I have a 25-2 45 ACP. I have been getting light primer hits on 1 to 2 cylinders per six shots. It is a 200 grain lead bullet The same load functions a compensated Glock 45 cal that is very persnickity. The only thing I have done to the 25-2 is polish the rebound slide and install a 14 lb Wolff recoil slide spring. The 45 cases have been reloaded a bunch of times. I use moon clips. I got new moon clips and the problem persists. reload on a Dillon 550 B.

Your thoughts?

Thank you

Did you try tightening the strain screw yet?????????

If the mainspring has not been changed for a lighter one a loose strain screw is the cause of light strikes something like 90+% of the time. The rest of the time is a light spring, shortened strain screw, and a just plain dirty gun that should have been cleaned years ago.

Mainspring is original and screwed down tight. I forgot to mention the brass is 90 % + Remington with the rest WW white box once fired>

I respectfully suggest that your primers may need to be set deeper. Do the rounds go bang the second or third time you drop the hammer on them? I load my rounds on a D 650 and then set my primers extra deep for competition ammo with a hand tool.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Do you get light strikes firing both DA and SA or only when firing DA?



High primers do not always ignite on a second strike because the primer pellet can be shattered when the first strike is seating the primer.

That being said, either S&WIowegan is probably correct or the primers may have been contaminated.

They go bang the 2nd time. I have been thinking it could be an ammo problem. The first hammer fall is pushing them in and the 2nd is igniting them after they are set deeper. I don't know about single action as this is happening during bowling pin matches.

Thanks

jkmo,

If you are really interested in fixing this read all of this post.

There is still a chance the spring is weak, has been bent to reduce tension, or the strain screw has been shortened. Any of these has the same effect, light hammer fall. You didn't say if you bought the gun new or used. If used you have no way of knowing what has been done to it. If you had a "gunsmith" work on it to reduce the trigger pull then, again, you really do not know what has been done to it.

Before anything else is done, remove the sideplate and clean and lubricate the lockwork. Be sure there is no debris of any kind inside the gun that could inhibit function. Next, check for excessive end-shake in the cylinder. If more than .002 maximum this has to be addressed first to eliminate another area of difficulty.

If inadequately seated primers are contributing to the problem you don't need to guess! Simply run your finger over the case head and you will easily be able to tell if the primer is slightly high or below flush. Differences less than .001 can be felt, human touch is very precise. Flush or below are absolutely necessary.

If the primers were contaminated they would not fire on the second strike!

Once you know the primers are flush or below you have eliminated that issue entirely. Then it is time to go to the next step.

Do you have, or have access to a trigger scale? If so then do this. Fashion a loop of light wire to go over the hammer spur and extend behind the hammer an inch or so. Hook the trigger scale onto the loop, and pull straight back, parallel to the barrel axis. Watch the hammer closely to see when the hammer just starts to move. The trigger scale should measure not less than about 4 1/2 pounds. If it is less then there is a problem with either the spring or strain screw. As issued this test should take 5 pounds or slightly more to raise the hammer from the rest position.

An even simpler test is to try to fire the gun single action. I find it hard to believe you never do any shooting at all except shooting pins! If it fires reliably single action, but not double action, there is simply inadequate spring tension, no way around this. A light spring, regardless of the cause, cannot properly accelerate the hammer. Have you heard, and understand, the term "Lock time"?

There is a factor which very few seem to be aware of. Not only is ignition dependent upon a minimum firing pin energy to initiate the primer, but the initiation rate is also dependent upon a minimum energy level to give consistent ignition. It isn't simply a matter that if the primer fires at all that is good enough. Marginal firing pin energy not only can, but will result in lower average velocity, higher extreme spread numbers and higher standard deviation numbers than if there is adequate energy to give consistent ignition. It can also result in hang-fires and squibs, both of which are at least inconvenient and distracting, but can be dangerous to the shooter, firearm and others in the area!

You want to properly diagnose the problem? These are several of the necessary steps to properly do so. I hate to repeat this, but I have been doing this a very long time, more years than many of the "experts" who will comment have been alive. Read the sig line and consider this.

My 25-2 misfires only with WW primers.I use Federal with no problems

Alk8944

Thanks for the info. I went to the Factory revolver armory school back in the day and was the armorer for a small PD for several years. I know a little how it works but certainly don't know everything.

I bought the gun used but it was it was in pristine shape. Main spring and strain screw are stock and haven't been altered. The hammer falls factory hard. Lock work is clean and no endshake problems. The only thing that has been done to it is a 14 lb Wolf rebound slide spring and polished rebound slide. I did this myself.

It almost has to be an ammo problem. I have shot about 100 factory rds or so and didn't have this problem, another clue. What I haven't checked is if it the Winchester brass that is having the misfires. I'll also check the seating on the Dillon reloader.

Thanks

Wow. I was inspecting the gun tonite and noticed while cocking it that it felt different, I took the sideplate off, unnhooked the mainspring and noticed the hammer wasn't right. I took out the hammer and the post it rides on is broke off. Never seen that happen before.

i have. have a 27 that broke both the hammer stud and the trigger stud. of course it had been fired around 100,000 rds. the factory put in what they called crown studs to fix the problem. still works after 25,000 more rds.

Have a very good Gunsmith in the area. If you give him a hunk of steel he can make you a gun. An old German guy. If he can't do it off to the factory it goes.

Very interesting. I've never had one break but a buddy had one go during a big match. That's what backup guns are for!

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

Yup, that would do it. Maybe you missed the second paragraph from my last post, "Before anything else is done, remove the sideplate and clean and lubricate the lockwork. Be sure there is no debris of any kind inside the gun that could inhibit function." In retrospect should have added "broken parts"!

While not unheard of, still a broken hammer stud is far from a common occurrence. Of the thousands of S&Ws I have handled and worked on during the past 50+ years I have never seen one. I have found quite a few loose studs in the older guns which had the screw-in type though.

I think it must be a primer seating issue.

I have been shooting Mod 25-2's since the early 1970's, I used them as a duty guns starting in the early 1990, and still shoot them.

I have never had a failure to fire....