After shooting just forty factory standard velocity 38 Special 158 gr rnl rounds, my brand new S&W 442 failed. The trigger pull became very light and although the cylinder would still revolve (although very lightly) I had failures to fire (no primer strikes). Upon opening the cylinder, I was able to pull the trigger back about half way with the slightest pressure - it was loosened and noticed that the cylinder stop was loose without the usual light spring back when depressed.

I also checked the hammer spring and it was installed correctly. I did not remove the side plates for further analysis.

Well, Sportsmen Warehouse returned it to S&W warranty repair dept. for me.

Based on your experiences, you have any idea what caused the failure? I’ve owned numerous S&W revolvers including airweight j frames in the past and I never experienced such failure.

Thank you all