Hey all, id like to start by wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year and many many new S&W wheel guns..and autos, I guess, and maybe a single shot or two..anyway..Now for my question. I been tinkering with a 28-2. I bought a "new" cylinder for it. Can Ijust plug and play or does it need to be timed/aligned/ whatever a real gunsmith does? It has the matching extractor star and fits up nice and neat. It seems to be timed ok and from what i can tell it aligns perfectly. I know there are some liability issues firing it but im thinking ill do it. Anyone wanna chime in? Thanks in advance for your replies. You guys are all great!

If you have the proper tools and know how to use them, check index, carry up, barrel-cylinder gap, headspace and shell clearance.

If all checks out, and the revolver dry fires smoothly and properly, you may be okay to fire, but you won't know until you do it.

Arguably, the hand should be replaced and timed to the new ratchet.

Alternately, use the new cylinder with the old cylinder's guts to minimize the number of "changes" that might throw things out of whack.

Or let a qualified revolversmith run the checks -- and shoot with greater confidence.

Ratchets are filed to fit the hand . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Per Kuhnhausen, either or both may be adjusted to correct timing and fine tune interface.

I have the tools to check everything. And have for the most part. I really wanted to know if the hand needed replaced or fit to the new ratchet. I have had different people say different things. I think ill have a gunsmith i know take a look at it also. Thanks again guys for your help.

Hands vary by width. If it carrys up normally, and does not bind, there is no need to change the hand or mess with the ratchets. Using a wider or narrower hand is preferable to filing ratchets (which is a rather delicate job, that I prefer to only do as a last resort) Also, make sure that the gun is within specs as to endshake, headspace, etc before filing anything. In this case, the trip to a gunsmith is probably the best solution. :-)

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102