S&W L-frame and X-frame owners share some measurements.

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mcb

mcb

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If you own an L-frame or X-frame and a good pair of calipers would you take a few measurements for me?

Take the measurements from the back side (the end you insert the cartridges).

Tell what model it is:
Cylinder Outside Diameter (OD):
Wall thickness between cylinder OD and a chamber at its thinnest point:
Wall thickness between two adjacent chambers at its thinnest point:
Chamber diameter:

Thanks!

PS if you're bored and want to do your J, K, & N frames you can include that too but I have at least one of each of those to measure myself.
 
X-Frame
John Ross Custom 500S&W
Five shot cylinder

Cylinder diameter: 1.918"

Chamber to cylinder o.d.: .105"

Chamber to Chamber web at thinnest point: .158"

Chamber diameter: .533"

Measurements taken with a USA made Starrett dial caliper

357 in the cylinder for size comparison
index.php
 
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No X frame, but I have an L.

I’m not sure this is the most accurate measurements, but I took my Dillon caliper and gave it a try with my 686+ 7-shot:

Cyl across: 1.555
Walls between chambers at top: .075
Chamber walls outside at top: .100 (this gun does not have the cylinder stop cuts over the chambers.)
Chamber dia at top: .385


Chamber dia at mouth: .360
Chamber walls at mouth: .111

Cylinder length: 1.625”

2B165C6C-4D82-46A2-93FA-F8D1972FD0DA.jpeg

This may help :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
MCB....Just happen to be cleaning my 629's so maybe I can help out a little.....
All throats measured .0429 ...3" ..4"...6"..7 1/2"..8 3/8"
All cylinder lenghts measured 1.700
unfluted cylinder O.D. 1.712......all others fluted measured 1.709
cylinder bores measured .460 with pin guages going in about .500 or half inch
Extracter may cause fluctuations but between cylinders measured .085 to .090 might have to take out extracter to get more precise ,but those were the quickies.
wall thickness measured pretty much the same on all .078 - .080 with mitutoyo calipers and budweiser...
Hope it helps and if I missed any thing let me know .......I shot the new 8 3/8" hunter today and it was worth the price of admission and went bang every time . but I do favor the round butt grips ...my X frames are not here at the moment so I could not measure them sorry .....Peace and take care .....
 
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First up for those that have already posted data, I am much obliged. :thumbup:

But I would also like to bump this hoping for more measurements, from a standard 6-shot 686 and a Model 69 are of particular interest along with from a 460 S&W X-frame. But the above measurements from any S&W would be appreciated.

Thanks -mcb
 
BigBlue 94 said:
What is the purpose of these measurements??
Click to expand...

Mostly for curiosity sake but I have created a spreadsheet that you input the frame size, cartridge, and number of rounds in the cylinder and it will calculates the chamber wall thickness between chambers, and between a chamber and the OD of the cylinder along with distance between cartridge rims cartridges. I have J, K, and N frames of my own but not L or X and for such a thing more data is better.
 
329 n frame aluminum cylinder

Cyl Od 1.713
Chamber to outside .078
Chamber to chamber .100
Chamber diameter. 458

I measured chambers at the rear of the cylinder. In front of the extractor star. Afterwards I figured that they are probably tapered a bit
 
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686-3 six shot revolver:

cylinder diameter - 1.565"
gap between chambers - 0.120"
chamber to cylinder circumference - 0.085"
chamber diameter - 0.381"
gap between throats - 0.142"
throat to cylinder circumference - 0.100"
throat diameter - 0.356"
cylinder length - 1.626"

murf
 
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Thanks guys, I now have pretty good data for all five major S&W frame sizes!

ETA: I would still be happy with more especially a Model 69.
 
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