Hi Folks,

I found a beautiful looking M19-5 last weekend.

Took it to the range yesterday for my first shots. I brought 200 rounds of Armscor range ammo. The 4 boxes of ammo were out of a 1000 round case. I had already shot 5 boxes with my M60-16 and M28-2 with no issues.

Out of the 200 rounds I had 3 clicks and no bang.

1st one was after about 40 rounds. I kept pulling the trigger and the round fired after the second trip under the firing pin.

2nd one was after around 120 rounds and did the same as above and the round fired .

3rd one was about on the 4th box of ammo. This time I stopped and opened the cylinder to look at the round. It had what I call a decent dimple. Not as deep as the fired rounds that also have the slight bulge around the pin dimple from pressure.

With the trigger pulled and the hammer down, it protrudes normally thru the frame.

I didn't have any other ammo to see if it was just cheap Armscor or a gun issue.

Never heard of a S&W hammer mounted firing pin revolver having a misfire.

Other than the misfires the gun shoots great. Accurate, good lock up, good gap, smooth feeling trigger and looks like very few rounds ever fired in it.

I am going to give it a good bath inside and out. I'll go to the range next week with a few different brands of ammo to try and see where the issue is. Gun or ammo or hopefully, All Gone.

Any other folks out there with an older S&W that has the hammer mounted firing pin with sporadic misfires?

Larry
“If it wasn’t for the cops, we’d be living in the wild wild west in our neighborhoods."
Charles Barkley

I don't know if that ammo has particularly hard primers. Did you check to see if the mainspring is stock or aftermarket and is the strain screw unmodified and screwed in tightly?

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Tony

It sounds like an ammo problem to me. I've had this happen, albeit infrequently, at the range using various kinds of range ammo. Try it with self defense rounds and see if the same thing happens.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

The screw is tight and the spring looks like it is stock. And the hammer seems to have good tension and it seems to fly forward.

This is my first K Frame. In my 40+ years with my N frames and many thousands of rounds shot, this is my very first "Click" with a S&W. I was shocked to say the least. I am hoping it is just the ammo.

I would tend to blame the cheapo, SE Asian ammo. I won't touch that ****.

Pull 'er, clean and inspect, reassemble and make sure the strain screw seats well.

Any endshake? Headspace in spec? Firing pin protrusion to proper depth? Signs of shadetree gunsmithing? Do you happen to have weights to measure mainspring tension?

I've never had a problem with Armscor ammo; it's inexpensive but not poor quality.

If after cleaning and inspection the revolver appears in order and to spec, test fire again. If the problem persists, I'd replace the strain screw with a new one and retest; if you still get misfires, send 'er to S&W or qualified revolversmith.

One thing ammunition related which can cause this is primer seating depth...

If the primer isn't fully seated during the manufacturing process, the first firing pin strike may not ignite the primer. Instead it finishes the seating of the primer in the case. During the second attempt at firing the primer is now fully seated. It has resistance to forward movement and the firing pin is able to ignite it. This is especially true with hard primers.

I'm not saying this is the problem, however I would try another type of ammo to see if the problem persists.

Edmo

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TRUTH: Don't delete my posts!

I have a 19-5 I bought new. Try a different ammo. If it still does the same thing install a new spring. They are spring steel - u cant re bend them. Problem solved. When you have a misfire the primer strike is less because when it goes off the bullet recoils into the firing pin & makes it deeper. If it goes of on the second try it is not the ammo. The hammer needs to fall harder. Easy fix. Hope you didn't give more than $216 for it.

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One thing you want to do is the Dime Test. So, what is the Dime Test? It's a method to determine if the firing pin projects far enough through the firing pin bushing. What you do is open the cylinder, pull the cylinder release to the rear to allow the hammer to move fully, then cycle the hammer so that it is in the fully fallen position with the trigger held to the rear. Then use a Dime to compare how far the firing pin protudes through the firing pin bushing. If it pretty much lines up with the full thickness of a Dime your pistol passes the Dime Test. If the protusion is short of the full thickness of a Dime you may have a firing pin that is too short for reliable ignition.

BTW, I've recently had to correct a 1971 vintage 19-3 that failed the Dime Test by about 0.02 inch. This particular revolver was 100% reliable with CCI #500 standard pressure primers but with CCI #550 Magnum primers it misfired in Double Action about 1 in 6 times for the first strike of the hammer. Second time around nearly 100% of the misfires would light off but there were a few that would only fire in Single Action. BTW, the total length of the hammer fall is longer in Single Action than Double Action so misfire issues are most problematic in Double Action shooting.

My solution for the short firing pin in my 19-3 was to purchase a Power Custom extended Hammer Nose from Brownells. Note, the Brownells web page indicates this spring style hammer nose is intended for use with post 1988 hammers. The good news for me is that it dropped into place on my 1971 vintage hammer without needing any fitting at all. BTW, a sheet with excellent instructions on installation and fitting is included with the hammer nose kit. More good news is that my 19-3 is now 100% reliable with the DA trigger pull set to 8 lbs. 8 ounces when before it was misfiring with a shimmed strain screw producing a 10lbs. 4 ounce DA pull. I'll also note my 19-3 was nearly unfired when I purchased it a month ago, so that "short" hammer nose was a Bangor Punta mistake.

Link to the Brownells Web page for the Power Custom Hammer nose kits.

HAMMER NOSE KITS FOR S&W | Brownells

PS; I have since corrected that nearly unfired status for my 19-3. It is currently my favorite handgun to shoot and even at 50 yards I've been able to surprise myself by actually keeping my hits at 50 yards within the 7 ring on an NRA 25 yard rapid fire target. So, whats the big deal about scoring a 12 inch group at 50 yards? Try it sometime on a 50 yard indoor range that is rather dimly lit with 60 year old eyes and a 2 1/2 inch barrel and you'll understand why I am so pleased with myself.