There seems to be an epidemic of threads on every gun forum about canted or over clocked barrels on S&W revolvers. Maybe it's just my imagination but it seems as though they are all on post pinned barrel guns made after 1980. Did the pinned barrel prevent this sort of sloppy assembly?

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Guy-Harold Smith II

No, they was pinned canted.

Bob

I have a number of older, no pin, Smiths. None have canted barrels. Recently bought 5, 20 year old police trade-in 64's, all barrels dead center, no pin. I bought my first new Smiths in 20 years within the last month or two, Both barrels are off center. Photo is my brand new 686. It is going back. Smith will have to fix this problem.If everyone sends their cock eyed Smiths back, it will be cheaper for Smith to do it right the 1st time instead of letting all these poorly assembled guns out the door.

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It does seem like it is an epidemic of canted barrels out there. BUT...I have a couple that aren't, so put me in the good-to-go category. They must think the majority of the buying public is totally going to laser sights.

I haven't taken out my micrometer to check, but I'm sure one of my many post pinned Smith's "may" have a .0000000001 canted barrel.

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Sure you did

I had one a long time ago. A nickle 29 -x (don't know the dash, wasn't into it back then). Rear sight all the way over would get it on paper, that's it. Still far from the center of the target.

The previous owner wanted to buy it back. I lucked out. I don't think he ever fired it. I bought it from him with the rear sight centered, and gave it back to him that way.

They are easier to fix without the barrel being pinned.

All mine are fine too. I believe this is a recent phenom. I don't recall hearing much about it on the 80's guns. I simply don't have the problem, but all of mine are mid-to-late 80's or early 90's guns save one 317 born in 2010.

The question was ask, did canted barrels exist in the P&R days.
I pass this information along from the knowledge gained in working on machining issues relative to my on going Quad 4 revolver design. I also believe that this would be confirmed by any forum member machinist who comes accross this thread.
Although I'm not aware of what tolerences S&W uses or has for their manufacturing, THEY DO HAVE THEM, as would any manufacturer building or machining parts.
Keep in mind, when a forum member writes and shows photo's of a "canted barrel", they are shown looking from a TOP view. In truth, a canted barrel can exist in the full circle and my guess would be, a majority of barrels have some degree of cant but the top view is the easiest to view and comment on.
I can't speak, as I stated, what tolerences are specified or used by S&W for both the tapped FRAME HOLE and the THREADED BARREL SHANK
but they BOTH have them. A machining program I'm using gives a "Standard" tolerence" of +/- 1 degree from perpendicular to the said hole or shank. That I believe, if +/- 1 deg. is used, would mean that just the barrel shank OR the barrel hole could be OUT of alignment, (canted) by over
.01" per the depth or length found with a S&W revolver barrel thread.
What's more, this could even be greater if "BOTH"
hole and shank were machined max. extreme tolerence and mated up at the same point in the 360 degree circle.
I won't get into the tolerences that also come into play with the placement of either the hole in the frame or the out of roundness the machined barrel shank can have. My only point with this post being, considering that there are at least 4 different tolerences that come into play when mating a barrel to the frame AND that tolerences will or need to be "stairstepped", I believe is the term used by "Machinist".
With these factors in mind, I think S&W does an outstanding job. I also think a Pinned barrel not requiring a torqued fix would have fewer canted revolver barrels.

Hope this rant makes sense and is factually corect.

baldeagle8888

I own a 2" Model 10-5, pinned, and it is canted, it's never really bothered me that much as it isn't used as a target revolver. I bought this NIB and noticed it withing a couple of weeks.
RD

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