S&W says no lead boolits for me

[castblaster]

I bought a S&W 629-6 5" classic and I was very happy.
http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-86b1-5a18.jpg

Then I find this in barrel.

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-870b-81cd.jpg

It indents the lead when the boolit moves over it then let's gas by after it passes. Witch gas cuts The boolit and leads the barrel. Even at 800 fps with wdww pb 250 swc with unique sized .431. At 1000+ gas cutting is worse.

So I returned gun to S&W with the story. They recut the forcing cone and sent it back.

Returned gun a second time with more story plus this picture
http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-895a-7e08.jpg

And I sent a slug that clearly showed the marks left on it.

S&W returned it today with this letter

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-89e8-3174.jpg

Now I have a gun I can't use, as I only want to shoot lead. Now I'm very unhappy

[castblaster]

A better pic of letter
http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-8afb-784b.jpg

[Baja_Traveler]

Guess I'll be sticking to my Rugers...

[theperfessor]

Remind me NEVER to use whatever manufacturing process S & W is referring to! That looks like the forcing cone and rifling was cut with a dull cold chisel. I'd be unhappy too.

[44man]

They must have hired the tiny Spanish guys with cold chisels! :mrgreen:
That looks like the first Spanish muzzle loader bores.

[GLL]

I notice your letter is not signed. Did you get the name of the service rep who handled your gun and wrote you the response ? I would consider going higher up the Customer Service system and talking to a manager or Vice President !

Jerry

[cbrick]

That is sad indeed. What could they be thinking? You don't even need to know all that much about revolvers to know that ain't gonna fly. Looks very much like it would also butcher a J-word. Sad.

Rick

[PB234]

another reason to go after old pre lock S&Ws.

[Char-Gar]

Shades of the early 80's, **** coming out of Springfield. At least back then the service department would fix it.

This is the second complaint I have read in recent days about Smith refusing to correct a problem with a new gun.

That ends any thought I might have had about buying a new Smith and Wesson. If they wont stand behind their products, I am through with them.

[Hip's Ax]

I most certainly would not accept that decision. That barrel looks horrible and if that is their expectation of the finished product I am appalled.

I have been seriously considering an S&W for a target revolver. I am not considering them anymore.

[castblaster]

Here is a pic after forcing cone was recut
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45069121-9804-0030.jpg

You can still see the old cone cut.

[geargnasher]

What a joke. I have had several S&Ws that looked like that, all got recut and lapped myself, because I wanted it done correctly, and for the price of shipping it to the factory I got the tools.

Ruger has made some horrid forcing cones over the years too, but that's one of those "finish" steps that one would expect to get culled from the process of making a $400 pistol, NOT from a $1200+ revolver from what used to be the best name in the business.....

Gear

[cbr]

I have a new s&w 629 on the way. I sure hope it don't look like that. That is simply unacceptable.

[fredj338]

Another reason I love the older S&W. Sell it to someone, many 44mag shooters never touch lead bullets. Then look for an older -2 or -3 or leave it as a J-bullet shooter & get another one.

[x101airborne]

What a joke and an apalling attempt to pass off junk. If it is not too butchered, maybe try a brass lap and some fine grit compound. Maybe start with some valve compound then go to toothpaste or something like that. You are into it this far and cleaning up the forcing cone cant make things any worse. IMO

[castblaster]

The forcing cone is not the problem. It's the rocket shaped thing in the bore between the lands is tall than the bore and indents the boolits as they pass over it.

Here is org thread
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=124353

[pdawg_shooter]

Send a copy of your post and their reply to S&W to the CEO with a note that this will be posted on every firearms forums you can find.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Since 1993 S&W has been using Electro Chemical Machining (ECM) for rifling their barrels:

http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/05/rifling-manufacturing-electro-chemical.html

Something obviously went wrong with your barrel. The rifling has apparently been etched too deep at the start, and the crown shows typical chatter marks from either the cutter being new (and too sharp) or the barrel not being clamped/supported correctly.

It's sad to see the extent to which the quality of guns has dropped over the last two or three decades. I compare my trusty Beretta 682 shotgun to my new Beretta Xtrema2 semi auto - and feel like weeping ;-)

[mj2evans]

This level of "craftmanship" is sad ... in one of the few areas of manufacturing left in America. I would expect this from Century but not S&W. Just think if a new shooter got this - might drive them away from shooting. Tooking good money for crappy, at best, work is theft in my book.

[AggieEE]

A question to the experts for my edification. Would fire lapping or just plain lead lapping remove that "rocket ship" without turning the bore into a 45 cal? I need to go home now and look at my 629 and see if I now have a problem. Thanks guys.
AggieEE

[9.3X62AL]

Threads like these give me such a warm, fuzzy feeling about buying a nice, new Glory Hole Series S&W revolver.

NOT!

[Guesser]

Now I understand why I could not get a 66-5 (1999) to shoot the same boolits that my older Smiffs, and all my Colts, Rugers and Taurus handled well. The 66-5 went to market!!!!!!

[bobthenailer]

ive owned 4 different S&W 629s the newest one is about 2 years old and the first is about 15 years old , all shot cast excellent with no leading

[Bret4207]

That's pretty bad. They should have either set the barrel back or slapped on a different one. I'm a die hard Smiff man, but I'm kinda glad I can't afford a new one now!

[Frozone]

A question to the experts for my edification. Would fire lapping or just plain lead lapping remove that "rocket ship" without turning the bore into a 45 cal?

I was thinking fire lapping might do it. At least it's worth a try.

[BLTsandwedge]

Castblaster, Thanks for sharing this. What you got back from S&W was a form letter. To me that says this complaint is prevelent i.e. a common and uncorrected manufacturing defect that S&W will not acknowledge. I'd find out who the director of sales and marketing is (through calling directly or going to their investor relations department) and email him the linnk to this and your original thread. Don't send it to another operations person or department- they likely don't work on a bonus structure. The sales people do.

[bcp477]

I've never seen one THAT bad. What a horrible job ! That barrel should have NEVER made it through QC - under any circumstances. I would not let this go, vis a vis S&W, if I were you.

I get what the OP is saying about the rifling groove (or grooves) having a raised burr - this is definitely a detriment to accuracy. Perhaps that can be polished out. What concerns me more is that the rifling grooves do NOT begin at the same point, all round the barrel. The leade on a barrel, in order to work well, needs to be the SAME as the crown end - in that the (entry to the) rifling MUST be concentric and even. I am not sure that this barrel will shoot, even with a careful lapping job. I think, though I could be wrong, that the forcing cone will need to be cut even deeper, to get past this issue. Then, you will have an artificially looong forcing cone.....which may obviate the benefit of cleaning up the rifling and cone, in the first place.





Please forgive me for saying this.....but, from my perspective, I now REALLY can't see the viewpoint of those that take the attitude that S&W can do no wrong - and everything else is junk. This example is clear proof that S&W does NOT walk on water, after all. Perhaps they USED to (the older production was much better)....but they certainly don't now. I do plan on bringing this example to bear, the next time I hear sanctimonious clap-trap from an S&W disciple.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Cast blaster: Call them up and demand to talk to the head engineer of production.

You've got to talk to a higher up, as the pukes at the bottom are only there to talk to you and make you feel better and can't do anything.

Tell him what you've got. And that thier new "Factory Specification" is not only not right, it is detrimental to their sales. Also indicate that you are a member of this board and you are going to spread this story around. I assure you that all of the gun Mfg's are aware of this board. And it will get a response.

Believe me what went on in your barrel, is nothing more than chatter created by either running the forcing cone cutter too fast with the wrong feed rate or a poorly made cutter with one high flute. This is a production problem that needs to be fixed as it is not yeilding the desired result, it is making bad parts, and they are just letting the bad ones go thru. You got one of them.

Indicate to him that the forcing cone looks like s^&* and you want it reamed smooth and that you know what you are looking at, and what they have done in the previous episodes in not satisfactory. Also indicate you don't give a Ship about "factory Specs" and want the gun made right! Even if it means them installing a new barrel with a properly cut forcing cone.

If they still won't make it right your only fix will be to take your gun to a smith that specializes in revolver work and have the forcing cone recut, which shouldn't be very expensive.

Or you can sell the gun.

I have had very good luck communicating with factory engineers, however I am a machinist and can talk their language, and have a pretty good idea of a fix for my problem before I call them.

I have gotten good results with both Ruger and RCBS, by writing Scathing letters directly to the Head Guy explaining my difficulty's with their minions. IN all cases I have gotten phone calls from them personally and gotten my problems taken care of, well beyond my best wishes.

It works,,, try it.

Randy

[danski26]

Huh....I recieved that same letter The second time I sent my 629 back to Smith. Very disapointing!

[Castlead]

So, is S&W hiring labourors that do work Americans wont do? Or is this new manufacturing process related to some form of microstamping? Terrible craftsmanship. Shame on S&W.

[ScottJ]

Wow. From 1991 to now I have owned a total of 8 S&W revolvers. I currently own 6. I have never seen a forcing cone that looked like that.

Of couse my newest S&W revolver was made in early 1993. Most of them are much older.

[leadman]

Send it to Jerry Miclicuk (sp) and ask if it would meet his standards.

[nighthunter]

Just a thought .... The dealer you purchased this revolver from should be able to help you in some way. S&W must have sales people and managers on the regional level that the dealer could contact or put you in contact with. If the dealer refuses to help you he is not worth dealing with again. You as a customer have some rights to expect what you paid for. That revolver appears to be a mistake that needs corrected. Don't settle for less. Have the factory rep examine the revolver in your presence and tell you it is the best S&W can produce.

Nighthunter

[Cowboy T]

Wow....

I've heard less than positive reviews regarding new S&W guns, but this is ridiculous. All the more reason to continue my personal boycott of new S&W guns. Only older ones for me...or Rugers. Heck, Taurus makes a nice Model 65/66 series! I'd buy that over a new S&W wheelgun now.

[stubshaft]

I guess I'll have to treat S&W like Lymans and only buy older ones. How disappointing to see such shoddy workmanship. Now I am concerned and hesitant to see what they will do with Thompson Center guns?

[Frank46]

I'd post this on the Smith & Wesson forum and get their take on it. Never saw a forcing cone like that nor what passes for rifling just after the forcing cone. Frank

[shotman]

I have a 460 and the cone and barrel is mirror. check at a few gun shops and look at others . The 460 is a different type rifling but that shouldnt matter

[Piedmont]

A question to the experts for my edification. Would fire lapping or just plain lead lapping remove that "rocket ship" without turning the bore into a 45 cal? I need to go home now and look at my 629 and see if I now have a problem. Thanks guys.
AggieEE

I'm not an expert but to me the forcing cone looks OK after being sent back and recut and I would fire a few lapper rounds to smooth it past the forcing cone. I don't see how this would hurt a thing and it might help a lot.

[firefly1957]

I have never seen that amount of chatter in a new bore. If you can not get them to fix it call GunTalk and get it on national radio show S&W reps listen to it. I was thinking about getting a S&W .357 now you are giving me second thoughts. Actually it is there letter that bothers me as I know bad things can get out of the plant.


http://www.guntalk.com/site.php

[303Guy]

to me the forcing cone looks OK after being sent back and recut and I would fire a few lapper rounds to smooth it past the forcing cone. I don't see how this would hurt a thing and it might help a lot. The thing is the man paid good money for this gun so why should he have to 'repair' it to make it shoot? He is dissatisfied with the product and should be able to get satisfaction from the manufacturer! By now Smith and Wesson would have lost hundreds of sales just from this one incident, thanks to the internet which by now they should hate if they were 'on to it'. They removed the barrel to re-cut the forcing cone - why not just replace it with a decent one? Go figure! It's a management attitude problem. I wonder whether the shareholders know what's going on?

[pdawg_shooter]

When I was a dealer I had the same problem with Rugers. After sending them back and getting the same "within specs" c**p I started fixing them myself to keep a customer. Got to be I hated to sell one. Knew I was going to have a p***ed of customer. Sent back or fixed more Rugers than all other brands combined.

[Three44s]

My newest Smith is my 629-4 Mountain Gun ............

After seeing Catblaster's pics ............... it's gonna stay the "kid" in the family!

BTW .......... it's perfect (manufactered circa '98)


Three 44s

[XWrench3]

my 629 used to look like that also. at the suggestion of a friend, i made a lap and smoothed out the forcing cone myself. (i used a brass screw (covered with vinyl tubing) with a drilled rubber "cork" that i ground to the approximate angle) and brass screen, along with various grits of compound). i also read on the internet about many of these pistols having a constriction in the barrel where the barrel screws into the frame. mine had this as well. after lapping the forcing cone, i shot it, and still experienced leading, bad. so i made up 50 boolits with progressively finer grit paste on them, and shot them thru the gun. this opened up the constriction considerably. it is not all the way gone, but is greatly improved from what it was. i still get a little leading, but it is greatly improved. since i am not an engineer. i stopped when i had this thought. what if the purpose of the constriction was to make certain that the boolits did not "strip" as they entered the rifling. that actually made sense, if the boolit is squashed as it is forced into the rifling, it would be certain to take it, and spin correctly. the trouble with that is for the rest of the barrel, the gas can squeeze past the boolit and smear it with lead. i do not know if opening up the rest of the constriction would allow the boolits to strip as the entered it or not. in one way, this should not happen. but this is the real world. and we all know things happen that shouldn't. so i left mine where it is at.

[finishman2000]

i won't buy a new smith...but i do buy old ones. the ones that were hand built by someone who knew what they were doing. it seems like most handguns built today are cnc's and machined to tolerances that were never possible before....but that being said they still need to be worked.
my sigma is at smith right now because the loaded mag drops out while firing...and no fingers are catching the release. should have it back in a week or so.
we'll see

[Jim]

i won't buy a new smith...but i do buy old ones. the ones that were hand built by someone who knew what they were doing. it seems like most handguns built today are cnc's and machined to tolerances that were never possible before....but that being said they still need to be worked.
my sigma is at smith right now because the loaded mag drops out while firing...and no fingers are catching the release. should have it back in a week or so.
we'll see

Hmmm. I sent a Taurus PT140 back for the very same reason a few years back.

[Magnumdood]

I've never directly checked my S&W PC 500 for a smooth forcing cone and even, clean rifling so I kid you not when I tell you this thread worried me. I have one of the 6.5" full-lugged Hunter models. Only 500 of them were made in 2004. I was lucky and secured a factory N.I.B. model. My forcing cone is smooth as glass and the rifling was even, sharp and appeared to be the correct depth/heigth. So, at least there's one correctly manufactured S&W.

[22Short]

Next time I get near a gun shop I think it could be fun to look over some new Smiths. Sounds like all the important check points you would look at on a used gun need to be carefully checked. The forcing cone is just one point, like the rifling and timing, cylinder clearance, etc...

[JIMinPHX]

Probably 6 or 8 years ago, when the K-frames started drying up, I bought one of the last new ones that I could find. It had the new "hybrid" barrel on it, which I wasn't too excited about, but I bought it anyway. The thing leaded terribly. When I slugged it, I found that the groove diameter was something crazy, like .004" or .005" over the throat diameter. The barrel also had a blip in it that didn't shoot out after 500 rounds.

I sent the gun back to S&W with a letter that asked them to take a look at it & determine if this was a warranty issue or not. If it was, please fix it. If it was not, then please send me a quote to refit it with a better barrel.

After what was probably a few months, I called to check on it & got a blow off response. Probably a few weeks later I called again & was told that the gun was in the custom shop & I should hear back in a few days. Two days later the gun arrived at my door with 3 dirty chambers & a letter that said it had been inspected & found to be safe to fire.

I used to have a high opinion of S&W customer service. That is no longer the case. I doubt that I'll be sending any money to that factory in the future, which is a shame. I used to really like them.

[Kraschenbirn]

Piece of ****!! Reminds me of some of the junk S&W put out in the late '70s-early '80s after the first time they were bought out by an "international conglamorate" (Punta Bangor). Back then, I several similar letters from S&W customer service, too.

Bill

[30calflash]

Castblaster, Thanks for sharing this. What you got back from S&W was a form letter. To me that says this complaint is prevelent i.e. a common and uncorrected manufacturing defect that S&W will not acknowledge. I'd find out who the director of sales and marketing is (through calling directly or going to their investor relations department) and email him the linnk to this and your original thread. Don't send it to another operations person or department- they likely don't work on a bonus structure. The sales people do.

Another thing to do is tell them that you are a competitive shooter and that a LOT of other shooters are watching the outcome of this. It has spread across SEVERAL different shooting sites and MANY people are eagerly waiting to see if that will stand behind their (S&W) product line. You could copy and paste this thread to go with the letter.

No normal company likes to get trashed by unhappy customers that PAID A LOT OF HARD EARNED DOLLARS to by their product. If they can't sell them here do they think that the Chinese market will open up for them?

BTW, I own a bunch of Smith revolvers, the last one purchased about 15 years ago. Glad I have the ones I have. Good Luck, 30 cal

[Dframe]

Yours is not the first tale of woe I've heard coming from s&w lately. Shades of an earlier decade when they went through "quality withdrawl". That they would actually claim that barrel meets their quality control standards, speaks volumes about where s&w stands on the quality issue today. For the forseeable future I will be buying NO s&w guns.

[HDS]

That rocket ship thing.... I noticed it on my 629 as well, I thought it was lead deposits:
http://i53.tinypic.com/v4wc1w.jpg

But if what I am reading here to be believed... it's part of the barrel?

[XWrench3]

it makes me wonder if upper management at S&W wants to only cater to high end customers, who buy products from their "Performance Center". the rest of us that buy "base models" are getting good parts, that are slapped together. if they shoot, and are safe, that is good enough for them. IMO, at the price of their products, they should all go thru the "PC". they do not necessarily need to be tuned to the level of shooters like Jerry Miculek require, but they should at least have the rough machining buffed off, and set to correct specs. otherwise, send your money to another american company, like Ruger or Colt. sadly, with most upper management, there is only two words that even matter. the first is "marketshare" and the second is "profit". when those 2 numbers drop, and only then, do they get concerned about the actual product they are shipping out the door.

[PbHurler]

Good Picture HDS,
That's what the marks in my 4" 629's Bbl look like too, in the grooves. My forcing cone looks fine, and I've not had any leading issues.....yet. It is a d__n shame that Smith's quality has been reduced to this. As I stated in CastBlaster's orignial post on this subject; NONE of my other Smith's have ANYTHING that looks this in their barrels, all are pristine & great shooters. I'll have to continue to hope this problem receives the PROPER attention from S&W, I've always enjoyed their "quality" products of the past years. If S&W deems this type of manufacturing is now an acceptable norm, they'll have lost at least one customer. What a shame.

[HDS]

Thanks, look what I found today:
http://i.imgur.com/3XAVl.jpg

This just keeps getting worse.

[scb]

Yup that's real craftsmanship right there boys. Something to be truly proud of................... They should be ashamed.

[thegreatdane]

So many discoveries!

[HDS]

Looks like i got a few options on that, cutting the forcing cone to 11 degrees might get rid of it, so might firelapping, and so might shooting 5-600 jacketed rounds through the gun. Maybe I need to purchase some JHPs to load.

Edit: If Veral Smiths reading is to be believed an 11* forcing cone is apparently not good for accuracy either, hrm so many conflicting ideas.

[JIMinPHX]

A better pic of letter
http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6cd09c3-8afb-784b.jpg

Does that gun have one of the "hybrid" barrels?

[Iron Mike Golf]

HDS, that's a serious looking divot in that land (it is a land, right?). If you keep that gun and it is not put right by S&W, you might look into a Taylor throating job, just to get rid of that poor machining at the beginning of the bore.

[30calflash]

it makes me wonder if upper management at S&W wants to only cater to high end customers, who buy products from their "Performance Center". the rest of us that buy "base models" are getting good parts, that are slapped together. if they shoot, and are safe, that is good enough for them. IMO, at the price of their products, they should all go thru the "PC". they do not necessarily need to be tuned to the level of shooters like Jerry Miculek require, but they should at least have the rough machining buffed off, and set to correct specs. otherwise, send your money to another american company, like Ruger or Colt. sadly, with most upper management, there is only two words that even matter. the first is "marketshare" and the second is "profit". when those 2 numbers drop, and only then, do they get concerned about the actual product they are shipping out the door.

The idea that they only want high end customers won't wash. GM doesn't stay alive by selling Caddys, they need to sell Chevys and trucks. Same goes for Smith.

If the product in question listed for $400 you could say that 'you got what you paid for'. At the current list price S&W should take a good look in the mirror.

It's happening now with another old time American firearms manufacturer. They all seem to have their problems but seem to get it straightened out in time. Let's hope they do so again!

[HDS]

HDS, that's a serious looking divot in that land (it is a land, right?). If you keep that gun and it is not put right by S&W, you might look into a Taylor throating job, just to get rid of that poor machining at the beginning of the bore.

It's in the land yeah. Not sure if it'll affect accuracy/leading or not. I've contacted S&W and the local service dealer. We'll see what happens.

[castblaster]

I Called S&W, got through to frank. I explained my dissatisfaction in my gun. He said to send it back " Att. Frank" and he would walk it back to the shop himself. I sent a long letter plus lots of photos. I hope this works out!!!

[castblaster]

HDS
It's not a divot but a hump. It causes problems when the hump indents the boolit, the boolit passes the hump then gas rushes past the dent in the boolit, gas cutting the boolit.
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45069121-e862-9b57.jpg
thats hard to see. I'll try more pics

[castblaster]

http://tapatalk.com/mu/45069121-e91c-098b.jpg
http://tapatalk.com/mu/45069121-e92b-54dc.jpg
sorry for the poor pics

[JIMinPHX]

I Called S&W, got through to frank. I explained my dissatisfaction in my gun. He said to send it back " Att. Frank" and he would walk it back to the shop himself. I sent a long letter plus lots of photos. I hope this works out!!!

Frank was the name of the guy that I spoke to there also. I'll be interested to hear how this works out.

[AnthonyB]

I bought a stainless Mountain Gun a few years ago that would have been on my "Bucket List" if I had one. Anyone interested can search the archives; I'm pretty sure I posted all the aggravation I got about getting the barrel shroud to actually line up with the frame. I even offered to pay for the Custom Shop to fit a new barrel, but kept getting the same "meets specs" response. I've bought at least five handguns since, but none has been a S&W.
Tony

[Down South]

Hmmmm, I have an older 629 and it does well with cast. I hope "Frank" takes care of the problem.

[PbHurler]

I Called S&W, got through to frank. I explained my dissatisfaction in my gun. He said to send it back " Att. Frank" and he would walk it back to the shop himself. I sent a long letter plus lots of photos. I hope this works out!!!

Please keep us informed of the outcome of this. "Frank" may become very busy if this works out properly!

[HDS]

It's in the land yeah. Not sure if it'll affect accuracy/leading or not. I've contacted S&W and the local service dealer. We'll see what happens.

Sorry to bump this, but if anyone cares; The finnish dealer didn't want to handle this because it was bought in germany, the german dealer could only offer to take the gun back but not fix it (I will not give it back due to legal reasons and grandfathering clauses).

S&W USA hasn't responded nor seem to care.



Finally got some plug gauges too so I could check my throats, got a .4285" minus gauge in but no larger, .4290" would not fit.

So I am having the guns throat fixed (finally, been waiting several months todo anything about it) and I will then see how the gun acts after the throats are opened up to a proper level.

[captaint]

So, I have been thinking about getting a new 625. That idea is certainly out now. Have to look and find a considerably older unit. That's awful. enjoy Mike

[prs]

I hope Frank puts his hard toed boots on before he walks that boat anchor back into the shop.

prs

[castblaster]

S&W refunded me my money for the gun. They said all barrels were the same because of their manufacturing process so a replacement would be the same. They offered to take the gun back, and I accepted their offer.

What a mess


Matt Hooper

[Shuz]

After 4 trips back to the factory; and failure of S&W to properly repair a new 380 Bodyguard, I asked for, and received a full refund. It'll be a cold day in Hades before I buy anything new from S&W until it is proven to me that their attitude towards customers and what they want has improved. Meantime I'll still enjoy my 329PD and various 629's that were made back in the "good old days".

[Dale53]

I have a number of recent Smiths and they shoot lead bullets EXTREMELY well. I don't believe that this particular barrel is representative. The barrels are impeccable.

However, the response to the complaint is inexcusable. I DEFINITELY would take it higher up the food chain.

Good luck to the O.P.

Dale53

[helice]

This is so sad. I lived through the first period of S**t & Wesson. Never thought I'd have to go through another.
Thanks to all you posters and photographers. Keep us informed, please. I, for one, appreciate your input.

P.S. Is anybody making a decent revolver anymore? Anybody American? Makes me regret having sold or traded some beauties.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

makes you appreciate the old ones...


Rich

[Dale53]

I have purchased three new Ruger single actions in the last couple of years: .44 Lipsey Special Flattop 5½", a TALO SS .44 Special Flattop, and a SS Bisley .45 Colt/.45 ACP Convertible. The two .44 Specials only required a trigger job. The Bisley Blackhawk required reaming throats of both cylinders and a trigger job. After the minor work was done, these have turned out to be superb shooting machines.

However, I must say I have early Smith's as well as recent Smith's that are all anyone can ask (and I am SERIOUSLY critical).

Dale53

[adrians]

Guess I'll be sticking to my Rugers...

me too brother!!!!:evil::bigsmyl2::evil:

[adrians]

you should expect better frrom a manufacturer such as S&W ,,,,sad ,,,very sad ,,,

[Iron Mike Golf]

I does seem like this is something that could be hand or fire lapped out.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I would get a 44 caliber Lewis lead remover kit, now made by Hoppies, I think. You should be able to polish that with the kit using some type of metal polishing compound. The Lewis lead remover kit comes with a forcing cone cleaning tip. It should not be too much of a problem, just a lot of hand work.