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Thread: Revolver Inspection - The Right Way - aka Wheelgun 101

  1. #21
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by M-Tecs View Post
    1,500 rounds is a good day of shooting in a PPC revolver. Great post but needing to retime a Smith every 1,500 rounds doesn't match my experience with them.
    With .357s it is mine. With .38 Spl. +P maybe double that interval, but with Q4070 ammo they won't go 5000 without an armorer touching them.

    You can also ask anyone who worked the FBI gun vault at Quantico back then, the APG inspectors who ran the lot acceptance tests for Customs and Border Patrol and the instructors and gunsmiths at FLETC.

    If you re-read the revised OP I have incorporated additional comments from the Test Director for US Customs and Border Patrol on their experience, and statements from the contracting agency''s technical representative from Aberdeen Proving Ground.
    Last edited by Outpost75; 02-01-2018 at 11:45 PM.
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  2. #22
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    US Customs and Border Patrol experience in the early 1980s S&W .357s typically required returning to factory for new extractor every 1500 rounds of 357 Magnum loads, while Rugers went 10,000 utilizing Remington and Winchester full charge .357 rounds with no repairs or parts replacements required.
    SO, my brandy new S&W model 60 will need S&W servicing after only 1500 magnum rounds run through it? and ditto's for every 1500 magnum rounds fired thereafter? really?

  3. #23
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rfd View Post
    SO, my brandy new S&W model 60 will need S&W servicing after only 1500 magnum rounds run through it? and ditto's for every 1500 magnum rounds fired thereafter? really?
    Yes. If you shoot full-charge magnum loads, THAT is reality. If anybody that tries to convince you otherwise you should read this scholarly journal article which explains exactly what they are attempting to do, and what they did in those years for decades with moderate marketing success without anyone actually having gone to jail.

    http://www.bcmj.org/special-feature/...o-smoke-enemas
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  4. #24
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    Handgun stuff

    Thank you for posting this .

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    Yes. If you shoot full-charge magnum loads, THAT is reality. If anybody that tries to convince you otherwise you should read this scholarly journal article which explains exactly what they are attempting to do, and what they did in those years for decades with moderate marketing success without anyone actually having gone to jail.

    http://www.bcmj.org/special-feature/...o-smoke-enemas
    Talk about thread drift. What does tobacco smoke enemas have to do with revolver timing? Now I known how the term blowing smoke up your butt came about.

    The flame cutting issues and barrel cracking of K frames with magnum loads has been known for a very long time. Dry firing, light loads and heavy loads make very little differences related to timing issues.
    Last edited by M-Tecs; 02-02-2018 at 02:42 PM.

  6. #26
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by M-Tecs View Post
    Talk about thread drift. What does tobacco smoke enemas have to do with revolver timing? Now I known how the term blowing smoke up your butt came about.

    The flame cutting issues and barrel cracking of K frames with magnum loads has been known for a very long time. Dry firing, light loads and heavy loads make very little differences related to timing issues.

    Actually heavy loads in the S&W DO make a difference as to timing issues due to cylinder backspin...
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  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    Actually heavy loads in the S&W DO make a difference as to timing issues due to cylinder backspin...
    I have seen cylinder backspin in the early days of silhoutte shooters shooting really heavy loads in 29's and a buddy had an early X frame 500 that did it. I have never seen a k frame that had this issue.

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    That sounds very hard for my old non attention span brain. I think I will just hose it down with WD40, spin the cylinder and call it good.

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffer View Post
    That sounds very hard for my old non attention span brain. I think I will just hose it down with WD40, spin the cylinder and call it good.
    When WD40 gums up your revolver to where it doesn't work anymore, you can free it up with Kroil, go forth and sin no more.
    Last edited by Outpost75; 02-03-2018 at 09:21 PM.
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  10. #30
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    This is a great article/post. Back in the early 70's when you could not get a 44 mag do to 'Dirty Harry" I bought a super blackhawk.. one of the first transfer bar guns and I really did overload that gun.. I watched my loads make the bolt bounce and the cylinder turn from recoil on SW model 29's Not good. The newer smiths are much better/stronger in my opinion and my 629 is extremely accurate and fits my hand and points better than say my other Redhawks.

    One thing I have taken to doing tho that was not mentioned. Since we are in a cast bullet forum... I bought a set of plug/pin gauges. One thing that is very important accuracy wise is to have all the cylinder throats about the same and.. the same or slightly larger than bore size. While Rugers are strong.. they sometimes... are.... 'spotty' on this aspect. One redhawk has throats that measure from .432-.435.. this gun is not particularly accurate. I have seen other Rugers that were worse and some that were absolutely perfect.. I have seen taurus that were awful and ones that were perfect... in fairness... most Smiths are really good but some? eh... So far I have not seen a Dan Wesson or Freedom arms that was not perfect in that regard and... oddly... my Uberti SAA guns are perfect.

    These guns with perfect throat/bore relationships all shoot the most accurately. Admittedly.. this is not important unless you want the most accuracy you can get out of the gun.. My 70's Python is absolutely perfect and is a joy to shoot even tho.. the little difference should not matter but.. that gun will always shine on an outing so it is worth it to me.. . One thing... The DW and Python are extinct (new DW are being made now) and the Freedom arms guns are very expensive.

    lazs

  11. #31
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    Oh... and Kroil.... great stuff.. I love the smell.. I have taken to making my version of Ed's Red with lanolin and Amyl acetate (for odor) and it works much like a cross between Kroil and CLP. So far as WD40? if there is any use for it other than drying out electrical parts I can't imagine what it would be. Back 40 years ago I know a lot of folks used it on guns which is not a very good idea IN MY OPINION.

    lazs

  12. #32
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    Wow, that was thorough.

  13. #33
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    Is there something more to the original revolver inspection than what I’m seeing, that starts with “proper use of a range rod”?

  14. #34
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jtarm View Post
    Is there something more to the original revolver inspection than what I’m seeing, that starts with “proper use of a range rod”?
    I didn't cover use of the range rod in this thread. Somebody else may have elsewhere.
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  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    I didn't cover use of the range rod in this thread. Somebody else may have elsewhere.
    Hmm, must be a TapTalk bug or something. The original post looks totally different than on a PC browser.

  16. #36
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    Very helpful, thank you Sir !

  17. #37
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    What a great write up.

    Back when Smith and Wessons K-frames ruled the roost, one work around to avoid the cost of the expensive copper inserts for testing hammer fall strength was a 3 1/4 Lb. weight that had an "ell" shaped rod coming off the top. This was used by the Armorers at the California Highway Patrol, LAPD, and others.

    The revolver hammer was partially cocked, just enough to allow the "ell" to be inserted on top of the hammer with the muzzle pointed up. Then the revolver was slowly raised while carefully watching the hammer for movement. Any movement meant that the hammer spring was too light, usually the result of an Officer "adjusting" the tension screw on the frame of a S&W in the quest for a lighter trigger pull, but sometimes the result of spring fatigue or a too-short strain screw. The revolver would be withdrawn from service until repairs were made. A field expedient repair was to take the cup of a spent primer and place it on the end of the strain screw and then retighten.

    If the Armorer was peeved with you, he might give the barrel a little jerk to fail the gun and you'd end up with a 13 or 14 pound trigger, in place of the 9 pound one you had cleverly achieved.
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  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    I didn't cover use of the range rod in this thread. Somebody else may have elsewhere.
    Phew been a while since I first studied this, thank you.

    I wonder though, if you might go over the use of a range rod? I am one of the ignorant few that have one and would most definitely appreciate any insight into proper use. However, I suspect you have a good reason for not doing so already

    I can say that I have tried to use it and checked likely a dozen or more revolvers. All but a couple of all the revolvers I have "gaged" using the service rod have had no issue with the gage sliding right down with no resistance whatsoever. Using the gage you would never even know they had the possibility of an issue.

    The couple that did stop the gage, even though they had reasonably tight lock up, still would accept the gage if gently (very gently) rotated by hand within the limits of the play available at lock-up. And I have had no issue with accuracy or lead spitting.

    Seems to me that unless the cylinder alignment is just terrible there doesn't seem to be much issue. Of course this is just my (uneducated) experiance and I would love to learn anything anyone is willing to share.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check