Oh-oh….S&W 629 Deluxe Light Primer Strikes!!

[Sour Kraut]

I have a relatively new S&W 629 Deluxe 3” with about 150 rounds through it. Last week I fired some 44 mag and 44 Spec without issue until I tried to rapid fire 6 rounds of 44 Spec in double action mode. The first round fired but the next 5 all went click. All 5 rounds showed light primer strikes. Subsequent single and double action pulls (slow fire) fired all five rounds. The cylinder does not have a lot of play and the firing pin looks fine. I was shooting Underwood ammo, which I have shot a lot of…..

I‘m not certain what the issue is, and it worries me that this happened. What should I be checking on the revolver?

 

[AzShooter1]

First thing to do is to check your strain screw on the bottom of the grip and see that it is screwed in all the way. Some times they back out after shooting heavy loads.

 

[UncleEd]

Was this a brand spanking new, never fiddled with model?

Try dry firing rapidly for a few hundred times. Then see if it
has "meshed" in better. Also add a few drops of Rem Oil
or Lucas Oil through the hammer opening.

Usually the MIM innards work smoothly right away but who knows.

And yes, check the strain screw at the bottom of the butt.

I think some say the firing pin can also be a bit "too short."

And, of course, try another brand on ammo.

 

[sparkyv]

This:

First thing to do is to check your strain screw on the bottom of the grip and see that it is screwed in all the way. Some times they back out after shooting heavy loads.

 

[Styx]

"Relatively" new S&W 629 Deluxe 3”? Did you buy it used or did you muck around with it? 99% of the time I hear about light strikes with S&W revolvers is because trigger snobs started changing springs and messing with the strain screw. That's usually the culprit. I'd take AzShooter1 as well. The strain screw may have back out. I'd blue loctite it if that's the case.

 

[Beach Bum]

By all means check the strain screw . I might suggest the extended firing pin from tk custom , MCB tossed that little nugget my way when I was having the same problem ...no more light strikes ....

 

[Sour Kraut]

Was this a brand spanking new, never fiddled with model?

Try dry firing rapidly for a few hundred times. Then see if it
has "meshed" in better. Also add a few drops of Rem Oil
or Lucas Oil through the hammer opening.

Usually the MIM innards work smoothly right away but who knows.

And yes, check the strain screw at the bottom of the butt.

I think some say the firing pin can also be a bit "too short."

And, of course, try another brand on ammo.

It was a brand new gun and I have not “fiddled” with it what so ever. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Sour Kraut]

"Relatively" new S&W 629 Deluxe 3”? Did you buy it used or did you muck around with it? 99% of the time I hear about light strikes with S&W revolvers is because trigger snobs started changing springs and messing with the strain screw. That's usually the culprit. I'd take AzShooter1 as well. The strain screw may have back out. I'd blue loctite it if that's the case.

Brand new gun and short of cleaning it, I have not messed with it any way. I said relatively new in that I have had it to the range a number of times before this happened.

 

[Sour Kraut]

UPDATE:
The strain screw was already tight. I cleaned all the externals around the firing pin hole, hammer and transfer bar and lightly lubed those areas. The cylinder has very little front to back play. Short of shooting it rapid fire in double action, is there anything else to be done at this point? I am going to Alaska fishing this summer and was planning to carry this gun for bear defense. Not feeling very confident at the moment. Should I send to S&W for warranty?

 

[Riomouse911]

UPDATE:
The strain screw was already tight. I cleaned all the externals around the firing pin hole, hammer and transfer bar and lightly lubed those areas. The cylinder has very little front to back play. Short of shooting it rapid fire in double action, is there anything else to be done at this point? I am going to Alaska fishing this summer and was planning to carry this gun for bear defense. Not feeling very confident at the moment. Should I send to S&W for warranty?

If all is tight with screws and nothing was done to it, it could be;

The firing pin may have chipped or broken. Check that first.

There may be crud inside the action keeping the hammer from fully falling forward or crud in the firing pin area affecting pin travel. If you haven’t worked on the innards of a S&W revolver its not rocket science, you can do it yourself. (Brownells You Tube videos are your friend.)

If you choose to send it in, it should be looked at and (hopefully) fixed fairly quickly.

Good luck!!

Stay safe.

 

[Pat Riot]

S&W Customer Service
(800) 331-0852

Have serial number handy.

 

[MrBorland]

All 5 rounds showed light primer strikes

FWIW, “light primer strikes” (meaning a light dent in the primer) just means the round didn’t go off.

Brand new gun and short of cleaning it, I have not messed with it any way.

You said the problem showed itself during rapid, but not slow, DA shooting. It’s possible the trigger didn’t come fully forward to reset. You might be riding the trigger on the return, the rebound spring might be weak, and/or the internals are in serious need of a cleaning & lube. If the grips are rubber and have a screw which goes through the 2 sides, check the tightness of that screw - if it’s too tight, the inside of the grips might be grabbing the mainspring just enough to slow down the reset in rapid DA.

FWIW, I’d recommend a thorough internal cleaning on any new (or new-to-me) S&W revolver (or any gun). IME, there’s a surprising amount of (likely abrasive) stuff in there left over from the manufacturing process.

EDIT: Now that I've had more coffee, I'm walking back a bit on the trigger reset theory - if the trigger doesn't reset fully, you'd either lock up the trigger pull, or the cylinder would turn without lifting the hammer. Either way, you wouldn't see any primer strikes. Could be a timing issue.

 

[Bill M.]

I had that problem with an older 686 that I did not know the history of. Mine would not fire on slow fire DA. I put in a Wolff "Law Enforcement" mainspring. It certainly fixed the light strike issue. Now after a few years getting older and weaker and knowing that I will never use that gun for defense I am thinking about changing back to a more moderate spring. I mostly just shoot it SA now.

 

[halfmoonclip]

Have a 325 that was a problem child when doing my usual action job. A ribbed mainspring (generally not an ignition problem) wouldn't fire anything, and every standard mainspring in my (extensive) collection wouldn't fire. Took a vernier, found the thickest one (there was noticeable variation), and that one would fire all cartridges.
Looking back, the gun was used, and I'm guessing the previous owner might have shortened the strain screw. The lightness of the revolver might affect hammer fall, too...but that wouldn't be your problem.
Anyway, sourkraut, you may simply have a duff mainspring.
Moon

 

[GooseGestapo]

Was the ammo factory loads or reloaded?
I’m leaning towards high primers or hard primers.

 

[Sour Kraut]

They are ALL factory loads. Underwood…the indents in the primers were very slight.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

The indents in the primers always look very slight when a round doesn't go off. It's the recoil slamming the case back against the firing pin that make the big dent.
It needs to go back to S&W or you will never trust it again. It could have some debris in it from the machining process or something like that but S&W needs to fix it and make it right.
If you go messing with it you may void the warranty.
Just call them, they will send you a label and shipping won't cost you anything at all. You will just have to take it to the carriers hub, like a UPS store or something, and they will take it from there.
Make sure you put it in a box so it is concealed and don't write or tell anyone it has a gun in it.
You don't want to give anyone a reason to steel it. S&W will send instructions on what to do. They will fix it and send it back to you for free.
It's painless.

 

[Sour Kraut]

UPDATE: Sent to S&W for evaluation and repair.

Thanks for the coaching everyone!

 

[hemiram]

Every single revolver I've had with light strikes/misfires has had the following causes:
Strain screw in S&W revolvers.
Clipped main/hammer spring in Taurus and Dan Wesson revolvers.
Innards are full of crud, either unburned powder, "lube", or just amazingly dirty.
Chipped firing pin (S&W 66).

The gun full of crud is the most common cause of problems on used guns I've bought online. I wish all the semiauto problems I've had in the past with new guns were solved by a good cleaning...