What exactly this terminology means: Loosen up, cylinder lock-up, tied-up???

[saturno_v]

I'm kind of new to revolvers (I have only one recently bought)

I sent an e-mail to Buffalo Bore Customer Service to ask about how safe is their non +P ammo in my old S&W 29-2 and this is the answer I received:


Yes it is safe to shoot our non +P ammo in your S&W. However, even SAAMI
spec ammo will loosen older model 29's if you shoot a bunch of it. So, use
it sparingly. By the way, loosening your older gun is far from the end of
the world. I've done it with many older 29's and it costs about $125.00 to
have them rebuilt and tightened up better than when they were new.

Tim


So what exactly means a revolver that get "loosen up"??
What is exactly the fix that this guy suggests if you revolver get "loose"???

I heard other terms like cylinder lock up or tied-up...what exactly means and why it happen???.....and how you fix it??

Thanks for your patience and your answers!!!

 

[3 gun]

You can find that info and more at this link;
Revolver checkout: how to tell if a particular specimen is any good
By Jim March

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=1430

 

[saturno_v]

Sorry I got confused..cylinder lock-up is when you squeeze the trigger and the cylinder should be very tight..dah,...sorry

I guess I meant. what is the meaning of "the gun seized up" or "tied up"...

 

[loneviking]

A properly functioning revolver should 'lock up' tight which means that the cylinder is aligned correctly with the barrel on one end, and the firing pin on the other with only a tiny amount of sideways or back and forth movement possible. The allowable movement back and forth or side to side varies with make and model.

How a gun gets loose is the frame screws come loose from the recoil of heavy loads. When that happens you'll know it as your accuracy goes to heck in a handbasket. What the exact fix is, I don't know as my gun is a heavy Colt that doesn't have that sort of problem.

 

[slustan83]

In regards to a smith getting loose, it's really not the frame screws coming loose. It's really just a general term in regards to the timing getting sloppy, which can be caused by wear to both the hand and cylinder stop. Also the gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone can increase, which is inadvisable because it can lead to a loss of velocity and accuracy. All of these things are rectifiable by a good smith who knows what they are doing.

The revolver can be tightened up by installing endshake bearings or by actually stretching the crane to fix the endshake problem. smith can also fit an oversized cylinder stop and hand, which are usually peened slightly smaller while the cylinder stop notches are usually peened slightly larger.

Well, simple answer, you can send it back to smith and they can fix all of what is in the above post.

 

[Jim K]

Every time you fire a revolver, the frame batters, the top strap tries to stretch, the whole frame tries to bend. Revolvers are designed to take the punishment for a long time with the loads and use they are designed for. But if many heavy loads are fired, eventually, the frame will batter or stretch and the gun will become unusable. That can be compensated for up to a point by rebuilding the cylinder bearing points, but continued use of heavy loads will at some point ruin the gun beyond repair.

So, the best lesson is to stick with the ammunition and loads for which the gun was designed and the gun will serve you well for a long, long time.

Jim

 

[Jim March]

Yeah, all kinds of things can slowly go wrong.

S&W K-Frames have a "weak spot" at the back of the barrel at the lower-most point. Other guns may have soft metal somewhere, or a mediocre design. OR the design is good in that it's set up for maximum accuracy, but when it does start to come unglued it rapidly beats itself to death if you don't catch it right away - Colt DAs including the Python are known for this.