the bloom is off the rose on my model 29

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roval

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i had bought a model 29-4 classic hunter with the 8 3/8 barrel a couple of weeks ago. it was lightly used and has a great single action trigger and is accurate. during the 2nd range session I've had cylinder binding. could this happen if the yoke screw is not tight? i tightened it after cleaning the gun after the range session

I've had to use the part of my palm under the thumb to press it down or to open the cylinder and close and it will go again but sometimes i had to open the cylinder and move the round to a different chamber.

the cylinder is tight with no front to back movement.

dry firing snap caps it binds when i have the gun pointed up 45 degrees but not always and not if the gun is level.

i called smith and wesson and they sent me a shipping label. I'm not the original owner so i have to pay for the repair. turnaround is 90 days and don't expect a quote till 8 weeks accdg to the rep. would it be better off with a local smith?

i will bring it again to the range with the yoke screw tightened before deciding on the repair.
 
I am not sure if I understand what problem you are having, roval. The only times I have had problems with an S&W cylinder rotating (or with the cylinder opening or closing) has been when the ejector rod had become loose. I had this happen on a 455 Triple Lock, and on an Model 43 Airweight Kit Gun. But like I say, I may not be picturing your problem right.
 
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I had a 686+ when it got warm at the range that would bind at the cylinder gap a little. It only happened after a couple boxes of hot ammo in a row. It didn't cause any issues with extraction and I rarely shot like that so I never did anything about it. Normal 38's never caused enough heat. Only noticed it during long strings of magnum load development.

But since yours does it with snap caps I'm assuming it does it at room temperature too which I could see being an issue.

I have a completely unrelated issue with a 625 that I got second hand. While S&W COULD fix it just fine, since I'm out of pocket anyways I think I'm sending it to Cylinder & Slide to tune it up. They'll likely fix it just as well, and do a little better of an action job than even the S&W Custom Shop.
 
roval said:
the cylinder is tight with no front to back movement.
Click to expand...

There should be some movement (at least a thou or three) especially unloaded. Have you checked for a loose ejector rod, debris under the ejector star, or deposits on the cylinder face and barrel?
 
My sons new 3" 686 came with a .003" BC gap and no cylinder "end play". It does just OK with jacketed but,if you even wave a cast bullet at the gun..... threatening to load it,the cylinder ties up. Which kinda sucks because we are serious after CB's..... will be blasting a 223 ADL today @2700 fps with cast 55.Just sayin,know my way round cast.

The plan is for him to shoot JB's for awhile before making any decisions. It won't be going to S&W but,that's us...... not trying to dissuade anyone from sending to the factory however.Good luck with your 29,mine have all been very nice.
 
When I had a Ruger Single Six .22LR/WMR, it was common for the bullets to not seat fully in the chambers. That would cause the cylinder to bind from the back end of the casing sticking out just a bit. Worse with the WMR cylinder and ammo than the LR. I soon learned to make sure every bullet was fully seated before loading the next one.
 
I bought one of the new (then) Smith .45ACP WWI model revolvers a while back, and on the second range trip, the yoke locked up super tight.

I had to force it open to get the moon clip out. I sent it back to S&W and got it back in 14 days. The repair said "Loose Screws".

It has functioned flawlessly since then.
 
no dirt under the extractor. it binds i think at the back end. the forcing cone didn't have any build up but the front of the cylinder had what i thought was overzealous cleaning as there were some scratches at the front of the cylinder . maybe it's at the front. but it never deos it when dry fired without snap caps. i looked carefully and when it binds, the cylinder is not fully seated at the notch.when i move it manually into the notch you can continue cocking back fully.
 
You need a good revolver smith. And I've heard too many bad reports (on the Smith&WessonForum) about Smith's current repairs to bother with them.

YMMV,
Dave
 
if i see one of the range regulars I'll ask him about his smith that used to work on his smith and wessons. the smith had converted his n frame 357 to a 44 mag and machined a cylinder from scratch and replaced the barrel. sounds very competent but i don't know how long ago that was. he is prone to telling the same old stories. maybe the guys dead. it could have happened in the 70s when it was so hard to get a model 29. lol
 
It sounds like the cylinder/crane needs to be trued. Prolly what is happening is the cylinder is scraping the FC, it binds up when warm and a little bit of powder soot. I would find a local revolversmith and have him trouble shoot and repair it. This is not that uncommon. If for some reason there isn't a local revolversmith available you will still probably be better served shipping it out to one instead of sending it to S&W. just my opinion.
 
is the Smith' and Wesson repair that horrible now?
I am leery of shipping it, waiting for 3 montha or more and having it come back with the same problem.

i will ask how the smith is at one of the gun shops in the city that deal with a lot of old guns. i would orefer to demonstrate the problem with the smith.
 
If you send it to S&W it will probably get fixed. However, it's going to cost you and will take months to get back. So if you have a decent revolversmith fix it you will get it back sooner and may not spend any more money and maybe less. If the guy you settle on knows what he is doing then you gain nothing from having the factory do the work. Question: do you take your out of warranty car to the dealer for repairs or the local garage with a good reputation? The answer to that question is the answer to the question "do you send it back to S&W"?
 
i've tightened the yoke screw and cleaned the throats again with brush in solvent(maybe the original owner was shooting 44 specials a lot), rechecked the ejector rod to make sure it's not bent using a ruler, like in the midway video( looks straight). will bring it again to the range hopefully tomorrow to see if it's still a problem.

i did ask a gun shop that deals with a lot of old guns if they would recommend a smith that does a lot of smith and wesson work and i called the smith recommended but his business is temporarily down due to illness in the family. i can recheck in a couple of weeks. i will print out the shipping label from s&w as a back up.
 
Isn’t it sad that you cannot feel comfortable to send your gun to the manufacturer for service? Let’s look at this critically. Is a local smith going to get you gun back to you faster than the manufacturer? Not in my experience. Is a local smith who had to shut down his mom and pop operation due to family illness a reliable place to leave your gun? I am sorry for his troubles, but I don’t think that is where you should leave your gun if he ever reopens. Is anyone more qualified to service your gun than S&W? No. So why are you making this so hard when it is actually so easy?
 
rpenmanparker said:
Isn’t it sad that you cannot feel comfortable to send your gun to the manufacturer for service? Let’s look at this critically. Is a local smith going to get you gun back to you faster than the manufacturer? Not in my experience. Is a local smith who had to shut down his mom and pop operation due to family illness a reliable place to leave your gun? I am sorry for his troubles, but I don’t think that is where you should leave your gun if he ever reopens. Is anyone more qualified to service your gun than S&W? No. So why are you making this so hard when it is actually so easy?
Click to expand...
I'll decide on it after the next range session.
 
roval said:
I'll decide on it after the next range session.
Click to expand...
I wasn't thinking of such poor service as documented in the link provided by 243winxb. Maybe that changes things from what I implied was a simple decision. My apologies. Nevertheless I would rather the manufacturers work on my guns than local smiths. Just my prejudice.
 
For me, the only S&W binding issues like you've described that I have had was from loose ejector rods. These were always on guns I bought used (M-13 and M-19).

Hopefully your solution is an easy one, good luck!
 
The question is why is S&W making it so hard? I've had to send every Smith revolver I've bought this summer (3) back to them. One of them is back for the second time after they returned it to me worse than it was to begin with (the hand won't even rotate the cylinder). The pitiful thing is I bought a Ruger to replace all the Smiths while they were back at the factory. The Ruger was bad also (huge burr on a blued finish), but Ruger fixed it, only when they refinished the frame, there's a big defect on the barrel. It's going back for the 2nd time too.

To me, it makes sense to find a good revolver smith, not necessarily local, and just have them fix everything right the first time. I can't say I've made that work yet, but factory service has failed repeatedly.
 
I had a Ruger Speed-Six that did the exact same thing years ago. I sent it back to Ruger. They returned it in a week or two. The repair tag said something like "reset B/C gap," but I can't remember the exact wording. It was a LONG time ago.
 
what westernrover's experience is what I'm leery off. the turnaround time accdg to s&w is 3 months and 8 weeks for an estimate. I'd be pissed if it had to go back again for the same problem.
 
I just sent my 629 back to smith. If you look at my thread you will see the wait times. But perhaps a non-warranty job would take longer. I don't know. The time quoted was much longer than actual time
 
We have arrived at this juncture once again. S&W cs did a good job on my 60 ; took a long time , lousy communications. Despite my best efforts I never did find out just what the repair consisted of , but in all fairness , the revolver functions very well. Fee was reasonable. Add that up and reach whatever sum you see fit. I've since found a real live gunsmith , sent him a H.P. with a replacement cylinder which was apparently too long to fit. I am not about to file a forcing cone on my own bench. Within a very reasonable time he contacted me and stated that there was no need to face the f.c. or the cylinder - the problem was a poorly finished ejector star , easily corrected and already done. Common on the model 28 he said. Said gunsmith asked if it would be alright to keep my Highway Patrolman a bit longer as he likes to improve upon the factory finish of the internals of any S&W revolver which passes through his shop. Yes , yes and YES said I.

Think about that - the actual real live gunsmith calls me and says I made your cylinder fit , no problem , and then explains how he went about doing that. WHAT A CONCEPT!!!

Mr Roval , it seems unlikely that your binding issue will go away on it's own. I'll be interested to learn how your situation plays out. (poorly finished ejector , perhaps...?)
 
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