question about shimming cylinder gap on j frame

[Confederate]

Right. I have learned to look for a better revolver at the counter before I buy it. I believe the .013 and the unsquare cone face is a reflection of present-day [lack of] S&W quality and craftsmanship. The problem with trying to have it fixed is the expense. It's only a $400 revolver to begin with. I'd be better off looking for one that by chance was built better. But the shortcoming won't by any means prevent this one from being useful.

There's much to what you say. I wouldn't buy any revolver without first checking it out. I knew a fellow who used to work for the NRA Technical Team. He would take a number of .357 bullets with him when he'd buy a .357 or .38 revolver. And when looking at the gun he would drop one bullet (not cartridge) into each chamber. He would take the revolver with the most number of bullet "catches" in the chambers. If the bullets dropped through each chamber (like they did in virtually all Tauruses), he wouldn't take it. I checked my Ruger Security-Sixes and most of them caught! You take a Ruger SP-101 and I haven't heard of any with excessive cylinder gaps or headspace. I had one Astra that had excessive cylinder gap. I lived in Virginia at the time and dropped the revolver off. At first they said it wasn't excessive, so I suggested we check the B/C gaps of other revolvers of the same type. The guy brought in about four blued and stainless revolvers and mine had the largest gap by far. So they took it. A few weeks later I received it back and the B/C gap was right on. But when I slipped primed cases into the chambers and measured the gaps between the case head and the back of the revolver frame, the headspace was way too excessive! What they'd done was just moved the cylinder forward, which then opened the space in the back. So I sold the gun back to the place I'd gotten it and then bought a Ruger.

Very few S&W 686s will have problems with excessive B/C gaps or headspace. This is because 686 buyers are more exacting. But small gun buyers just tend to load the guns and carry them. Very few if any will misfire, but they can lose velocity if the chambers are not tight and the B/C gaps and headspace aren't spaced properly, they can lose velocity.

Again, check it out on revolvers before you buy. I'm so fed up with Smith & Wesson these days with their stupid two-tone stainless revolvers with black screws and black hammers, triggers and cylinder releases. What idiot signed off on that design? They must think it looks real trick! Yeech. And you can't buy it all silver.

 

[texagun]

J frame is new from factory, has about 300 factory (Federal American Eagle) rounds through it. It was a web order through a big box store so it wasn't fiddled with at the gun counter.

The gun is "new from factory" and obviously has some defects. Instead of fooling with it, call them, tell them you are not happy with it at all, and return it and let them fix it. Be sure and give them a detailed list of the problems you have descridbed on this post. I would send a link to this post to them. Good luck with them. I have always had good service from their Customer Service Dept.