A friend of mine told me that some time ago another shooter let him try out his reloads (357 magnum revolver) which he did, after one shot which was huge found that it bulged the cylinder on one chamber and pushed the firing pin bushing back into the frame. He was able to get another cylinder (second hand which was fine) but the bushing needed some work which he found some one who was able to fix it, I do not know who or how.
As he has only used his own reloads since which are target loads not high velocity, he has found that the bushing has been pushed back again over a period of time with the low loads. Is there any way it can be fixed or does it need a pistol smith who knows what they are doing to repair it?
This is in Australia and a good pistol smith is a bit hard to find. How could this bushing be fixed?
Any ideas I can pass onto my friend. I don't know which model revolver he has.
Marke

Send it to Springfield, MA and have it repaired correctly or a S&W warranty station overseas.

Bruce

That must have been one "HUGE" load. Sorry to say this I would expect that S&W would tell you your frame has been compromised and they will not return an unsafe firearm. Yeah they will do that with damaged frames. They also won't warranty a revolver that was obviously subjected to an overcharged reload.

Taking note about the potential for your frame failing at some point I would expect that your ONLY option is to find a Machinist/Machine Shop who can fabricate a properly hardened firing pin bushing that fits the bushing recess properly. Meaning you need a longer firing pin bushing and that will require custom fabrication. BTW, here in the USA this type of work falls under the firearms fabrication section of the ATF rules and as a result here in the US we would have to find an FFL Licensed Maching shop. If Australia has similar laws you may have a difficult time finding a machine shop willing to do this work. However a custom gun manufacturer or exceptionally trained and equipped Gunsmith may do this. However I sort of suspect that it may cost as much as a brand new revolver.

How do we get from the point where Smith & Wesson won't repair or return the gun because the frame has been compromised to finding a machinist to fabricate a part for the gun's repair, even noting that the frame may fail safely?

Bruce

yes I thought so that to get the gun working right it would have to go to a pistol smith machine shop to get fixed. I think that your right (scooter123) in saying that it would cost as much as a new gun to repair.
I will pass on the information onto my friend with the news.
Thanks for all your help.

As an Engineer who has actually designed some Cold Heading Dies I am well aware of the force needed to pound a recess for something like a firing pin bushing deeper into the frame. However I do not know the exact alloy used for this revolver frame or the exact distribution of the force lines during this event. It's something that would require a truly accurate #D computer model and modeling software capable of using Finite Element Analysis to calculate the force distributions. So I cannot say with certainty that this frame has been compromised, only that the potential exists. S&W won't care about being accurate, their only concern will be potential liability, so they will automatically state the frame is unsafe for use after determining what happened to the recess for the firing pin bushing.

Basically my statement was intended to point out the potential for a frame failure and hope that the OP will pass this along and someone will be doing some checking for stress crack using a standard stereo microscope. Because that is the approach I would take if this were my revolver. Steel is a rather unique alloy and in many ways stronger that folks give it credit for because it is so common. As a result it can actually be more "forgiving" to abuse that many would suspect. Basically IMO it's probably 50-50 that there may be some cracking but that is just a guess, so a good close look is in order before throwing this firearm in the trash.

And Yes Engineers do Guess at times. We don't like making guesses but there are times when timing, budgets, and schedules just don't permit the approach NASA uses so sometimes we just have to "wing it" and be conservative about doing it. As a result there are times when we do make a mistake. However the difference between a Hack and a Good Engineer is that a Good Engineer learns from every single mistake and uses that additional knowledge to improve his future designs.

Not hardly! Based on the fact that I've had guns repaired by Smith & Wesson which had bulged cylinders and hammer nose bushing pushed back into the frame to the point the primers would extrude back into the bushing's recess and lock up the gun; I can state with certainty that they will not automatically deem the frame as damaged beyond repair. It is true that Smith & Wesson will not return a gun to a customer which they feel is unsafe and the reason for that is a liability exposure for them. Having said that, I cannot envision a business model which allows for them to unilaterally label a firearm unsafe and confiscate it without a valid reason (irrational fear of liability is not a valid reason) and this is borne out by my previous experiences with them. Replacing damaged cylinders and set back hammer nose bushings, both of which are caused by overpressure ammunition, are not uncommon repairs for 'Smith and I haven't heard numerous complaints about commandeered guns here or on any other forum. In my experience, beefs of this nature show up here pretty quickly.

Bruce

Bruce, I was not aware of S&W's past history in regards to this problem and appreciate your pointing it out. Kind of supports my hunch that the frame in this case hasn't been compromised.

Unfortunately the person who originated this thread lives in Australia so a return of his revolver back to the factory probably isn't feasible.

Smith & Wesson warranty service stations in Australia:

International

AUSTRALIA

GRYCOL INTNL PTY LTD.
344 BOTANY ROAD
2015 ALEXANDRIA
N.S.W., AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61-2-9698-8725
Fax: 61-2-9319-0732
AUSTRALIA

GRYCOL INTNL PTY LTD.
30 EDGAR STREET
BOWEN HILLS
QUEENSLAND 4006, AUSTRALIA
Phone: 61-7-3252-8212
Fax: 61-7-3252-1515

These came directly from Smith & Wesson's website. They should be able to perform most any repair that the factory can. They are supposed to be supplied with all special factory tools and at one time that included specially shaped buffing wheels required to refinish brushed stainless steel guns.

Bruce