Hi,

I have two smith revolvers, a 327 5" N-frame and a 340 1.875" J-frame.

The 327 is brand new and the 340 has about 500 rounds through it, with no problems prior to today.

I took both to the range today. I attempted to shoot 150 rounds through the 327, 100 Remington UMC .38 Special 130gr FMJ's and 50 Fiocchi .357 magnum 125gr SJSP's.

Out of about 18 cylinders through the 327, I only had two cylinders fire all 8 rounds successfully. Usually one, but sometimes two of the rounds would not fire. There was no rhyme or reason as to where in the cylinder it happened, sometimes it would be two consecutive misfires, sometimes they were seperated by 2-5 shots. When I ejected the rounds, the unfired ones had a primer indentation that looked the same as the primers that had fired. I would always re-load the unfired rounds and they would usually not fire after a second or third-go around in the 327, although about 10% of the time they would.

I eventually started putting the dud rounds into the other gun, a 340 to see what would happen, and to my astonishment the 340 would only fire the duds about 10% of the time too!

What could be going on here? The ammo is not more than 6 months old. I didn't spill anything on it. I shot a bunch of shotgun slugs and .40 S&W ammo from the same can with no problem. Could it be something I'm doing? Ammo? Common problem between the 340 and 327 (they're both scandiums). I've shot a BUNCH of this same type of ammo through my 340 before today with no problems.

Thanks for any help.

I'd go buy a box of fresh ammo and check the strain screws on both guns and see what happens.

...oops...

S&W is getting good at sending guns out the door that don't fire. The 327 probably has a firing pin that is too short. Send it back or replace it with an aftermarket one. As far as the 340, it is probably the same problem. Perhaps by trying to fire the ammo that went 'click' the primers were reduced in sensitivity just enough to preclude firing. The 340 is probably on the edge of FTF with normal ammo and you just didn't know it. Are you using CCI ammo or CCI primers?

I would bet that the 327's problem is the firing pin. About 4 or 5 years ago, Smith changed to very conical point on their firing pins from a rounded point. I have great success with the older rounded points versus the new conical shape.

The extended firing pins are a good solution but not without potential problems. I installed the extended firing pin on my 310NG and the pin was getting caught in the primers, not retracting and binding up the cylinder. I put an older style pin in and it has worked 100%. I have not had problems with the extended firing pin with 357s or 45s, just the 40/10mm.

The 340 probably is working fine and the pre-struck primers are most likely the problem.

-R

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vim vi repellere licet

Check the mainspring strain screw to insure that it is fully tightened. Most of my revolvers have lightened DA triggers and I have replaced the firing pins with either Apex Tactical or Cylinder & Slide extra long firing pins.

The strain screw is tight, I could not budge it at all with a screwdriver.

Update:

Got the 327 back from Smith a few days ago. They said they replaced the firing pin and strain screw. Today I fired 100 rounds of Remington UMC 130 gr .38 special and 50 rounds of Fiocchi 125gr .357 magnum through the revolver. This was much better; I had one failure to fire out of 150. One of the .357 magnum rounds appeard to still be getting a light primer strike; I ran it through the gun 3 times and it never fired; i guess either the primer was seated too deeply or was bad on that particular round. Everything else fired fine though. Either way, it's nice to have under 1% FTF rather than 20%, hopefully the gun is good to go now.

I am new to the forums and am glad to have found you. I have a new 345NG that just won't fire unless I use moon clips. I am glad to see that there seems to be an answer to this. My new 438 fires fine as do all my other S&W revolvers with any ammo I put in them. I am going to have my local dealer's gunsmith check into the firing pin situation. Thank you for the insight.

Glad I could help.

Maybe the lack of moon clips were part of the problem; I still haven't tried it much with the moon clips because they're kind of a pain to put on and take off .38/.357 to be honest.

Another thing I noticed with my 327 today after bringing it home;

The barrel seems loose....I can rotate the barrel a degree or two to the left; with the cylinder closed it springs back to center, but with the cylinder open it will stay wherever I push it. I hope this is not a new problem to be concerned about.

Two things...

1. A 1% FTF rate is way too high for my tastes.
2. The barrel (I assume you mean barrel shroud) should not be loose.

If indeed the barrel shroud (and barrel is loose) that's a big problem. Send it back to S&W and have them make it right. Also, make them aware of the continued FTF problem while it's there. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

P.S. The more often you have to send it back, the less it bothers you. My 329pd had to go back 3 times.

Ha, thanks! Yeah, I agree with you, 1% is way too high still especially for a revolver, but after 20% it's looking good

It might just be the barrel shroud that's loose, but either way I'm sending it back. I just called and got a label sent to me today. I'll make note that it still had one FTF out of 150 in the letter I send it back with. Maybe someday my 327 will work right.

DougU41952;
I presume you mean a 325 (not 345) Night Guard?
The newer S&W revolvers for the .45 ACP REQUIRE moonclips for reliable operation. S&W changed the specs on their .45 ACP revolvers and they are no longer chambered to fire without the moonclips.

Just use moonclips or Auto Rim cases if you reload and your problem will go away. Poly RIMZ clips work very well for me and do not require tools ( I use them in a 625-6 and a 625-8).

For SERIOUS use I would recommend the steel full moon clips from Ranch Products but range use I waffle between RIMZ clips and Auto Rim Cases. To doubly insure reliability with lightened actions I use Apex Tactical or Cylinder & Slide extra length firing pins.

FWIW
Dale53