I own a S&W 24-3 4" barrel revolver in 44 special. Have a couple things wrong with it that concern me. First off the lockup could be better. You don't get that snick when manually closing the cylinder that some of my other revolvers do. Second is that I have shiney spots on the breech end of the barrel. So at this point it's a safe bett the cylinder is hitting the barrel. And I feel the crane or yoke may be out of alignment most likely the cause of the shiney spot on the barrel.

And for my last question, does S&W still service these revolvers?.I mean they were made in the mid 80's so they are about 36 years 0ld.How do I find out if in fact that they still service these revolvers. Your help is appreciated. Thanks, Frank

Smith & Wesson revolvers have a lifetime guarantee. Send it in.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

NOOOOOO, don't send that M24-3 in to Smith and Wesson. If in fact it will chamber a .44Mag round in the cylinder then you will never, ever see if again... (mine is one that will chamber .44magnum rounds but I just keep .44Magnum and .44Special ammo separated so it's not a problem for me.) When Smith cut the chamber throats back in the 80's they cut them just a tad deep. It's caused zero issues on my M24-3 in regards to accuracy. But if it fails Smith's specs then they will deem it dangerous and keep it. You will get a new model with a hole in the frame. There are plenty of threads on Google if you search about this subject. Mine will never see Smith's doors, ever. Take it to a competent Revolver Smith is my advice. I've learned how to work on Revolvers (not as intimidating as they seem) a small partly because of this subject. Jerry Miculek's youtube video's are golden and you can buy all the drivers, wrenches, jigs', etc on-line from Brownell's and/or Amazon if you decide to deal with any problems yourself.

Magnum rounds fittng in the Special chambers of a 24-3? That came out of the blue.

Just tried that in my 24-3. Magnums don't fit. Serial number ABZ68XX.

Interesting. They do not return your revolver but you do get a new one for free?
I did some googling buit could not find this subject.

It's a thing... I'm not home or would prove it... Look at Google... Heck, I've posted pics here before but since have deleted my "old" Imgur account due to Regime changes and haven't transferred any pics yet. When I get home from this business trip, I'll post more pics.

Best regards,
Hams

It's not a positive thing... You don't want to go that route. At current you would lose a 2K+ gun for a sub $600 one... Garbage!

I bought my 4” 24-3 brand new when they came out in 1983. I never heard of magnums possibly fitting it so I just checked and it’s OK. I better check my six incher.

I copied this from another forum, please do your own research, but it appears a few of the 624 left the factory with the long chambers and were subject to a factory recall in years past.

The 624/629 recall was for S/N's within these ranges, shipped between January 1, 1985 and June 8, 1985:

ADXXXXX
AEXXXXX
AFXXXXX
AGXXXXX
AHXXXXX
ALVXXXX
N910000 thru N953000

There were only about 500 guns with the defective cylinders that were a result of a supplier shipping 11 stainless rods that were out of spec in the metallurgy.

The "Spec Ord" on the end label is the Julian date of the gun... the 318th day of 1985 or November 14th, 1985, which is after the period outlined in the recall.

Guns that went through the recall process should have a "C" enclosed in a circle stamped on the box end label in red ink.

624-629 recall Label.jpg

Of course... always confirm with S&W with a call.

I think two different tales are combined now.

On the forum you refered to no long chambers were mentioned.
Just the text about the stainless rods that were out of spec in the metallurgy.
That woyuld give cilinders in faulty metal quality.

Just clear things up..........The 24 NEVER chambered the .44 mag EVER.......The 624 spl , some cylinders were claimed to chamber the mag and had bad steel etc......You can send that 24 back and they can rebuild it for you if needed.

__________________
S&W Accumulator

That's cuz it didn't happen.................

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S&W Accumulator

I cant wait to get home...

I own two 24-3s and neither will chamber a magnum case.

I have had considerable issues with end shake on the one that’s been fired extensively. It’s been to the gunsmith on a couple of occasions, once when I noticed the center pin barely protruding from the extractor. It was so long ago I don’t recall what they said. By Another time for endshake.

When it developed endshake again, I installed Power shims which cured it, but still left me with a .011 BC gap.

I love this revolver, but it’s fragility has left me disappointed.

I should mention there have been no Elmer-class loads through this gun. Nothing over 25,000 PSI.

The 624 recall has been addressed in numerous previous threads. It is possible to chamber some 44 mag ammo in 44 Special chambers but that has more to do with the manufacturing of the ammo than the depth of the 44 Special chambers. Please see this previous post:

Model 624 recall

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Finally home... and unpacked... Pulled my favorite Revo/Handgun out of our Liberty Safe...

Pulled (6) Underwood 255 grain Hard Cast .44Magnum "Keith's" from a factory box, loaded her, and started taking pics (safely of course)...

Here are the results just as the last 4 times I've posted this problem and checked and performed pics just as before just as other members here have as well... I used a Different box from a different lot number as well from before just to be fair of my favorite brand of factory ammo...Underwood just well for diversity's sake...

Pick #1 Pic of the subject "firearm", the M24-3 Lew Horton Special (my baby) posted in random other recent and past post and the subject of this thread... She's an OEM M24-3 Lew Horton Special built in 1985, Serial # AEJ17XX AND pic #1


Pick #2 of Factory .44Magnum loads in 255 Grain and fully seated... they seat fully in the chambers...



Pick #3 another pic of fully seated .44Magnum 255gr pills from
Underwood...

Pic #4 to pic just to show full seat along with factory box of 255gr Underwood .44Magnum loads fully seated in my M24-3 Lew Horton Special...


Pic #5 pic of the fully closed cylinder face with same aforementioned 255 grain Hard Cast Keith's from the front-end...

They seat fully, cylinder closes fully, they rotate freely both DA/SA, and will most certainly fire from an M24-3... Nuff said! There is plenty of docs on Google on he subject and on AR15.com


ETA: I've read multiple examples across other boards/forums of guys not getting their M24's back from Smith because of cylinders that will chamber multiple brands/types of .44Magnum cartridges.

Underwood isn't the only brand of ammo I've been able to fit into this M24-3 Cylinder, close up, lock up, and freely rotate. The Underwood is 255 grain. 240 grain pills that are shorter have most certainly fit as well just as full Hard Cast Wads have as well. I'm sure 90% of those would fire fine from this particular Revo though I most CERTAINLY wouldn't suggest it due to the tapered barrel and I love this MF gun! So I shoot .44Special and even Hot .44Specials as well as she's my "Hiking" Revo in the Carolina Mountain's. When I go Kayak Fishing it's the M629-5 with Hot Specials or 305 grain Maggies. It's Stainless Finish is more weather resistant so that is the ticket for those applications as well as when I go running because it wipes sweat off easily as well...

IF anyone wants to send their M24-3 back into S&W for repairs then do so at your own risk is all I was warning against. I won't personally do it EvAR! For one I know how to work on "J"s and "N" frames proficiently. Simply Search thru multiple search engines as Horror threads are still out there upon the aforementioned subject. I don't care to get involved in this subject anymore and was just trying to save someone a mistake by learning from others. Of course YMMV... I love my M24-3 as it was a 3-4 year search for a LHS version and is my reiterated favorite Handgun.

ETA: Another couple pics that I forgot to post with the 255gr Underwood .44Magnum loads in the lovely M24-3 LHS...



Be safe and God Bless.

-Hams

Got to admit this peaked my curiosity so i pulled my 24-3 out and gave it a try. I found that factory 44 mag would not chamber but my heavy 250 Keith 44 mag handloads with a heavy crimp would, though the OAL was longer than the cylinder . Have to be more careful with lighter 44 mag reloads from now on that have a shorter OAL.

Try loading a fully loaded/complete pill in her...


I've ran the gauntlet from 190 grain soft cast HP's from Underwood, to 200 grain Gold Dot's and up to Hot and heavy "Keith's" rated at almost 1,100fps thru mine without any problems as she's nice and tight as the day I picked her up. 250-260 grain Keith style pills at 1,075FPS are the hottest I'd ever shoot and are close to the upper limits of Elmer's well documented/established threshold; though I know he ran them 100fps hotter even. The M24-3 with heavy Specials will do just about anything I want her to do.

If I need anything more then I'll use my M629-5 with Prvi's or Underwood's 305gr loads that push a hair more than 1,250fps from my 3" barrel. Which is a heck of a hard hitting load.

Anything more and I'll run those same loads thru my 18.5" Ruger M44 Semi-Auto Carbine which is the hardest hitting Carbine I've ran to date. They push almost 1,800fps and still divot my 1/2" AR-500 Plate even @ 125 yards...

They are the "Fat-Pops" below left center and yes, they certainly are divots from that 305gr Underwood Hard Cast Loading...

That is "Smith's" beef and why you might not ever see it again should you send her back to them. Any "Heavy" load should and has to have a nice crimp so as to not walk out under recoil the subsequent loads in a chamber. I was warned by Tim Sundles personally (in several emails), the owner of Buffalo Bore about needing "Heavy Crimps" in .45Super almost 10 years ago where he specifically recommended me to run .45Auto-Rim's in my them M625 instead of .45Super's as my "Wood's Rig"... before building my Springfield Armory 1911 5" Gov't Model "Loaded" into our "Dedicated-Woods-Sidearm"...

Tim said that without a heavy crimp with the .45Super's; (even from his company) would likely sometimes cause a cylinder to lock up due to unfired pills unseating from recoil especially if they were unloaded from a cylinder that maybe shot a couple previous pills, unloaded, then subsequently unfired but previously loaded pills were then put into a chamber again, carried and shot.... Guess what, he was right! I switched from the M625. I fully dedicated and built out my 1911 and "Fully-Dedicated" it along with (5) fully dedicated and marked 8 and 10 shot magazines into full-time .45Supers, completely. Ran her for 5 years with no problems and sold the M625 to my lil' brother.

Point being, all and any Heavy .44Special and .44Magnum loads, (any heavy revolver loads) need a "Heavy-Crimp" to avoid the aforementioned problems of bullet unseating under recoil. Thus, heavily crimped loads "as required" Will-Still fit in my M24-3 (and other's M-24-3's) and is the point of my posts and pics. It's NOT a problem as long as you don't shoot .44Special and .44Magnums side by side between an M24 and an M29's side by side or their Stainless Counterparts...

Just don't go sending any Vintage "High-Ball" and "Minty"
M24-3's... especially of the 3" Lew Horton Special babies that are going for sub $3,000 dollars these days to Smith & Wesson for factory repairs because they will be in an Executive's, or a shop foreman's, or another factory worker's collection... as opposed to yours; and you very well could be receiving a newer "Upgraded" version that many of us would see as a "Down-grade"... Over and Out, hope this helps, Bada-Bing...

ETA: I'll take anyone's M24-3 "Problem Revolver" and replace it with a new model of your choice with the proper "frame-hole" if anyone would like to take me up on that offer... Just PM me and the proper account number of choice and it will be a done deal if you send me your defective M24-3...

-Hams

I mentioned that this was a 4" barrel on my 24-3, and you did your ammo fit tests with the 3" barreled one. Which I also have. And as I recall the recall was for the 624 which I also have and does have the red letter "C" on the box. The only 44 magnum I have is a Ruger Redhawk And that hasn't been fired since I bought my 44 special chambered revolvers. Thanks for your info, Frank

Well....you can't argue with actual visual proof. Now I gotta go check my M24-3 Lew Horton and see if it will chamber any of the 44MAG rounds I have.

Agreed. It's clearly proven that it is possible to get magnums into some of them.
Like mentioned most probably that was the issue of the recall and the bad steel the excuse. If it became known that magnums would fit people were happy with the extra option. Instead they tried to alarm people that their revolver could possibly fail.
But most probably S&W was afraid of just that otherwise they would not had to do anything.

So, what does the tapered barrel have to do with it?

Kevin

__________________
Unshared knowledge is wasted.

These are 1 piece barrels... In all my other 3" .44's they have the beefy "bull-barrel"... Smith obviously gave the .44Magnum M29-3 counterpart more beef because they thought it needed just that, more beef!

You are welcome... As to barrel length of an M24-3 whether 3" or 4" shouldn't matter... They came with the same cylinder dimensions theoretically. The only difference would be the timing of the manufacture and when they changed just how deep they cut the chambers before Smith changed the depth/cut...

I think the issue is over-blown no pun intended in all reality.

Where issues became "Stupit" was when I read that "Smith" was keeping sent in M24-3 models that failed their safety specs/standards and supposedly destroying these unsafe M24-3's for "safety's sake" and then Smith offering/sending new replacement models claimed to be comparable with with MIM hammers and like parts, 2 piece barrels, "special holes/locks" in the frame just for "Safety's-Sake" and such without even giving the owner a choice between the two... which is hypocritical, stupid, & disgusting in it's own regards...

There is some "Crow-Eatin'" going on tonight somewhere's isn't there? I hear Heinz 57 makes that dish more palatable but it's been a while so I'd go with what I know, A1 steak-sauce personally... Not directed at you Tytan01...

They gave SOME Model 29s a heavier barrel because the used the Model 1950 for the platform. They have also made Model 29s and Model 629s with tapered barrels. The pressure is contained by the cylinder, the barrel transports the bullet towards the target.

Kevin

__________________
Unshared knowledge is wasted.

So I am definitely a .44 Special fan. I have a 624 4” with a AHC 34XX serial number and a special order #6057.

Seems like mine is after the recall? I have the original box and it does not have the red “C”

I have shot it several hundred factory rounds over the years...with never a problem.

__________________
MSG US Army

Happy to report that my 24-3 Lew Horton does not allow any of the 44MAG I shoot to be loaded in it.

So that's a "load" of my mind.

I don't have any hand-loads so I can't check for that but none of the factory stuff fits.

After reading these posts, I checked my 624 4” and it will chamber a heavily crimped .44 Mag. I have the original box and it is marked with the red circle “C”. Also worth noting, my 696 no dash will accept several types of .44 Mags but not an empty .44 mag case. And a final observation, my 24-3’s (4” & 6”) will not accept any style .44 Mag. I’d be curious how many .44 Spl’s are out there that will accept a .44 Mag - I’m 2 out of 4.

While not doubtin' you... I have yet to see any tapered .44Maggie barrels from the 80's or afterwards for when the "Silhouette Boys" started putting heavier and hotter hand loads for drilling "Sils" at 100 yards. That is where and when I was thinking the "Bully" started to be installed; past the 240 grain medium sauce pills/loads were being surpassed with heavier, higher pressured "Full-House-Loads" started being used thus Smith covering all bases. Maybe I should have said that. I'll reiterate, you don't want to push a 305grain pill from a tapered barrel rolling 1,300fps and Smith didn't/doesn't either. I've put many, many of those from a 3" non-tapered barrel safely. YMMV...

It's that heavy crimp that makes the difference in being able to load and fire. In all honesty, it might just be fine either way. Heck, Elmer did it and I've shot some hella nasty "stuff" outta my M24-3 before I got a helpful message from a nice board member here. I wished I remembered his name, nice guy, very knowledgeable... But I don't, before I stopped shooting 250, 255, and 260 grain Heavy and Hot, Heavy Crimped pills out of both my M24-3 and M29-3 Lew Horton Specials. Never shot a .44Mag stamped case out of the M24-3 but the recoil from heavy/hot heavy crimped, similar weighted "Keith" style pills from both "Boutique" and my little brother... The recoil and how hard the pills popped the steel was uncannily similar in both feel, sound, and steel push/movement.

Time flys well over a decade+ ago my LGS had a s&w m24-? 44 special 6 1/2” barrel mim/ loc in nickel finish nib. You guys are saying some of these can chamber and shoot 44 mag? Is it safe to shoot 44 mag out of it? I wasn’t looking for a m24 but the nickel spoke to me.

This m24 was my last s&w purchase when prostate cancer took its turn. My life has been on hold. There’s a big gap as to when I purchased the m24-? reloaded 44 special. I been hoping to get a nib m29-10 6.5” in nickel someday.

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Plant garlic in the fall

Back then I purchased 44 cal 270gr & 300gr SP & JHP bullets.

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Plant garlic in the fall

No comment about that specific question.

The 44S&W Special Hand Ejector was used by a group of fellows known as the “44 Associates” (iirc) to develop some very impressive handloads. A couple of them went above and beyond to the point they attracted the attention of S&W management. There work in developing handloads lead to the introduction of the 44 Remington Magnum in 1955. So, you should be able to use some of their recipes if you feel you need more than factory offerings.

Glad to hear you are back on track and healthy again. Cancer can be a bitch.

Kevin

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Unshared knowledge is wasted.

All of the N frame Mountain Guns used the tapered barrels. They were all newer production.


Not sure what a “Bully” barrel is but the heavy barrel was the barrel used on the 44 Remington Magnum from 1955 and on.

Kevin

__________________
Unshared knowledge is wasted.

No sir, I certainly do NOT recommend pushing .44Magnum thru an M24 no matter the barrel type or cylinder being able to chamber heavy crimped .44Magnum just to be clear. I was just saying that some will chamber .44Magnum and to be careful if/when shooting an M29-3 alongside an M24-3; and not to send any M24-3 to Smith & Wesson because if it fails their cylinder check you will not get it back. I've read 8-10 accounts of this in the past.

However, I'd love to see some pics of your M24 6.5 inch Nickel finished Revo though. I've never seen a Nickel M24 but I bet she's a pretty one. I have a Nickel 1977' made M36 .38Special Snub that has seen more street/pocket carry in years past/recent without a show of wear or scratch on her. The Nickel is just so durable I love it!

I forgot about the Mountain Gun Series even though I searched for 2 years for one with no such luck. However "Smith" used the barrel thickness on the M24 I seem to remember as the reason for not returning some M24's back to their original/rightful owners... that and along with the ability to chamber/shoot .44Magnum cartridges so that is why I brought the tapered barreled comment up. I actually like a 3" tapered 3/4" under-lugged M24-3 balance, pointability, and feel over it's bigger brother'd M29-3 with the full sized non-tapered barrel, with 3/4" under-lugged barrel for aforementioned reasons as I own/shoot both models a lot.

A "Bully" barrel is slang nomenclature for a full sized thick barrel with no taper in size from the frame end to the muzzle.

I enjoy both tapered and full sized barrels with either 3/4 length or full length underlugs on the large caliber models... with a proclivity for the tapered version a little more. For the medium caliber models such as .38Special's in J frame no underlug is a nice feel and look to them personally.

Edited for extra commentary and syntax: