Smith Model 29 - Problems!!

[68lemans462]

I have a question for you revolver gurus out there... My 8 3/8" barreled model 29 44 mag has a problem. It was intermittent, but over the weekend the thing finally gave up.. I purchased this gun used and it has been shot alot in the past from what I can tell..

The problem: when I cock the hammer back, the revolving cylinder does not advance or even move at all. Everything else operates fine if I advance the cylinder manually. At first, this would happen intermittently but over the weekend, it just flat failed.

I am going to take this to the Colorado school of gunsmithing for repairs, but I'm wondering what is actually wrong?? Can anyone explain why this would happen and what it will take to fix this? Thanks......

 

[Meeteetse]

Sounds like a simple timing problem to me. Easy to fix by a gunsmith that understands S&W's. Even if it is more than timing, S&W's are pretty easy to fix. Fear not, you have a great gun.

 

[SunnySlopes]

Agree w/timing problem. I'd send it back to Smith.

 

[rcmodel]

You have a broken hand spring inside the trigger at best.
It could be the little arm broke off the hand at worst.

Or the hand could be just hung up on dried oil & dirt.

See photo of the innerds here.
The hand is the shiney part attached to the trigger that rotates the cylinder.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=4969172&postcount=5

I would try hosing it out with WD-40 while working the action, then blowing it out with an air hose, then hosing it again with Rem-Oil, then blowing the excess oil out again.

If that don't fix it?
Send it back to S&W for a factory repair & total inspection.
It's time for one.

rc

 

[W.E.G.]

The "hand" advances the cylinder.

Find out why the hand is not engaging the cylinder, and fix it.

If you are capable of getting the side plate off the gun, you should be able to eyeball it and figure it out.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Just whatever you do, don't pry the sideplate off with a screwdriver tip!!!

 

[Walkalong]

The trigger has a small spring in it which keeps the top of the hand forward in the channel cut in the breech face which allows the hand to push up on and rotate the cylinder.

As rcmodel posted, the spring could be broken, and the hand is not being pressed forward into the channel engaging the cylinder. Pretty simple fix.

Or, as posted, the hand could be broken. Still not a hard fix.

Just whatever you do, don't pry the sideplate off with a screwdriver tip!!!

Yep. Take off the grips, remove the side plate screws, and tap on the handle part of the frame gently until the side plate pops off. Or just let a gunsmith fix it.

 

[dprice3844444]

LSG
10059 HWY 1476
COMANCHE, TX 76442
Phone: (325) 885-2700
Email: [email protected]
•USA smith repair station

 

[Jim K]

Hey, guys, the OP is in Denver; the Colorado School of Trades in Lakewood has a top notch gunsmith school, and the OP says he is going to take it there, so why recommend someone in Texas or that he send the gun to the factory?

Jim

 

[243winxb]

On firing, the cylinder can rotate backwards.

 

[bikemutt]

Hey, guys, the OP is in Denver; the Colorado School of Trades in Lakewood has a top notch gunsmith school, and the OP says he is going to take it there, so why recommend someone in Texas or that he send the gun to the factory?

Jim

Sending it to Smith is always good advice, can't go wrong too much there. As far as the gunsmith school goes, well my dad always let the barber school practice on him, the results were mixed

 

[68lemans462]

I had the gun re-blued at the CO school of gunsmithing back in Feb.. They did a great job for $85.. I called them and apparently the gun is still under warranty from the bluing! They said bring it in and they will fix it for free... We will see! The gunsmith I talked to seemed to agree with your assessments of the problem...

 

[Jim K]

"well my dad always let the barber school practice on him, the results were mixed."

Good point!

Jim

 

[SunnySlopes]

dad always let the barber school practice on him

I was thinking the analogy of getting dental work at a dental school, since it's lots cheaper.

Problem is, you get what you pay for.

 

[Old Fuff]

Run the famous Old Fuff Hand Test.

After checking to be sure the cylinder is unloaded, latch the cylinder, point the muzzle straight up, and cock the hammer. I expect the cylinder won't turn.

Next, point the muzzle straight down and repeat the test. Hopefully the cylinder will turn, at least a little bit.

Take the revolver back to the school, describe the test and results, and they should have it fixed in under 15 minutes. Better they do it then you.

My bill will be in the mail tomorrow.

 

[Red Cent]

http://www.genitron.com/Basics/Revolver/P2Revolver.html

 

[788Ham]

If you want the revolver to fire after taking it to the gun school, GOOD LUCK ! My older brother had a savage 99 in .243 that wouldn't eject properly, when he got it back, it still wouldn't eject properly, they had a huge gouge in the butt stock and the gold trigger that was originally on it was replaced with some odd ball trigger. To each his own!

 

[56hawk]

Another thing to check it the rear of the cylinder. Enough crud can build up so that the hand skips over the notches and doesn't turn the cylinder. I would completely take the revolver apart and clean everything with solvent and a toothbrush. Of course you might just find a broken part inside.

 

[dprice3844444]

jimk,that outfit is the authorized s&w repair station

 

[rcmodel]

I had the gun re-blued at the CO school of gunsmithing back in Feb.. They did a great job for $85..

And four months later, the gun don't work anymore after working for 30+ years without probably ever having a total dissembly before?

Yea!
Thats pretty great for only $85 bucks!

rc

 

[MachIVshooter]

Fixing Smiths ain't rocket surgery; They're a simple design. Take the side plate off using the method described, and looking at a few pictures and diagrams, you should be able to figure it out with no trouble.

 

[Remllez]

Since they did previous work on it they may have bent or broken the spring that tensions the hand when they reassembled it. Your call but I wouldnt let some first week student do the work....in the end a trip back to Smith may yield the least amount of headaches.

 

[68lemans462]

The gun was having this problem intermittently before I sent it over to have it reblued...


"Yea!
Thats pretty great for only $85 bucks! "

I agree, they did a great job on the bluing and had the gun back to me in 2 weeks!...

Lets face it, this is not rocket science and I have no interest in sending this gun to S&W whatsoever when I have a competent shop locally with great customer service. I'd fix it myself if I had the time - many here have shown that this problem is likely quite simple to fix. My other hobby is building engines, and I dont see you guys think that a revolver is so darn difficult. Maybe just scared to remove a couple screws and take a look?? Looks simple enough to me!

Thanks to those who provided the information I was asking for - this is VERY helpful... I almost want to just fix this myself to prove that I dont need to send it to S&W and waste a bunch of time and money to get this fixed....

 

[MachIVshooter]

My other hobby is building engines, and I dont see you guys think that a revolver is so darn difficult.

If you can build engines, you can fix a S&W wheelgun. Properly tuning an older colt double action, now that takes some skill. But S&W is a simpler and more robust design. Some hand-fitting of certain parts is required, but it's still pretty easy. If you can set the end gap on a piston ring, you can fit a new hand to your N-frame. The nice thing about working with the revolver action is you can function test it after the repair without risking catastrophic & expensive failure as you do with engines-nothing like putting one together only to find out you should have plastigauged all the journals instead of just calling it good after 2 or 3..........

 

[Hammerdown77]

Something "simple" like fitting a hand still requires some background knowledge and the "only file here, never HERE" tricks of the trade. For example, if you do all your filing on the right side of the hand to get it to fit, then you'll probably have a hand that fits, but won't fully carry up the cylinder. Easy mistake to make, if you've never done it before and no one's told you the proper way to fit a hand....

And if you have a carry up problem due to a worn hand or ratchets, the "proper" way to fit a new oversized hand is to open up the frame window for the hand only on the left side, so that you get the left side of the hand's nose more into the ratchets. This violates the "file on the cheapest part first" principle, since you're filing on the frame. Once you get the hand fit, you'll probably need to re-fit some of the ratchets, which is not a job for a beginner with a file. If you don't do this right, you'll be sending it back to Smith to have a whole new ratchet fit and regulated to the gun...