"Several threads in the recent past have alluded to timing problems with Smith .357 N frames when shot DA, ie, battered cylinder locking bolts and bolt windows. This all due to the great momentum of the heavy cylinder.
My question is: can one shoot these guns (models 27 & 28) DA without damage if one doesn't try to shoot like Jerry Miculek, but shoots at a more relaxed pace? Or would it be better to shoot SA only."
Majic, please read Ron in PA's opening post on this thread (copied above). He is asking about "battering" N frames by firing double action and that's what I was referring to in my reply. I added nothing about this. I did bring up the burned forcing cone issue because this is a complaint that I have heard others make. Like I said, this might be a real concern although I have not seen it happen to anyone I know nor has it ever happened to me. I never said it never happened, I only said what my experience has been in the matter. I don't presume to speak for others. I did see a post with pictures of a split cone on a K frame that was supposed to have occurred due to using hot 125 grain ammo. I do not know for a fact that this was the cause but this is what was stated in the post. But this still seems to be a fairly rare event and like I said, may be due to manufacturing defects in some guns or perhaps the owners are doing something that promotes this failuire without realizing it.
I realize that just because I haven't seen it (this DA battering) doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but this is the first I have heard of this complaint. If this report is true, I am surprised that I have never seen it or heard of it before now given my history and experience with these guns. The truth is, the story strikes me as so unlikely to occur that I am having a hard time taking it seriously. But, I invite you to prove me wrong.
Guns are mechanical devices and can fail. They will also wear. But it has been my experience that maybe one shooter in 10,000 actually shoots a gun enough to really wear it out. Given proper care a quality gun will likely outlive your grandchildren.
You speak of "some shooters pushing the envelope" and wearing out their N frame revolvers faster than K frame guns. I am sorry, and I do not mean to be insulting, but I will need to see some proof of this. If you can cite some source for information that supports the notion that firing N frame S&Ws double action accelerates timing problems please provide it. There's no shortage of hearsay and anecdotal evidence of problems with guns, but this doesn't necessarily make it true. I recall standing in a shop listening to a gunsmith advise a customer to steer clear of Pythons because they go out of time so readily. So I asked him how many Pythons had been brought to him in the past 30 years for service. What a surprise! None! But there he was telling people how they break down all the time.
It is not your contention that N frames wear out in DA mode that amazes me (frankly, I don't believe that). What amazes me, and if you read my first post carefully you'll see that I am quite clear on this, is how many people are posting concerns about guns breaking. Not posts about guns actually breaking, mind you, which are extremely rare, but posts about rumors and stories of guns that fail for all manner of reason. The fragility of the K frame magnum has been the most popular subject for these posts but now I am seeing similar worries over N frame guns.
By the way, wouldn't the large frame Colt revolvers also suffer from this ailment? I have several large frame Colts dating from 1917 to 1949 and all have seen uncounted rounds fired in DA mode with none having any trouble from battered cylinder stops or related parts. Of course, they fail to exhibit any timing problems at all and that's not supposed to happen with old Colts according to many people.
I think too much energy is being spent on worrying about boogeymen. Now we have people asking if maybe N frame revolvers should not be fired at all in DA mode (again, see Ron in PA's original post). Good Lord! S&W has been making N frames for nearly 100 years and if there were serious problems with using them in DA mode I would think such troubles would be well documented by this point and I would like to think that I would have heard of it before now. But, as you note, I don't know everything there is to know. What I do know is that I want to see something concrete before I subscribe to rumors and begin declaring that the sky is falling.