Is My S&W 642-2 Haunted?

[Nick96]

Okay folks - clear your minds and prepare them for some out of the box thinking. To check the cylinder to barrel alignment of my recently acquired S&W 642 - I pointed it at a mirror (checking first of course to make sure it was unloaded) and trigger cycled it. I noticed what looked like a faint spark when the striker fell. So I tunrned off the lights and did it again. Sure enough, most every time I cycled the cylinder I saw a spark in the firing pin area.

This is a new revolver, and the logical mind tell me the spark is being produced by some metal surfaces rubbing together. As I use it, no doubt the "rubbing" will wear down - and eventually there will be no more spark.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I've not had the thing apart, so have no idea what the "guts" look like. But I've never noticed this sort of thing on any other revolver. Is this normal - or is my 642 haunted????

 

[FunYet]

I've seen the same thing on many revolvers that I've owned, including my 642.

 

[..]

Yep, same thing here but with snap caps.

 

[SnWnMe]

It happened with my 442 when it was new. Emailed Smith, Kate said it was normal whilst new. Sure enough, the gun doesn't spark anymore. Just dry fire a bunch. It's good for you and the action anyways.

 

[JoeHatley]

Mine did the same thing when new. The TiSc guns have even more "fireworks" until broken in.

Joe

 

[Xavier32178]

mine does it also

 

[Nick96]

Thanks folks. Glad to hear this isn't that unusual. Maybe most all of them do it? This is the first revolver I've owned that could not be thumb cocked - so I've really never had any reason to check alignment in this manner. I'll have to check it again in another few hundred cycles.

Hey SnWnMe - did S&W happen to tell you exactly what causes the spark? Firing pin rubbing against the channel, striker hitting the transfer bar (I assume these have transfer bars in them). I was kind of wondering if it had anything to do with that built in locking system on the new S&W revolvers. It's got to be something ferrous against ferrous metal - aluminum dosen't spark (unless perhaps it's something in the alloy).

Obviously no big deal - just a curiousity. Then again, it may be best not to dry fire in close proximity to flammable liquids or soaked patches / rags / papers - like gun cleaning solvents??? May seem far fetched, but I've been involved in several fire / explosion investigations - and under the right conditions you'd be suprised at what goes KABOOM.