I have recently acquired my first "antique" revolver, a DA Frontier .44-40, which I would like to shoot eventually, but I have some questions...

• the gun feels a little loose - if you shake it in your hand, you can feel some movement in the cylinder, yet it seems to lock up pretty well...is this small movementof the cylinder while not locked up normal or a sign of wear?
• Is it OK to dry fire this gun?
• Noted that the firing pin rests very close to the primer on a loaded cylinder - while carrying holstered, should it rest on an unloaded chamber, or can you simply close it between chambers?
• Bore looks good, range rod says alignment is good, internals look OK to an admitted non-expert...anything else I can check before firing? (understand low power ammo)
• If it should be further checked out, can an average "modern" gunsmith help me, or must it go to an antique expert?

Any and all answers/opinions much appreciated!

There is usually a small amount of endshake in most 44 DAs I have held. Over the years, there may be a small amount of frame stretch or maybe just wear on the cylinder assembly. If it is minor, I would not worry about it. You can find or make cylinder bearings to insert in front of the cylinder to tighten it up. If it is something else that is loose, let us know.

I do not like to dry fire any gun. I usually hold my thumb over the hammer as I index through the chambers so it does not hit the frame too hard.

I have never carried one of these guns loaded, but the standard practice should be the same as any other vintage revolver and that is having a empty cylinder. I have heard that you can rest the firing pin between 2 cartridges, but if you have a rebounding hammer gun, that does not work too well.

I would make sure the bolt solidly locks the cylinder in place for each chamber. You can do that by pulling the trigger and holding it rearward as you try to move the cylinder. Do this for all six chambers and if there is a problem, you will note the cylinder does not lock securely or is beyond or short of the notch. You do not want to start shaving bullets on the forcing cone.

Obviously, you do not want to take an antique to a gunsmith that knows little about them. Do some research and make sure your smith is experienced in working on antique S&Ws. There are some out there that are experts and some that should never touch an antique S&W!

__________________
Gary
SWCA 2515

Howdy

Yeah I have heard that too. It is not true. There is not enough space between the rims for the firing pin to reliably stay between the rims. The tip of the firing pin is relatively fat, and there is very little space between the rims where the firing pin would lie. The firing pin will be sitting at the spot with the least clearance between the rims. The firing pin will be resting against the rims and will skip right over the space between them. I just tried it with a DA 44 chambered for 44 Russian, and there is not enough room. The 44-40 round has a larger diameter rim than the 44 Russian, so there would be even less room for a firing pin with a 44-40 revolver.

Safest thing to do with these old pre-hammer block revolvers is to lower the hammer on an empty chamber.

The same question came up on another board about a SAA chambered for 45 Colt. Same story, not enough space between rims for the firing pin to fit down between them.

As for dry firing these old guns, I wouldn't dream of it. The firing pin is integral with the hammer, it is not a replaceable part as on most modern revolvers. Snap off the firing pin and you will be looking for a new hammer, unless you find the piece and are good at welding stuff back on.

Gentlemen, I truly appreciate the insight and advice - Thank you.

Opinions of self-appointed experts seem to challenge those of another self-appointed expert, me. As for 'rebounding hammer', that's for a different kind of gun. Agreed about using only an experienced gunsmith, meaning one who really knows the how & why of guns old & new.

Dry firing is something I do very sparingly, when it serves some purpose to confirm function, etc. That said I see no hazard of the firing pin just going along for the ride, not striking anything. I have done repairs on a few integral firing pins similar to the discussed. This model of S&W has its off-primer cock notch which seems to be there as reported. Not much of a safety in itself, it with the between-chambers position, provides much the same protection as one empty chamber loading. Hammer down or in the off-primer notch, cylinder is held from rotation into battery by the riser from the trigger engaging the long designed slots in the cylinder. True, some cylinder end shake seems normal in these guns. I checked 5 in near EXC condition and end shake is from barely able to feel to about .005" (est.). I had one that had just too much end shake along with BC gap that I fixed by putting shim washer under the ratchet star.

For absolute gun safety I think it would be better to collect stamps.

Standard cowboy ammo would be OK. Here's my shooter I reamed to shoot .44 Special as well as its original .44 Russian.

Technically, with this particular model or most revolvers with an external hammer, dry firing is probably okay. The resistance offered by a primer, when fired, is minimal, so, therefore no different than if a round is chambered. There are certain firearms I would not want to dry fire, but this is not one of them. If you look at the hammer, it is quite solidly constructed, so I think the chances of disintegration of the hammer are virtually nil. If it was to happen, the integrity of the firearm it belonged to would likely have been compromised in many other ways (e.g., a firearm in 'poor' condition), and a damaged hammer might be the least of your worries.

Having said that, why would you want to dry fire a firearm more than once, and this would be maybe at the time of purchase to assess integrity and function? Indeed, when I am assessing a firearm for the first time, I do dry fire it, but with my thumb on the hammer so that it is lowered slowly and not truly 'fired'. Come to think of it, I do not ever recall dry-firing a model without an exposed hammer, such as the safety hammerless models or such as an old A H Fox shotgun.