Photo-Is this a timing issue?

[Ramar]

84535

[boltaction308]

Is what a timing issue?

If you are talking about the rub/scratch marks that is the detente that holds the cylinder in place and is normal, least ways, I see it on most of my revolvers.

[Dan Cash]

The drag line on the beveled side of the locking notch is normal. The drag line on the unbeveled side is not. The cylinder bolt is releasing too soon and will shortly cause a problem with cylinder rotation by not unlocking the cylinder. If it were my revolver, S&W would be fixing it.

[Ramar]

Yes, I'm talking about the bolt drag line on the cylinder.

I thought the bolt should pull down and not drag and only make contact with the cylinder at the time of full hammer travel.

A drag line, I thought was an indication of less than great timing and at the least a cause of unnecessary wear of finish or parts.
Thanks for your response.
Ramar

[KCSO]

But every time you close the cylinder the bolt is up and you drag the cylinder into lock across the bolt. That is why in sa a SAA you load and always use the hammer to rotate the cylinder into position rather than spin it to lock. S and W's are harder tomanage in that respect so you will always see some drag, but as was said not on the off edge.

[preparehandbook]

a drag line is normal, though usually before the bolt recess more so than after.

Timing is primarily about the hand (which rotates the cylinder) the timing wherin the bolt is released to allow the cylinder to spin is a tunable thing and I would think that maybe your bolt is not being lowered far enough, early enough hence the post bolt recess marks.

The bolt must be riding up against the cylinder well before the next chamber indexes or else when you operate the revolver very quickly the bolt spring would not bring the bolt up fast enough and you would skip the index point. This is a common problem with older guns.

[44man]

That drag line on the wrong side is the cylinder stop inertia unlocking the stop when you shoot, recoil. The cylinder will turn backwards from torque. Look at fired primers and you might find double strikes from hammer bounce.
That gun needs a stronger cylinder stop spring. Some S&W .500's have had cylinders turn all the way to the first loaded chamber and doubled. 29's turned enough to get a "click" for the next shot. It is just a spring.
I never have the right spring stock but having worked on locks, I have lock tumbler springs, found sticking one of those small springs inside of the S&W cylinder stop spring would cure the problem.
S&W finally recognized the problem and has better springs you can get. I might have been instrumental in the cure since S&W was saying it was shooter error.
Marks before stop engagement mean nothing, just cosmetic. It is very hard to have the stop drop only into the notch.

[GP100man]

44 man has wisdom . stronger cyl latcth spring needed.

Happened to my JM 625 uspsa special , it finally got to where it caused a hitch from not locking in place fast enuff on double tapps.

[Ramar]

Thanks for the replies.

I thought the same as most of you, but it couldn't possibly be much to worry about because the photo came from the S&W web site. Quite a few other revolvers showed similar drag marks and that I guess is the nature of the beast. I was mistaken in my thinking that there should be no drag lines and if there was that it must a timing issue. Now I know different. I like my SS revolvers; they still show drag lines but there's no bluing to wear off.

Here's where the photo came from. http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_765757_-1_757781_757781_757781_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

[44man]

Ruger SA's have the bolt pop up very soon and you will have a line all the way around. BFR's have Ruger parts but the bolt will be delayed about 1/16" or so after the cylinder notch.
I don't have a S&W here but the bolt will pop up just before the lead in to the notch but there should be no mark after the notch.
Anyway, the marks do no harm at all and my SBH with around 70,000 heavy loads is not worn deeper then a new gun.
Hammer bounce is real and slow mo will reveal the pressure against the primer will punch the firing pin back, punch the hammer back to almost full cock depending on hammer spring power, and can fire another chamber if the trigger is still back.
You can see it with a SA too but the geometry of the cylinder stop bolt will not allow it to unlock the cylinder.
Some want a lighter trigger on the S&W so they unscrew the mainspring strain screw, entirely the wrong thing to do. I use over power hammer springs, Wolfe.
A light hammer spring is OK with light load, fast DA shooting in the Smith but if you shoot heavy loads, stay away.

[220swiftfn]

As has been said, the Smith's don't time the same as a Colt. Where a Colt that's in time will drop the bolt in the aproach, the Smith drops the bolt just after rotation starts, (its hook is on the front of the trigger) AND the bolt is up when the cylinder is open, so it rides the cylinder there too. All of this adds up to (eventually) a continuous bolt ring in the cylinder. This is why when you see an engraved Smith, the rear of the cylinder is always left un-engraved.


Dan

[Ramar]

Thanks guys
Ramar

[35 Whelen]

A simple, non-invasive solution is to polish the top of the bolt. My NM Vaquero started showing the line and I polished the engaging part of the bolt lightly with 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and the line never got worse. After this I made a new, longer hammer plunger that delayed the engagement of the bolt until just prior to the scallops in the cylinder.

35W