You want a rant about a specific Revolver?
First handgun in the mid-60s was a Smith & Wesson
Model 18 K-22 .22 Lr 6 shot. It was reliable, no issues
A friend at the time had one of those H&R or Hi-Standard
Top Break 9 shooters which was out of time and would
spit lead - We got used to standing directly behind him
Recent Years
S&W 625-8 5" Bbl. .45 ACP / .45 Auto Rim
I love the gun, but can't trustt it for HD/SD with it's issues.
First time at the gravel pit, forcing the spent
full mooned .45 ACP empties I had to place the
ejector rod again the carpet covered sawhorse
So, called S&W - sent it in - on that trip I also
had the Master Revolver Action Job. S&W's cure
for the hard to eject cylinder was to replace the
cylinder witth one within spec from what I could
tell from the receipt The MRAJ besides polishig
internals it includes chamferinng the mouths of
the chambers.
Tried shooting a .45 ACP ShotShell - firing Pin stuck
to the backed out primer, too light a payload.
So, I go home w/o it working, it went to a gunsmith
for that fix. Same gunsmith madee sure the main spring
screw was tight.
Light primer strikes drove me nuts for a bit, then it
went to the gnsmith - he found the tip of the Firing Pin
(FP) was chipped. He installed the Apex Tactical
Apex XP kit = slightly longer and 'roundy in shape, not
pointy ( they offer a pointy shaped one for targett )
And it is now reliable but only with Federal ( primers )
usually American Eagle or HST/Hydra Shok.
The .45 Auto Rim ammo I have must use hard primers
it's not reliable -also- the .45 AR cases have a thicker
Rim than say the conventional .45 Colt
( it's 0.0905" vs 0.0610" ) and the outer edge is
rounded - sometimes an AR case doesn't get engaged
by the ejector star.
Some of these issues are unique to the .45 ACP/AR
application, but I'm not impressed with S&W's floating FP>
A freind with a 686 has had some light primer strikes issues as well.
Wait there's more!
Some time later, I'm shooting the 625, and go to ejectt
rounds - the thumb latch to release the cylinnder fell off.
I fdound it, part, and my gunsmith was at the range
so offf it went - fixed with a dab of loctite.
I only have one other revolver currentlly.
S&W 60-15 3" Bbl. .357 Mag. W&E rear sight
bone stock and no issues ever. If run ard
meaning a steady diet of .38 special say 70-80
rounds, It's all stainless, frame, cyl. and Bbl
so 24 oz empty, it has some masss, but it gets
pretty darn warm/hot after that round count
shooting at a steady rate.
I also have 3 1911 Variants, and a CZ 75B
& only one needed 400-500 break in, it is a
Full size and was tigghter than the Colt Commander
or Range Officcer Compact both of which have
been flawlesss, and the 75B is just stoopid reliable
I think it only gets cleaned about every 1,000 rounds
Never had a semi-auto go out of commisision and not
being able to fire it going home. This includes the full
size SW1911 which did have a LH Thumb Safety break
taking the plunger with it. but it kept firing - you'd be
forced to carry condition zero, Heh, I wasn't carrying it
that day.
Randall