Small Throats in a S&W 696

[alamogunr]

I have had a S&W Model 696 for several years now but only shot one box of factory loads thru it when I first bought it(used). I have decided to try it with cast but after reading the .44 Spec. article by Glen Fryxell, I thought I should check the throats. The only plug that will go in is the .428. I slugged the barrel before I remembered that I can't measure 5 groove barrels. Anyone have any experience with this gun? Do I need to have the throats reamed larger? If so, how do I remove the cylinder. Almost ashamed to admit it but I don't know how. Any advice will be appreciated.

John
W.TN

[NHlever]

Nothing to be ashamed about. It's much better to ask a question than to try the hammer approach. As you look at the gun from the rear, the front bottom screw on the right hand side is the one that retains the cylinder, and crane. Take that out, and you can easily remove the cylinder.

[Heavy lead]

I had a 629 with only .428 throats, I never slugged the bore, I just sized .429 and all was well, shot just fine with little or no leading. Might want to just try it.

[Lloyd Smale]

I foolishly let me best freind talk me out of my 696. Sure wish smith would make another run of them as there pretty expensive to find used. My gun was a tack driver with about any cast load i put in it so i had to reason to bother checking the throat size. First thing id do is shoot your gun and see if you even need to worry about it.

[44man]

I agree, Smith has a habit of making tight barrels too and it might actually also be .428". They are hard to measure because of the five thing and if the grooves are flat bottom (I don't remember.) they can't be measured edge to edge either. Even if round bottom, it is still not the best way to measure.
Best is to shoot it. I never had any problems with model 29's.

[captaint]

gunr - If you do decide to remove the cylinder, be sure to get a screwdriver that perfectly fits that slot and be real careful not to bugger the screw slot. Most guys hate buggerd screw heads. JMO Mike

[alamogunr]

Thanks for the good advice. I will try it with the small throats. I don't intend to shoot it a lot and not with any heavy loads. The thin barrel steel at the forcing cone tells me I don't need to push this gun a lot and also that too soft boolets are not a good idea either.

captaint, One thing I did right several years ago was buy a set of Brownell's screwdrivers. While some of the bits have never been used, that set has been invaluable when I needed to make some minor repair or adjustment.

John
W.TN

[Denver]

I have a 696-1 that also has small throats (.428). The smallest sizer die I have is .429 so that's what I use for the Lee 429-200RF boolit ahead of 5.9grs of Red Dot.
Shoots very well in this gun.
To remove the cylinder, remove the forward side plate screw and with the gun laying on it's right side and the cylinder fully open, pull the crane forward separating it from the frame and cylinder at the same time. Assemble in reverse order. :castmine:

[blue45colt]

Seems like small throats are common with this gun. I also have a 696 which had small throats, seems like they were around .429".
Anyway, with mine after slugging the barrel, the slug would not pass through any of the throats. I honed all the throats to around .4300/.4305" diameter which allowed the slug to pass.

[Char-Gar]

Take it out and shoot if before you start to worry about the numbers. If it shoots as well as you can hold, thenstop freting about the numbers and work on your shooting skills. If an when it gets to the point you can hold better than that or any other pistols shoots, then it is time to worry about the numbers.