My M28-2 has an ovaled bolt hole in the recoil shield face, and corresponding lateral play in the cylinder/yoke when closed. With the trigger held all the way back, the cylinder has almost no lateral play (some rotational play due to peened stop holes and a bit of lateral play of the cylinder stop in its slot).

Should I be concerned about fixing this, and is it even possible to fix? This was a duty gun that clearly saw quite a bit of shooting, so it's got some other looseness/timing issues as well.

Yes, it can be fixed. There is a bushing there, which is replaceable by any decent pistolsmith.

The fundamental question: how's it shoot? Is it timing and aligning correctly? Everything in spec? Accurate, no spitting or shaving lead?

If yes, don't worry -- enjoy.

Do you mean the firing pin hole? I don't think the bolt hole has a bushing.

I have absolutely nothing constructive to add, but I have to admit when I glanced at the title of this thread my old eyes and dirty mind totally misread "bolt". Couldn't help but think "This poor soul is so looking for advice in the wrong forum..."

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Too many S&W's to mention...

Haven't gotten a chance to get to the range with it yet to see if the timing and alignment are actually problematic. No visual evidence of off-center strikes on the forcing cone, so I'm hoping everything's square.

Yes, it can be repaired. S&W will drill out the hole and press-fit another hole in its place.

I wore out a S&W model 10 (really) once. Put many thousands of rounds through the gun (I was in the NYPD at the time and lived on 10 acres of land up in Orange County NY, with my own range).

As a Sgt. with the Firearms and Tactics Section I was on the line shooting my model 10. It was spitting lead something fierce (it had gotten progressively worse over time). I took it into the gunshop. The gunsmith there, Ron Kennedy (an ace pistolsmith) tried to replace the hand. Couldn't get the revolver to time-up. Finally figured out that the bolt hole (or whatever it's called) on the recoil plate was worn into an oval shape!!

An S&W rep was at the range (Rodman's Neck) that day, took the gun back to S&W and a few weeks later I got it back. Beside the press fitting of the new hole in the recoil plate I had;

A new cylinder (bulged due to my enthusiastic handloads!)
A new barrel (Bulged. I guess I fired a stuck bullet out of it once. Or twice...)

Even with the bulged barrel that revolver was a tack driver. Oh, they also reblued it for me. It has always been the most accurate handgun I've owned, and I own a lot of them!

Rich

You cannot NOT love the Model 10...unless its a Model 15! But, the model 10 rules!

Great story, RichCapeCod! Love hearing things like that.

Got a chance to take the HP to the range today, and I'm quite happy with the results. I haven't fired a 357 in at least a year and my buddy hasn't shot a gun since high school, and with the exception of two fliers we put every shot in the 8 ring at 7 yards. Doesn't spit or shave metal.

I ran the target out to the end of the range (15yd) and braced the butt on the bench to regulate the sights, and managed to shoot 3" SA groups pretty consistently, even with the front sight blade holster-worn almost round. That's about as well as I can shoot, being as out of practice as I am, so I'm happy that the gun is accurate.