Aquisition Made
Well, I managed to work out a trade for a 990ss4
I am very stoked about the new addition to the family.
So, I took it out to shoot a little this afternoon. First the good: The DA trigger is a little heavy for my tastes but not terribly so, and it is smooth, with a predictable release. That last part I did not expect. I will probably try a lighter return spring, but all in all I am quite happy with the trigger. Second good thing is that after a quick rough sight adjustment, I found that this thing is very accurate. My first impression is that I was as accurate with this thing as I am with my buckmark that has a red-dot, although some paper targets and more shooting will be necessary to confirm. At any rate, very impressed with the accuracy.
But then the bad: I checked the gun out in the shop, but it appears that I missed a couple of things. First, the cylinder gap is too tight. After about three cylinders, the cylinder started to bind, making it impossible to pull the trigger in DA, or cock the hammer manually. But while putting rearward pressure on the hammer, if I gave the cylinder a little nudge with a finger, it would free up and allow the hammer to cock. I wiped off the back of the forcing cone and front of the cylinder with some CLP, and problem solved for another three cylinders. I can see light through the gap, but I did not have a feeler gauge with me at the shop so I didn't get to really check the gap. I will check it with a feeler tomorrow. On visual inspection, I could see where there were signs of rubbing in the fouling on the rear of the forcing cone, so I am confident that that is the problem.
Also, while the lockup seemed good in the shop, once I fired several rounds (I made it through 6 cylinders, with a cleanup in the middle to remedy the above issue.) I noticed an odd trait. The lockup is tight enough, and timing is good, when the hammer is cocked. When you pull the trigger back slightly to release the trigger, letting the hammer down gently, the lockup remains tight. However, if you then pull the trigger back further slowly, there is a point between the hammer release point, and the furthest back that the trigger will go that the lockup loosens. The timing is on if you check it with a light, but the cylinder can rotate a bit more (more than I would like). My guess is that this isn't really a big deal because by time the trigger gets back that far, the hammer has fallen and the bullet has passed the cylinder gap. The accuracy bears that theory out, so I am tempted to ignore that issue, but it still bugs me a little because it isn't quite right. It does spit a little lead out, that you can see on the inside of the top of the frame, but I am guessing that is pretty typical of .22lr revolvers.
So, I am trying to decide whether to give Taurus a call to send it to them to iron out... or just give to a local smith to adjust the gap, and ignore the lockup issue. Too bad, but all in all I am really happy with the design, accuracy, and feel of the gun, so if they can make it right I will continue to be happy.
Sorry for the long winded writeup, but I thought it would be worth sharing the specifics for anyone out there that is considering one of these guns. Any thoughts or experiences that you all might have with these two issues would be greatly appreciated
