Canted barrel on my M&P R8?

PA Guns & Ammo · #1 10-02-2013, 03:07 PM

I just noticed something on my R8 that my barrel may be canted and I was wondering if this is an issue or not. Looking down the sight radius, I cannot tell if the barrel is canted. I shot this many times without any issues. Is this something I should be concerned about? ~James

Badquaker · #2 10-02-2013, 04:20 PM

Since perfect is hard to attain, every barrel is canted to some degree. Yours looks very minimal.

Is the rear sight blade close to center with the pistol sighted in?

jaymoore · #3 10-02-2013, 05:45 PM

No practical way to adjust it without removing metal. The barrel shroud is keyed to the frame:

PA Guns & Ammo · #4 10-02-2013, 06:41 PM

So the ball is not sitting in the pocket the barrel shroud would not cause for any concern? What is the purpose of having the ball for, lockup?

James

mjolnir2 · #5 10-02-2013, 08:06 PM

Mine is exactly the same and I just received mine back from S&W service. If it is keyed as per the pictures posted, then it is part of the nuance associated with of owning this gun I suspect.

I have a reflex sight on mine so from practical sense it has no affect on performance for me.

Gunsnwater · #6 10-02-2013, 08:27 PM

I'm thinking the whole ball detent thing is more fantasy than practical. How much could they really do? The cylinder unlocking was from cylinder notch hitting the stop in recoil and bouncing the stop down, freeing the cylinder to rotate and letting the forces be redirected to unlock the crane. Elongating the notch so it wouldn't hit the stop fixed the problem. If it was more than a ball and required manual unlocking it would do something. A few well placed strokes of the correct file would allow full extension of the ball, but why? Nice looking gun by the way.

PA Guns & Ammo · #7 10-02-2013, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunsnwater

I'm thinking the whole ball detent thing is more fantasy than practical. How much could they really do? The cylinder unlocking was from cylinder notch hitting the stop in recoil and bouncing the stop down, freeing the cylinder to rotate and letting the forces be redirected to unlock the crane. Elongating the notch so it wouldn't hit the stop fixed the problem. If it was more than a ball and required manual unlocking it would do something. A few well placed strokes of the correct file would allow full extension of the ball, but why? Nice looking gun by the way.

Excellent point. They do not do this in the vast majority of their revolvers so I think it is more of a novelty than anything. It would be nice for the ball to sit in the groove but I'm the kind of guy that if it is not broke then do not touch it. It shoots fine and is accurate as I am which is not that accurate

I assume the reason why the barrel shroud is notched is for the tensioned barrel. All I can say is that any of you who do not own a PC Smith revolver, you need to get one.

James

sodacan · #8 10-03-2013, 02:11 AM

When buyers accept substandard quality and workmanship, it gives the manufacturer no reason to improve their product, and begets further degradation of quality. A canted barrel is totally unacceptable, and for what you paid for gun, you really have low expectations. The PC at S&W is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The older revolvers represent the pinnacle of gun making at S&W. Everything back then was built to high standards, and every gun made in the P&R era was better than the "stuff" that is made now, including the PC guns. The old guns were made without computer aided design and manufacturing processes and one would think that the digital age would bring even tighter tolerances and precision. Not so. Compare an old model 27 to your R8. It will be a real epiphany. Good luck.

Gunsnwater · #9 10-03-2013, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sodacan

When buyers accept substandard quality and workmanship, it gives the manufacturer no reason to improve their product, and begets further degradation of quality. A canted barrel is totally unacceptable, and for what you paid for gun, you really have low expectations. The PC at S&W is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The older revolvers represent the pinnacle of gun making at S&W. Everything back then was built to high standards, and every gun made in the P&R era was better than the "stuff" that is made now, including the PC guns. The old guns were made without computer aided design and manufacturing processes and one would think that the digital age would bring even tighter tolerances and precision. Not so. Compare an old model 27 to your R8. It will be a real epiphany. Good luck.

It's not canted. The more I think about it the more I think the way the ball fits the detent is correct as it would slightly push the crane closed. Two part barrels are never canted. The shroud is keyed and the barrel is torque to spec.

Gunsnwater · #10 10-03-2013, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaymoore

No practical way to adjust it without removing metal. The barrel shroud is keyed to the frame:

Jay how did you get the barrel off?

I sure could use one of them barrel wrenches

PA Guns & Ammo · #11 10-03-2013, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sodacan

When buyers accept substandard quality and workmanship, it gives the manufacturer no reason to improve their product, and begets further degradation of quality. A canted barrel is totally unacceptable, and for what you paid for gun, you really have low expectations. The PC at S&W is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. The older revolvers represent the pinnacle of gun making at S&W. Everything back then was built to high standards, and every gun made in the P&R era was better than the "stuff" that is made now, including the PC guns. The old guns were made without computer aided design and manufacturing processes and one would think that the digital age would bring even tighter tolerances and precision. Not so. Compare an old model 27 to your R8. It will be a real epiphany. Good luck.

This may be true to a certain extent but compare the amount of guns they sold back then to the amount they sell now. The demand is higher than it has ever been for this company and they do not have the time to build them like they used to and be price competitive. If you look at the picture of the top of the barrel, it is not canted. I asked to see if it was something I did not see since many here have more knowledge of Smith revolvers than I do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunsnwater

It's not canted. The more I think about it the more I think the way the ball fits the detent is correct as it would slightly push the crane closed. Two part barrels are never canted. The shroud is keyed and the barrel is torque to spec.

I never thought if it that way. Nice observation!

James

jaymoore · #12 10-04-2013, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunsnwater

Jay how did you get the barrel off?

I sure could use one of them barrel wrenches

I made one out of a nut.:

The aluminum plug was added after the fact. And should be done to prevent buggering up the barrel nut if (when) the wrench gets off square...

(Sorry, one was plenty. Too little time and too many other projects to do more!)

Gunsnwater · #13 10-04-2013, 05:53 PM

I see your gun has like a spanner at the end. I have a 64-8 with a two part barrel it uses a wrench that works off the rifling. Nice job making the tool.

sodacan · #14 10-04-2013, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunsnwater

It's not canted. The more I think about it the more I think the way the ball fits the detent is correct as it would slightly push the crane closed. Two part barrels are never canted. The shroud is keyed and the barrel is torque to spec.

I didn't say it was canted, you did. I'm glad for you that it isn't. My opinion remains, S&W's current production standards are not what they used to be, and the their gunsmiths are mostly lawyers and accountants. Enjoy that R8, but treat yourself to some range time with an old 19 or 27. Good luck.

PA Guns & Ammo · #15 10-04-2013, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaymoore

I made one out of a nut.:

The aluminum plug was added after the fact. And should be done to prevent buggering up the barrel nut if (when) the wrench gets off square...

(Sorry, one was plenty. Too little time and too many other projects to do more!)

How do you know what to torque the barrel to? Nice job on the nut but how come you did not use socket that is hardened instead of a nut? Just curious.

James

IceBlue91z28 · #16 10-05-2013, 09:19 AM

The ball detent is NOT intended to sit completely inside the "V" notch in the barrel. It is intended to hit on the side of the notch as shown in your picture in order to keep pressure on the yoke or "crane" towards the frame. If the ball was in the notch completely, the yoke would have more movement or play back and forth when locked up.
Nice revolver!

jaymoore · #17 10-05-2013, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srv1

How do you know what to torque the barrel to? Nice job on the nut but how come you did not use socket that is hardened instead of a nut? Just curious.

James

Those flanged nuts are harder than your usual hardware store nuts as they see a lot of R&R on tooling. It was handy and isn't apt to fracture. As far as torquing goes, well, don't go crazy! S&W doesn't use quite enough, sometimes...