I currently own a few SW revolvers and have had others go through my hands over the years. I've never had any sort of problem with them mechanically.

What exactly do you mean when you say a revolver is shooting "out of time"? Is this something that is obvious when you're shooting the gun or something I need to look out for?

Thank you.

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Pray for Gridlock

Revolver Timing ?

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Science plus Art

Thanks for the information as it's very informative.

A couple of notes concerning that timing check.

First, note the emphasis on "properly sized Dummy rounds". Specifically, these are NOT snap caps, for a timing check snap caps are normally undersized. Ideally you want freshly sized casings or unfired brand new brass that is the same diameter as properly sized and loaded factory ammunition. In a pinch you can use fired casings but they will be slightly larger than a properly sized casing and may not reveal a timing issue that is right at the borderline.

Second, S&W revolvers will commonly show a DCU (doesn't carry up) condition with a left handed trigger pull. It's because of the way the trigger gets "cocked" sideways with a normal left handed trigger pull. IIRC S&W tried to correct this with the "floating hand" but history has shown that fix didn't really work. If you are a left handed shooter you have 2 options. One is to make sure the gunsmith is aware you are a southpaw so he can pay extra attention to getting it to carry up with a left handed trigger pull. However, doing this can be time consuming and the result is a timing condition that is right at the borderline for a hand/cylinder stop bind on most 6 shooters. The second option is to just not stage the trigger in double action and allow the inertia of the cylinder to carry it into lock.

Third, note the instruction not to put any drag on the cylinder when checking the timing. I've seen a lot of people "drag" the cylinder and then complain about poor timing. On a S&W it's just not the correct way to check the timing.

Finally, I personally don't worry if the timing is just a hair short of carry up with a super slow motion pull of the trigger. As for why, I don't stage my trigger in double action and even if I am using a slow "target press" of the trigger the cylinder has enough inertia to carry it into lock before the hammer falls. When I get concerned is when I see a cylinder that stops short by about 0.005 inch or more when the hammer drops. At that point the gun is likely not going to cause any damage to the forcing cone but it's at the point where the carry up needs to be corrected. Now, I expect that some will disagree and I don't have a problem with that. It's simply a matter of how you run your gun when shooting double action. If you don't stage the trigger and use full even press until the hammer falls, the cylinder will carry into lock because of it's inertia. That allows me to consider function as more critical than perfection and running my guns for function means I can shoot a lot more ammo before taking to in to have the timing tuned up. Those who habitually stage their trigger should probably insure their revolver carries up properly on every chamber, meaning they should seek perfection over function.