Hi guys, I have a .460 xvr 8.38". I bought it brand new last year at Cabela's. Anyways, all last year it fired perfectly. Then this spring, was firing it, with some of my .45 colt handloads. And the first time, it happened it went click. After I waited awhile, I spun the cylinder back, and tried to refire the round. This time, it fired. Then a couple of days ago, I was shooting off the bench with more of my .45 colt handloads. Click, would not fire. I checked the primmer on it, it was barely dented. So spun the cylinder back, to try to refire it. Click. Anyways, my brother (Known on here as S&W Magnum) came out side with his .460 NRA edition, put the round in and it fired first try. So far this has only happened twice. On only two rounds. Most of the times it strikes the primmer fine. But when it does not fire, the primmer is barely struck. Has any one else had this happen to there .460s? Wondering what you guys think about this. I am going to send it in to S&W before deer hunting season here in Maine.

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Many possibilities.....I would guess a problem (or damage) with the firing pin, f. pin spring, or the bushing, or debris inside the firing pin cavity. I would check the OAL of the firing pin as well.

Rear gauge, or "headspace" would also be something to check.

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Pull the grips and check the main spring screw-it should be tight.
This is not all that uncommon with the 460 to have these loosen and back out.


be safe and good
Ruggy

And if I am not mistaken, the rim on a 45 Colt case is thinner than that of the 460 case (more headspace and more of a distance the rim has to travel when the firing pin begins to contact it driving it forward to the cylinder) which would thus further complicate your issue whatever it may be.

Could the infamous frame mounted key lock be adrift and dragging on something?

Please don't try to blame this on the lock. The lock keeps the trigger from being operated- nothing more- it is locked or unlocked.

be safe
Ruggy

So is this some thing I can try to tighten up my self? Or should I just send it in to S&W? I mean the gun is only a 1/2 of a year to a year old. So, after I take the grips off, what am I looking for main spring screw? I have had the grips off once before. I really did not use it last hunting season much. It has not had much rounds fired though it. Oh, it has yet to fire a .460 round. But has done it twice on the .45 colts.

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Ok, I will check out the firing pin area for debris. Take a few pictures, and put it up on here. How do I check the pin spring? Take the side cover off? I have taken this cover off before. Btw, I wanted to add to you guys also, mine is easier to pull the hammer back, vs my brothers. His is a fair amount harder to pull the hammer back. You can feel there is a difference.

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The strain screw is located at the front of the grip frame, under the grip. It goes through the grip frame and pushes on a flat blade/leaf spring, i.e. the main spring. This screw should be tight. All the tools you need to check if it's tight is a flathead screwdriver.

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S&W J/K/L/N/X

^^^That right there makes a loose strain screw a strong possibility^^^

Remove the grip and make sure the screw is tight as DT75 stated. Less than 5 minute job, one tool required.

See this cutaway picture for strain screw identification and location. This diagram applies to all of your modern era S&W's except J-frames.

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I'm going to look at this from a different perspective. Check your handloads and make sure you are seating the primer deep enough. If the primer is high, the energy from the firing pin will be absorbed by the primer as it is pushed deeper into the primer pocket. That also causes a more shallow indentation which can appear as if the firing pin is too short. The reason it fires on the second pull is that it has now been seated by the previous impact. Check your reloads with a straight edge. The primer should be seated at least flush with the head. Ideally, it should be a couple of thousands below flush. My take is that this is an ammo problem.

I bought a 29-10 used that misfired continually . I went on youtube and watched a video on how to remove the frame mounted firing pin . I found carbon build up in the well where the firing pin goes and on the shoulder of the pin itself . After a thorough cleaning of both I reassembled it , the problem went away . It's an easy fix , only special tools to remove the firing pin is a pair of tweezers to remove the cross pin and a tooth pick to remove the hair spring inside the well . Hope this helps , good luck .

I checked it, it was tight.

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It might be, but I personally check every round, to make sure they are flush, or seated a little below. But you do make a good point, lol. And it might be my loads.

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I get what you are saying, it is just my gun is pretty new. Not that many rounds fired though it. Maybe 35 rounds of the .460 ammo, that is about it. Just did not expect this on a new S&W handgun. I am sure, if I can not find out what the problem is, or if it keeps doing this, I can send it in to S&W and they can hopefully fix it.

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Here is some pictures I took. The screw is tight. And there is no stuff in by the hammer, restricting that. Like one guy said, it could be my handloads. But I make sure the primers are seated flush, or a little below.

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Good that you checked the strain screw, now we know that is not the issue.

Moving on from there, primer seating would be the next thing to test for. Have you tried any factory 45 Colt rounds yet?? If not, I would grab a box and see if the issue persists. If the factory rounds all fire reliably, then I would be suspect of your priming as cmj8591 suggested above. Are you being sure to clean your primer pockets? That sooty residue can give you a false indication that your primers are seated and I would surmise that it could cause your issue.

About the only other possible mechanical issues with your revolver I can think of would be strain screw too short (which I feel to be unlikely), weak/damaged main spring, again I don't think it would be likely... I suppose excessive endshake might cause light strikes, but even that might be far fetched due to the sheer mass of the 460 cylinder...

All of that said, I believe your next most logical step would be to test your ammo against factory ammo. If factory ammo exhibits the issue, you might need to send her back to the mother ship for diagnosis.

BTW : I sent my 29-10 in at first . They asked if I shot handholds and I replied yes , have been for years . It came back with a note saying to only shoot factory loads and it was not fixed . That is when I decided to fix it myself .
You could have some sludge from a lubricant in the firing pin well . It only takes a thousandths or two of crud / sludge dried up oil to cause a problem . I would recommend removing the firing pin , use a cotton swap with the tip soaked in Kroil (or something like it ) and clean the well . I also would use a piece of either " Chore Boy " ( pure copper scouring pad ) or a piece of 4/0 steel wool , a drop of Kroil , or even just kerosene and lighty polish clean the firing pin , esp on the shoulder area . It's an easy thing to check before I sent it in . It was shooting just fine before and now it isn't . I believe some oil got into the firing pin from one of your cleanings and it has sludged up in the firing pin well . Remember it only takes a tiny bit to cause misfires . Good Luck

First strike - click , second strike - bang , this is the classic symptom of primers not being seated all the way into the bottom of the pocket.
Notice how it happened with "my reloads".
First hit fully seats the primer , second hit ...now it fires.
Go back an re -seat each primer and make sure they bottom out in the pocket. This is the reason I use a hand held priming tool , I want to feel that primer hit bottom and give it a little more pressure just to make sure it has hit bottom solidly .
Do it this way and you won't have that pesky ...CLICK....did you flinch ? It un-nerves me when it happens.
Check the primers before you go doing too much work on the gun, fix might be an easy one. And some primers are harder than others, change brands lately ?
Gary

Good advice there... I use a hand primer as well and like to for that reason.

One word of caution: If you find that your loads have high primers, do not go back and try to re seat the primer on a loaded round. The correct fix would be to pull the bullet and start over. Trying to re seat a primer on a loaded round is very dangerous.

When I reloaded my .45 colt rounds, I cleaned the primmer pocket on all the rounds I reloaded. As they where very sooty. And for the primmer seating, I am using the press way. So I go until I feel the primmer has been seated, the go a little father. And to be honest, they all are pretty good. I check every one I do. And my brother has yet to have a .45 colt round not fire from his NRA .460. As for the factory loads, I bought about 3-50rd lead 200 grain colt loads. I fired all those last year. And now I am reloading them, with copper bullets. The brass is starline brass. It could be a weak spring. Again, my brothers is fair amount harder to pull the hammer back. His is just a little harder.

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Btw, guy. I do have a hand primmer tool. I just need the .45 cal thing that holds the casing. It is set up for .270 win right now. So far it has yet to not fire a factory load. So makes me think maybe the primmers are not seated as good as they should have been. I mean only 2 have not fired out of 25 or more. And that one time, I tried to fire the round that I already fired, and it would not fire. Had to have my brother come out, and first try, he shot it no problem. My brother is shooting all of my handloads to, and they all fire great from his gun. Makes me think my gun has a weak spring, or maybe the hammer is not up to spec. If it keeps it up, and my brother keeps firing good, then it is going to get sent to S&W. Hopefully they will find the problem. I will try to let you guys know what is going on with it down the road. When I find out more about it. Thanks for your help guys!!!

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Hi 460-Sorry you are having trouble with your XVR as its really a Great

Gun..l have a PC version l shoot now and then..A real RUSH lighting off

a couple of those 200gr Hornadys. If the bullet won't get your deer, then

the muzzle blast Will!!

Your primer problem may be a weak main spring..That's the one you

tightened under the grips.. There's an old simple trick you may be able

to cure yourself in about 3 minutes without having to send the thing back

or damaging the gun.. Take a spent Large Pistol Primer and put it between

The base of the strain screw and main spring.. Remove the trash and anvil

From inside the primer cup first..The spent primer acts as a shim to put

more tension on the main spring.. The increased spring tension will make

The hammer/firing pin hit the primer HARDER.. Hopefully you will hear a BOOM and

NOT a click..

Awesome!! I will have to give that a try. The thing is coming up soon, I have like a month of being out in the woods, looking for moose antlers. So I am going to be carrying this gun with me, for bear protection, as the bears are coming out of hibernation. There has been some close calls with bear before. What model PC do you have? I really do love this gun, it is just this problem I seem to be having. So if the shim does work, should I still send it in to S&W to get a new spring put on it? Or just use the shim? Thanks so much SW282!!

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BAMBAM 460 PC Goes Hunting

460-Tis is my PC.. l just love it.. Lest you think the 460 is a bit light. Pls
check post #19. Then follow the link to Wyogoobs' thread of him killing a
Buffalo with his last year

Nice gun!! You have the 10.5" PC. I was thinking about that model before I went with my 8,38". For me I wanted to carry mine on a hip holster, with a fairly long barrel. I tried and tried, and could not find any thing about the 10.5" barrel fitting in any types of hip holsters. So that is what made me go with mine. I do love the 10.5 inch though. Then new for this year, is the 7.5" PC, makes me wish I had waited, haha. I think down the road if I was to get a .500 S&W it would be the 7.5" PC. I fired two more of my .45 colt rounds today at a squirrel, and did not have any problems. But like I said I only shot two rounds. On the plus side though, I got the Squirrel!!!! First shot kind of wounded him, but the second shot got him.

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I am going have to get more bullets for the .45 colt rounds. And do a lot more shooting over the summer.

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