S&W 629 cylinder notches are peening

[km101]

I have a S&W 629-3 6" that has just over 1.5K round through it. About half were LSW handloads and half were factory JHP.

I have started to notice that the back side of the locking notches on the cylinder are starting to show some peening and there is a small raised burr on the back edge of the notches. The gun appears to lock up tight with just the usual slight S&W wiggle. I have never had this occur on any of my other handguns and I am concerned that there is something out of sync with this gun.

Has anyone ever seen this on their gun(s)? I have several other S&W handguns ranging in age from 1963 to 2011 and none have shown this problem.

Any suggestions as to cause or solution?

I have tried to take pictures but I cant get a decent picture.

Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

Do you do a lot of fast DA shooting??

rc

 

[Kp321]

RC is on the right track. Even shooting single action, "vigorous" cocking can batter the notches. A cylinder full of 240 grainers has a lot of inertia.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

And an N-Frame 629 has a LOT of loaded cylinder mass to stop suddenly when the bolt drops in the notch.

Speed shooters gravitate to the K and L frames due to the lighter smaller diameter cylinders being easier on bolt stops, among other reasons.

If you are a dump'm in the dirt in 1 second DA guy, you got the wrong size gun to do it with.

Rc

 

[g.willikers]

Wonder what Jerry Miculek's revolvers look like.
And what he does when they get tired.
With all the work he puts into them, he probably doesn't just replace them when they get worn.

 

[km101]

No, I don't do a lot of fast DA shooting. Even with SWC moderate handloads it takes me a little time to get back on target. And when practicing I am more interested in shot placement and accuracy than speed.

I sometimes "trigger cock" when shooting DA, but this should be no harder on the locking notches than SA shooting. I don't slam the hammer back in SA either.

I guess that I am being rougher on the gun than I thought because I don't think the cylinder is soft. With the amount of full charge factory loads and handloads that have been put through this pistol the cylinder would have shown other signs of stress if that were true. I will just have to lighten-up and treat it carefully I guess.

Thanks for the answers, I will take what you said to heart.

 

[Jim K]

First, make sure the cylinder stop is fully engaging in the notch; if it is only engaging the top part of the notch, the peening will be increased. Then you might try a stronger cylinder stop spring to get a faster and more positive engagement. (Note: the "death before drag line" folks will come after me on this one, of course.) An expert gunsmith might deepen the leades as well, but that is not a DIY job.

Jim

 

[Longhorn 76]

If the cylinder is not regulated properly, that is , if the cylinder chambers do not line up properly with the barrel, then every time a bullet hits the forcing cone, it forces the locked cylinder to rotate and line up with the barrel. This can peen the notches really fast.