Hello,
My first time here so a brief history. Over the years I have owned many different semi-autos and revolvers. Years ago I briefly owned a 3913 that I let go 'cause it seemed like a good idea at the time. I always had a soft spot for that pistol and just this past weekend I stumbled upon a 6906 in like new condition so I couldn't pass it up. My question is while stripping it down I noticed a small gap, about 1/16" or so between the barrel and breech face. This gap is there whether loaded or not (see photo). I couldn't remember if this is normal for S&W N frames as I have narrowed my collection to 1911 style Para Ordnance, etc. So before I shoot it is there a cause for concern? Hand cycling works fine and everything else seems to be in order.
Thanks in advance,
Bob

Attached Images

6906 4 Gap 2 copy.jpg (66.6 KB, 198 views)

Had similar on my 639. Excessive "end shake". A replacement barrel fixed that.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

About 10 minutes after I posted this and after 3 days of searching the 'Net I think I figured it out. I had a big Brain Fart (maybe). Like I said the only other S&W I ever owned was the 3913 and I don't think I had it long enough to even fire it. What I noticed after I thought about it is I am used to the 1911 style, particularly my 16 year old Wayne Novak (before he became really famous) Para Ordnance P13. I was so used to seeing it everyday that I failed to notice that most 1911's have internal extractors as opposed to the 6906 and most others that have the external extractor. Depending on the make and model I guess there has to be at least some gap in this area otherwise the breech would slam into the extractor during lock up. For whatever reason I've just never noticed one as pronounced as this. As soon as I get a chance I'll throw some rounds downrange and post the results. I really love the feel and weight of the 6906. It fits my grip perfectly. I just finished stripping it down again and everything seems in order.

It's the witness opening to show if the pistol has a round in the chamber or not. Even though the correct way to check if a pistol is loaded or not is to open the chamber and LOOK inside.

Now that makes sense. Well it makes sense, sort of. Like you I believe the correct way is to LOOK or perform a very subtle "Press Check". I think I remember hearing that term years ago. Thanks for the input!

That's exactly right.
If you want to confirm that it is unloaded you open the action all the way.
If want to confirm that it is loaded you open the action just enough to see the round sitting in the chamber.
That's what I do anyway.

If you look closely at the photo you included in your first post, you will see that the top of the barrel DOES touch the breech face. It is only in the area of the "witness" slot that the barrel doesn't touch the breech face. That slot is there to show a loaded chamber. It is not always necessary on external-extractor pistols. Some pisstols have the end of the barrel inletted a little to make room for the nose of the extractor.

In my own opinion, I think that S&W used this method of providing extractor clearance because it is cheaper to machine that area off of the end of the barrel than it is to inlet the end of the barrel. So it accomplishes the goal of providing clearance for the extractor nose. In order to somewhat draw attention away from the "cheap solution", they enlarged it a little and called it a witness slot.

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NRA, IACP, INEOA, MCRGO

Go with the Smith. You won't like the new style magazines with the ParaOrd. But if you end up with the Para, don't ever take the mags apart without replacing the plastic base plates.

It's normal. All mine are the same.