I purchased a 64-3 S&W a few months ago. It was set up for PPC apparently. It has a 1" diameter barrel and Aristocrat sight rib. It is the most accurate handgun I have ever shot. I absolutely love it. I was doing some dry fire practice last night getting ready for a match Saturday. When I opened the cylinder to make sure it wasn't loaded I noticed it has a ball detent lock on top of the crane. I had never noticed it until last night.
Do ball detents on the crane help with accuracy? I understand it on magnum or light guns but my 64 weighs over 3 lbs with the bull barrel and rib sight. The 38 special loads even at full strength feel like hot 22's. I like how positive the lock up feels but is it worth adding to my other revolvers provided there is room to add it?
My guess is the feature was installed due to the loss of the front ejector rod locking point, or just because it was a really cool thing to do . Perhaps other members have a more objective reason or experience with one of these guns.
IMHO and experience, ball indent locks installed correctly work every bit as good as the original front ejector rod lock. I have installed many of them with total success. I once installed two on a M 29 that was used for Silhouettes with extra heavy loads. I wanted to install one and try it, but the owner wanted to install two from the start. They work so well that I'm still of the opinion one ball lock would have been enough. .......... Big Cholla
I am glad to hear it.
I got a double detent crane lock as part of an action package on my Mountain Revolver
and have always wondered if it was really doing anything or was just a tour de force to make money.
It is nice to be able to claim I now have a triple lock on it
The balls and holes line up nicely.
MagNaPort did the work.
The 433 refers to the throat diameter (huge).
Do any you know of a gunsmith in VA or the mid-Atlantic region currently doing this mod? My go-to gunsmith that was doing this most recently here in Central VA passed away a couple of years ago, so I am now without. Long ago I had a full house PPC gun that Fred Schmidt built back in the late '80s that had that feature in addition to the fact that he put the front e-rod catch on the bull barrel he fitted. Fred went by the principle of doing each little thing as well as possible so the final result was the best. Not a bad philosophy!
Ball detent lock on K frame
. Perhaps other members have a more objective reason or experience with one of these guns.
Long ago I had a full house PPC gun that Fred Schmidt built back in the late '80s that had that feature in addition to the fact that he put the front e-rod catch on the bull barrel he fitted. Fred went by the principle of doing each little thing as well as possible so the final result was the best. Not a bad philosophy! 
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