I recently acquired a S & W Model 67 (no dash) .38 Special revolver. It was fired very little, if at all. This morning I went to the range and test fired it. Aside from the stainless on stainless sights being difficult to see, I encountered another problem. After firing both lead and jacketed bullets, it became difficult to pull the trigger. In checking I found the cylinder face came into contact with the forcing cone always when one specific chamber was in line to fire. When I brushed the cylinder face with a toothbrush it removed some of the carbon. I then could fire a few more cartridges before it occurred again.

After I cleaned the weapon at home, including the cylinder face, I held it up to the light. Sure enough one of the chamber faces touched the forcing cone.

Given the age of the revolver would S & W handle this under warranty or should I seek the services of a gunsmith?

TIA.

JPJ

Being that old S&W will probably not cover it, but you never know, they may.
In any case, I'd still send it to S&W to make sure it gets repaired correctly.
S&W probably has original new parts if needed, a local gunsmith will not.

Depending on what's wrong, a local may not even be able to do the proper repair, and may instead be temped to jack leg it just to get it out of his shop.
The S&W factory built it, no one knows more about it then they do.

S&W will NOT cover this under warranty, at the time your revolver was produced S&W was owned by Bangor Punta, today they are a publicly held company administered by, IIRC, Safety Hammer. Any revolver produced prior to 1989 is specifically exempted for Warranty coverage and your 67 no dash pre-dates that by a lot of years.

BTW, cylinders with the faces machined off square to the centerline was a VERY common complaint during the Bangor Punta era so your revolver just might have been completely unfired when you purchased it. Good news is that it's a relatively easy fix for a gunsmith with the correct equipment, so it shouldn't cost more than 80 to 100 bucks to get it fixed. It's also a very easy fix for a Machinist with a Lathe, so if you have any friends who are machinists you might want to get them a bottle of Scotch.

Thanks to both of you for the replies. I probably will have an area gunsmith address the problem as I also want to have a red insert on the front sight ramp. Hopefully that will assist in obtaining a better sight picture.

Regards,

JPJ

I had this problem with an unfired 14-3. It was repaired at the factory but I did have to pay. I think it was about $150 plus shipping to them. This was a couple years ago and turnaround was about 3 months.

Spoke with S & W. It will be returned to them for repair and possibly a red ramp with black rear sight/white outline blade. Estimate to be provided to me after they inspect it.

I spoke with a local gunsmith who indicated that there are less and less gunsmiths dealing with revolvers.

JPJ

I would recommend sending it to S&W. I have had good luck with their gunsmiths, and trust them to do a good job. One possibility to check for would be a bent Crane (I believe it's called) Many people push on the cylinder to close the gun... I for one always press on the crane to eliminate the possibility of bending it. A fraction of thousandths there is amplified and can become the problem you describe.

COULD ALSO HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A BENT YOKE AND OR ENDSHAKE CYLINDER. JP

You will be happy with the sight conversion. My 67 is so easy to sight in with that combo.

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All of the diagnoses here are possible causes for this problem. It could also be that the gun was shipped without a large enough barrel/cylinder gap. The gun works fine when dry fired but when shooting, as the barrel heats and expands and the cylinder face gets dirty, it starts to drag on the back of the barrel causing the gun to bind. The barrel and cylinder are never exactly square to one another as the cylinder turns, even with a correct gap. That's why the gap is needed in the first place. Once they determine that the yoke is not out of line, they just file a couple of thousands off of the rear of the barrel and the problem is fixed. This is a common problem with that generation of Smiths.

A wise decision.
At least you know it'll be repaired correctly.