Here is a pic:

 

[Archie]

I don't use Locktite of any color.

The best wrench for this is a drill motor three jaw chuck.

Unplug the drill. When threads stop using your bare fingers, chuck up the extractor rod in the jaw; tighten one - twelveth of a turn, that is, from one chamber to the next bolt hole.

Not from one chamber to the next, that is too much.

Also works for K, L, and J frame guns, too.

And oh yeah, nice revolver. I really like double action magnums by S&W.