Smith Model 29 - Problems!!

[Remllez]

Yikes.....

 

[68lemans462]

"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. "

Spot on advice!!!!

So - my curiosity got the best of me and i pried the side cover off using a hammer and a large screw driver. Everything appeared to be in order to my untrained eye in comparison to the picture and i reassembed the gun without incident. I then performed the "Old fuff hand test". The gun does exactly as stated. Point it down and the cyl advances, although intermittently. point it in the air and no go. Additionally, when i move the muzzle up and down it sounds like something is loose inside. I suspect it is the hand. It appears that the hand is not being held against the cylinder far enough to engage it and that there is nothing holding it tight against the cylinder.

I will take the gun in for repairs as previously stated but now i am more curious than ever what it would take to fix this problem. As there do not appear to be any adjustments to make, how would one go about fixing a problem like this???? Please help me understand this!!

Thanks.





*

 

[Old Fuff]

It's way past the Old Fuff's bedtime. I'll explain tomorrow if someone else doesn't do so first.

Never pry off the sideplate with a screwdriver. A tire iron works faster and is the better choice.

 

[Steel Talon]

Never pry! Tap oppisite side with a dowel

 

[rondog]

Take it to Bert @ BP Tactical. He's in Westminster/Northglenn area. Good smith. http://www.bptacticalservices.com/

 

[Old Fuff]

… and I don’t 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!

Looks can be deceiving, and unfortunately I’ve seen too many fine handguns that were damaged by someone who overestimated their knowledge and skill. It is not that hand-ejector Smith & Wesson revolvers are exceptionally difficult to service, but rather that they can be easily damaged if something is done the wrong way.

My other hobby is building engines, …

I’ll stick my neck out a bit, and say that you have a collection of books and shop manuals that cover some, if not all, of the engines you work on or build. This might be especially true of engines you seldom touch.

For the same reason I suggest that you purchase a copy of Jerry Kuhnhausen’s, The Smith & Wesson Revolver – A Shop Manual. (Available from: www.brownells.com). It covers in well-illustrated finite detail the correct procedures concerning trouble-shooting, disassembly and reassembly, tuning – and more. If you owned a copy now this thread would have never seen the light of day.

So what’s the cause of your revolver’s problem? If I had the gun on my bench, “in hand” I could tell you very quickly, but as it is I must speculate. I believe that a small spring that’s inside the trigger, intended to put forward tension on the hand, is incorrectly assembled – and lacking that tension the hand does not always engage the cylinder’s ratchet. Failing this, the cylinder doesn’t turn as it should.

This condition can be quickly corrected using a small diameter pin-punch or similar tool to lift the tail of the spring as the hand’s pivot pin is inserted into the trigger.

But unfortunately you must remove most of the other lockwork before you can lift out the trigger/hand sub-assembly. To do that you may need a special tool (also available from Brownells, or you might make your own) to depress the rebound slide spring. The tool is not absolutely necessary, but having one will prevent having to make innocent women and children leave the area to avoid some explosive language.

You will also have an opportunity to clean and lightly lubricate the various parts as you reassemble them.

Given that you can rebuild or build engines, I am sure you can acquire the knowledge, experience and specific tools to work on Smith & Wesson revolvers, but the fact that you can do one doesn’t necessarily qualify you to do the other.

 

[Slimbo]

But its always fun to learn and you can say you did it yourself.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Given that you can rebuild or build engines, I am sure you can acquire the knowledge, experience and specific tools to work on Smith & Wesson revolvers, but the fact that you can do one doesn’t necessarily qualify you to do the other.

Wise words, better said than what I did. My line of thinking was that those of us who build engines generally have a strong aptitude for understanding the relationships between parts of a machine, and are able to visualize them in a dynamic situation. When I drive a car, I can "see" what all the parts are doing (except those tiny solid state ones in little mystery boxes with lots of wires going in and out; I don't "see" in digital code like Keanu Reeves)

 

[Old Fuff]

But its always fun to learn and you can say you did it yourself.

I think there is, in some quarters, a feeling that any male resident in this country who is old enough to be out of dippers is also old enough to “fix guns.”

This comment is not met to slam those that do have some experience in working on other mechanical devices, but rather point out that fixing different kinds of things does require different skills and experience, and these attributes don’t always cross over from one to another.

What I have seen on too many occasions is that someone with no specific background decides they can save time, trouble and money by doing whatever is required themselves. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they can’t – but if the job is blotched the gun ends up in some retailer’s used gun case, or on a table at some gun show. To be honest I have sometimes profited from this. For example:

One time I followed a like-new Colt .357 Magnum revolver, offered on a popular Internet auction. The description among other things stated that something was wrong because the cylinder was freewheeling and not locking up as it should. Mentioning this was a kiss-of-death as until the very end there were no bids except for a very low one I placed. Needless to say I won.

When I finely laid hands on the piece I discovered that indeed the description was correct, and so disassembled the lockwork to see why. It turned out that someone had taken it apart, and reassembled it with a small spring turned backwards. When they couldn’t get the gun to work right the dumped it through the auction and took a considerable loss. I turned the spring around, and surprise, surprise – the revolver worked fine. The repairs cost me nothing and took about 20 minutes.

On the other hand, I was confronted with a Smith & Wesson I couldn’t fix because someone had decided to unscrew the barrel without the necessary blocks to support the frame. The result was a bent frame, and a scarred barrel with impressed checkering left by some bench vise jaws.

All too frequently someone starts a thread concerning an internal problem, and other members jump in with posts recommending that he “pop the sideplate” and fix it himself. Apparently none of these members consider if the individual is qualified to do this, and I specifically remember one instance where someone followed the advise, but failed to remove all of the screws that hold the sideplate to the frame. No, I couldn’t fix that one either, so it was sent back to the maker who did repair it by replacing the badly bent and battered sideplate and then submitted a reasonable but substantial bill.

So I am not saying that folks cannot fix their own gun(s), just that they should do some learning before they touch a screwdriver.

 

[Guillermo]

they should do some learning before they touch a screwdriver

I love my guns too much to do too much to them.

The problem these days is finding anyone qualified to work on them.

Sadly I have not been able to find a decent gunsmith in the Austin area. And Old Fuff refuses to help me out unless he can chop off the trigger guard.

 

[Old Fuff]

You I let off easy... Sometimes if I slip I get the trigger too.

Does you think that maybe I should take it out first??

 

[Guillermo]

if I slip I get the trigger too

Old Fuff...manufacturer of paperweights

 

[Longhorn 76]

Do what you can for it.

After all, it's just a Smith.