Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike0251
So I measured everything 3 times myself and determined the barrel to cylinder gap was too much (.009 which was S&W's new spec as they had increase it over the years). I bought some cylinder shims, set the gap to .004, verified everything else was good, and the gun functions perfectly. And I did it!
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I agree with
Mike on this. Specifically what you need to check for is too much "end-shake", which also shows up in (adds to) the barrel gap. Check to see how much forward to rearwards play you have in the cylinder. If it's excessive the cylinder will come unlocked from the stop bolt as the cylinder moves under recoil. Eliminate that play & the unlocking stops.
My 29-2 got little respect when I was younger & it saw it's fair share of hot loads. In later years I started having the unlocking problem too & I found it had about .005" end-shake. A couple .002" shims tightened it up & fixed the problem.
The early 29's didn't have the wider stop notches that the later one's had (with the Endurance Package) & they can come unlocked easier.
From Handloader #241, an article on "Handloading the S&W M29" by Brian Pearce:
"When shot extensively with full-house loads, they have a reputation for shooting loose, developing excess cylinder end-shake and side-play.
...when Model 29s and 629s developed excess cylinder end-shake, or were incorrectly fit, their cylinders were occasionally known to unlock and turn clockwise (or back-ward) one chamber while the gun was being fired and recoiling."
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I limit the hot stuff to my 629-6 nowadays.
Hope you get it fixed & can enjoy it again.
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