Being my first post, let me say hello.

I have just traded for a model 29-3 and have a couple questions. The bluing is showing a good amount of wear near the end of the barrel. Should I touch it up myself, send it back to S&W and have them completely re-blue it, or should I just leave it alone? There are a few other wear marks and small scratches on other parts but nothing major.

My second question is... I went to the range today and shot it for the first time. With .44 spl and some "light" .44 mag hand loads I had no issues. With some 240gr 1300 fps Hornaday's I had the wheel backspin, on several occassions, leaving the spent shell back under the hammer when it was cocked again. Is there something I can do/have done to fix this. I know this is a somewhat common issue and have read alot about it...but have never heard of a fix for it???

When the cylinder is closed, is is slightly loose. It will "spin" about a 1/32" or so. Is there a fix for this as well? I certainly appreciate any help you more knowledgable/experienced guys can offer.

Thanks,
Chris

I am no gunsmith but if my smith did something like that it would be on its way back to smith,,..

I want to have total confidence that my gun "Will" fire when the trigger is pulled.

Thanks Freeson, I assume you're talking about the cylinder jumping back to the fired shell? I've heard of this issue quite a bit with the model 29's with hot loads but wasn't sure if there was a fix for it. It's not like was was shooting some kind of crazy maxed out load...just some factory 240gr at 1300 fps. I don't mind sending it back to S&W if there's a fix.

Anybody have any suggestions as to what to do about this issue, as well as the bluing and the slight "play" in the cylinder when it's locked?

You might post this in "Smithing" a few topics down ...there is a lot of guys that really know there stuff.

Your problem might be a very easy fix..like a spring.

I'd leave the bluing alone. Factory re-blue is suppossed to be pretty good, but I won't buy a re-blued gun. I would consider one with worn bluing if the price was right.

As for cylinder skipping back, have you checked carry-up? I don't know if it is related, but some of my m29s don't quite drop the cylinder stop into place when SA cocked slowly (which is often how I cock guns, at least I don't want to worry about how hard I must pull the hammer back). I imagine that if the cylinder stop is not positively engaged when the hammer drops, cylinder could skip back. Another explanation is that heavy recoil jolts the stop out of its slot in the cylinder.

If I recall correctly, the 29-4 (and maybe some late 29-3s marked "E")introduced an Endurance Package, recognizable by longer stop notches in the cylinder. I believe the cylinder stop spring was also strengthened.

More than likely your cylinder stop is worn causing the cylinder to have the back and forth slop. The jump back may also be the cylinder stop spring not keeping the stop in place in the cylinder notches, therefore letting the cylinder rotate back on firing. Factory re-blue will cost upwards of 230.00

Your -3 is an older model and the factory is quickly running low on parts for the older model guns. You might want to run it back to them for repair if you're planning on keeping it.

Good luck

Your gun shouldn't do that using normal loads. The gun needs a tune up. I'd read up the faq sticky notes in the smithing section that I put in there and look at the cylinder stop & endshake repair notes. I would say the stop needs to be adjusted or replaced. Also tighten up on the endshake.
Keep in mind, You check lock up with the trigger fully pressed. What the cylinder wobble is at rest doesn't matter. If the stop is loose in the frame you stretch around the slot to tighten it up. If the stop looks ok but the cylinder notches are all peened, you either adjust the stop so it rises further up, inside the notches or fit an oversized stop. You also need to look at the stop spring and that could be changed with a new one while your messing with the stop.

Fix the blueing after your gun is running like it should.

I hinted at some of it, get some good screwdrivers...
good luck.

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NRA Benefactor Member

He's right, but......


Having the cylinder rotate backwards was a common problem, and was the main reason for the elongated stop notches, and the slightly longer (from front to back) cylinder stop, along with a slightly stiffer stop spring. Just adding the stiffer spring will go a long way towards eliminating this problem. The factory also slightly lengthened the centerpin at the rear of the cylinder where it locks into the recoil sheild, which was designed to keep the cylinder from unlatching under recoil and flying open.

My first 29 was a -3, and I regularly had double firing pin indentations on the spent primers, along with getting the trigger kickback sensation. Those were two other common maladies that afflicted the pre-endurance guns. All of the above happened quite commonly with factory loads, or equivelent reloads BTW.



Just an FYI-
I called the factory recently (on behalf of another forum member who was considering this himself) and asked if a -3 gun could be retro-fitted with any of the endurance parts, and they said it would be no problem as long as they were in stock, and that anyone wanting to do so, should call and check parts availability before shipping a gun for fitting. If the newer style cylinder is in stock it, along with the new style ratchet can be fitted, a longer stop can be installed after having the stop window slightly lengthened. A new crane with the longer bearing pads, and hardened tube can be fitted, and possibly the longer center pin. I don't believe they can fit the internal bolt block without major machining to make a groove for it, but you would have to ask about that. It will all cost you more than it would be worth in my opinion, unless you were given the gun, and it was in mint condition. In that case it might be worth it, and you would still have far less into it than new gun would cost. I suppose that they could even retro-fit the radiused stud package pins and hammer/trigger, but that would require a complete re-blue.

I shoot my 29-2 and don't experience this at all. I shoot normal loads of course.
I think if you wanted the Endurance Package parts the cheapest way is to mill the slot in the frame for the bolt stop and replace the hand and your good to go. I bet you don't need to spend the money replacing the cylinder if it's is good shape.

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I have a 629-2 which I understand has the same design as the 29-4. If it isn't marked with the E does that mean I could potentially have the roll back problem? I've heard that they started trying to fix the problem with the 29-4 but never actually got it fixed. I have also heard that cocking the hammer slowly causes the problem sometimes.

I just bought some 225 gr. Hornady FTX recently but haven't fired any yet. I suppose I might learn if my Smith has this problem.

I really appreciate all the info on this. This is exactly what I was looking to know. I'll give S&W a call this week to see what the cost would be to fix it and go from there. I may just end up taking it to my local shop and trade it for a newer model 29/629 and let him fix it. I wouldn't want someone else to end up in the same position I'm in though so I would have to at least make sure the "backspin" issue was fixed or would be fixed before it went to a new owner. After looking at it it seems like the spring under the cylinder stop may be the biggest culprit.

Thanks again for all the information on this.

Check my posting about this problem of earlier today. I think I fixed it