I have a Model 35-1 rimfire revolver produced in about 1969. After about 5 or 6 cylinders of CCI high velocity ammo, the empty cartridges start to bind in the cylinders making ejection difficult and the fresh cartridges start to become difficult to seat. The cylinder bores are very smooth and the gun has not been fired much. My guess is it has always been this way. Anyone have a recommended remedy for this? Thanks.

The S and W .22's are known for tight chambers. After several rounds it is common to experience sticking empties and new rounds that need some thumb pressure to fully chamber. It is recommended to bring a bore brush to the range and maybe some solvent and patches and clean out the cylinder every so often. Don't worry about the bore til you get home. Try different ammo also. Just be comfortable in the fact that you have a well built, close tolerence gun. My K22 Masterpiece does the same thing....boy does it shoot well...it is one of my favorites. Good luck

Cap

6mm Bronze bore brush and a short pistol rod. 2-3 passes through the charge holes wen it starts getting sticky.

Your 35 should be very accurate in return for the tight chambers. What size groups are you getting off bags with ammo your 35 likes?
If it's not accurate, and you want to keep it, only then send it back to S&W. But call them first to make sure it would be free of charge.

It is exceptionally accurate I think. I have never measured a group, but I know I can shoot the 1" center out of a bullseye pretty quickly at 15' on a rest. I guess I will leave it alone and be happy. Thank you for the feedback.

So, if you would hone/ream the chambers, the accuracy would go away.
Do as the others recommend and carry a bronze brush to the range.

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I had the identical problem with My Model 34. If the other suggestions mentioned above fail to work, try the one below which worked for me.
It's from the Ruger.net forum, posted some time ago by a real authority.

"First, do a close inspection of the chambers and look for machine marks that almost resemble threads. When a round is fired, the case swells up and literally locks into the chamber's "threads". If you see "threads" try some 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper rolled up on a rod. Instead of a rotary motion, go in and out like ... well you know. This will remove some of the "tread effect" without enlarging the chamber too much and will help extraction. Do all 6 holes and make them as uniform as possible but don't over do it.

Second ... The wall of a 22 case should be straight .. no taper at all. If the chamber is also "straight" and smooth, the cases will extract just fine. The following condition is not repairable without installing a new cylinder (if bad enough). It is a condition caused by the reamers being worn when the chamber was made. If the chamber has a reverse taper where the chamber diameter is larger at the case mouth than in the middle, there's no way a case will eject easily. When a round is fired, the mouth of the case is allowed to expand more than the middle of the case, thus hard extraction. If you reamed the chambers to make them straight, they would end up being way oversized. A careful inspection of your spent brass will confirm this condition. Next time you go to the range, save several of the spent cases that ejected hard. Use a precision caliper to measure the OD of the cases. They should be the same diameter from rim to mouth. If the mouth is slightly larger than the body, you found the problem (even if the mouth is only .0005" larger).

Another issue is oil .... chambers should be bone dry ... no oil at all. Oil picks up powder residue and actually increases extraction friction. If you previously oiled your chambers after cleaning, try shooting the gun again starting with clean dry chambers."


My 2 cents worth:

I used 400 grit paper tightly wrapped around a wooden dowel that was sized to make as tight a fit as possible within the chamber. It did not take long to eliminate this problem. A couple of minutes per chamber. Remove as little as you can get away with.

HAM

I once bought a Model 34 on Gunbroker that was supposed to be unfired.
I know they told me the truth because I could not find a single brand of ammo that would chamber !
I called Smith and asked about repair, they said send it in but there will be a charge .
I got gun back about ten days later, no charge , not even for shipping.
Worked very well, easy chambering, accuracy was fine , it was a four inch j-frame I did not have real high expectations but I remember it as fine.
I was told it missed a "final" honing step.

This.

... or Hoppe's, or whatever you clean it with.

And what Alk8944 said. A .22 bore brush will also work. Also, you may find that the less time the cases sit in the chambers, the easier they are to extract.

I wouldn't touch the charge holes with anything that might enlarge them; if you're less than a crack machinist, you could end up with charge holes that are out of round and chamber edges at the cylinder face that are worn.