Howdy,
I have a 642-1 I bought new 12 years ago. I had a round that did not go bang on Saturday. It had a light dent in the primer. I saved my brass for the rest of the day and 8 out of 29 shells had light hits on them, but they did go off. Do the Centennials have any known problem ares for such a problem?? I remember I sent it back to Smith & Wesson a number of years ago for the same thing and they replaced the hammer.

I was using reloads. I seat the primers until they bottom in the pocket. The problem casings have primers that appear flush with the bottom of the case, not unusually deep.

Should I take the plate off it and see if there is dirt, lint or such in it?? I am not too familiar with the goings on inside a revolver.

Thanks!!

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

Howdy,
I have a 642-1 I bought new 12 years ago. I had a round that did not go bang on Saturday. It had a light dent in the primer. I saved my brass for the rest of the day and 8 out of 29 shells had light hits on them, but they did go off. Do the Centennials have any known problem ares for such a problem?? I remember I sent it back to Smith & Wesson a number of years ago for the same thing and they replaced the hammer.

I was using reloads. I seat the primers until they bottom in the pocket. The problem casings have primers that appear flush with the bottom of the case, not unusually deep.

Should I take the plate off it and see if there is dirt, lint or such in it?? I am not too familiar with the goings on inside a revolver.

Thanks!!

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

Take the grips off and tighten down the strain screw a little bit. That's the screw in the front of the grip. When it backs out a little you will get light primer strikes.

You might want replace the screw, if you call S&W they will send you a new one for free.

I replaced my screw last year and haven't gotten around to putting red locktite on it so I check every time before I use it.

The primers should be noticeably below the bottom of the case. If you run your finger over a seated primer you should be able to feel it is below the bottom of the case. A primer that isn't seated all the way will not go off the first time, but will the second time since the first hammer fall seats it all the way.

Red loctite is more permanent and needs heat to remove a screw. Use the blue. It will hold well and is easy to remove the screw if needed.

OK, I took the grips off tonight. The main spring is a coil type and there is no strain screw.

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

On the primer topic: I seat the primer until it bottoms in the pocket. I keep the adjustment on my press set so it does not stop. I seat the primer until I feel it bottom out.

I do not see much gap between the surface of the primer and the bottom of the case head. I guess there is some gap. I saw a spec somewhere that said they should be .002 inch. I can't see that... A year ago I had a misfire or two where I could see a relatively large gap and I figured those misfired because the firing pin was approaching the end of it's travel.

This misfire comes up from time to time. Maybe it is my reloads. I have a hard time picturing what I am doing wrong.. like I said I seat the primer until it bottoms. It is somewhat concerning as this is my most oft carried piece.

BTW it looked pretty clean inside the grips when I had them off this evening.

Thanks for the replies!!

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

If I were having light hits on the primer, the first thing I would do is get a Cylinder & Slide long firing pin:

http://www.cylinder-slide.com/...g5g3m218z235123k4u86

They are easily installed (if you know how to remove the sideplate) and cost little. That may be all that you need.

Dale53

Thanks for the tip on the C&S firing pin.

The more I think about this, the more I suspect it may be my ammo. If it were a prob with the gun I would expect to see light marks all the time, not just 25% of the time. Maybe I messed up this batch of reloads.... I will have to burn them up soon and pay extra attention to seating the primer next run.

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

If you are using CCI primers, the cup is thicker and they are harder to set off. Just switching to Federals should solve the problem. Doesn't take much of a hit to launch.

__________________
- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Examine the end of the firing pin. Open the cylinder. Hold the cylinder release to the rear and cock the hammer (with cylinder open). Pull the trigger and release hammer but hold the trigger back. The firing pin will be protruded through the firing pin bushing. Take a look at it in good light with a magnifying glass. The end should look round and smooth or slightly cone shaped. It should not look broken off, burnt or cratered. Sometimes if you pierce a primer the end of the pin burns off.

Yeah I do use CCI primers in my reloads and I do know they are harder. However, I also use the the GoldDot short barrel ammo which I am sure uses CCI primers. Might be a good idea to reload my own with Federal primers.

__________________
Happyhunter loves the outdoors and is thankful God made it. Praise the Lord!!

As coil springs age, they can develop an affliction called "stacking" where the coils expand laterally and slip over each other which reduces spring force. Springs are so cheap, you should get a new one just for insurance. As stated above, this problem is usually caused by primers not being fully seated.

HUH? A 642-1 is still a J frame is it not? A J frame, if I humbly recall, does NOT have a strain screw as it does NOT have a flat mainspring. Instead, the J frame has a coil mainspring and there is no strain screw. Best not to give advice if you cannot follow the schematic diagram of the revolver!