M28-2 cyl binding up

[Babysitr]

My 28-2 has an issue that I believe is the cyl. hitting the barrel. it shoots great for 2-3 cyls' full, then once or twice a cyl it drags or enen locks up. if you barely touch the cyl,she rolls on. you can see on the front of the cyl where its rubbing the powder residue off, like its hitting the barrel. f you clean it and force the cyl forward, there is less than .002 b/c gap. about .008 all the way back. can anyone point me in the right direction here? thank you all for looking.

[armorer951]

The easiest fix, if you are able, is to use a shim, or shims to move the cylinder back. Shim(s) will be inserted into the cylinder after complete disassembly. If you are familiar with the disassembly of the cylinder assy and yoke, you should be able to do the work. Make sure you clean the interior of the cylinder and all of the related parts, including the yoke, thoroughly before adding the shim(s).

Shims are available from several vendors. IMO these are the best:

TriggerShims Brand Shim Kits

Look under "Smith and Wesson K, L, N Shim Kit"....then click on "Smith and Wesson Revolver Cylinder Shims".

[apollo99]

+1 on that Trigger Shims company armorer951 recommended, I placed an order online, realized I screwed it up, called them the next morning. They straightened our my self inflicted mess and I had the shims in the next days mail. Great guys to deal with. As far as my gun smithing skills, I would refer to armorer951.

[Babysitr]

Thanks, armorer951. shims have been ordered, think I will try .002 first and see where it goes.

[Protocall_Design]

You will probably need at least .004, maybe .006.

[Farmer17]

I had a M-28 4" years ago that would barely drag on a couple of cylinders and you really couldn't feel it until it got dirty then it got annoying. I bought it off the internet and wondered if someone had done the "Hollywood wrist flip" to close the cylinder and slightly bent the crane. It bugged me a little so I got rid of it but I wish I had known about the shims.

[Babysitr]

I ordered their 4 shim pack. 2-003 & 2-002.. should be good, thanks

[Babysitr]

update on M-28.. got the shim kit form triggershims.com. armorer951 was dead on, these guys are great! cleaned everything up, assembled with an .002 under the yoke, and wound up with .003 with cyl forward and .007 with it held to the rear, b/c clearance. haven't shot it yet, will post again after shooting. hope it works now. Thanks

[S.B.]

Originally Posted by Babysitr

My 28-2 has an issue that I believe is the cyl. hitting the barrel. it shoots great for 2-3 cyls' full, then once or twice a cyl it drags or enen locks up. if you barely touch the cyl,she rolls on. you can see on the front of the cyl where its rubbing the powder residue off, like its hitting the barrel. f you clean it and force the cyl forward, there is less than .002 b/c gap. about .008 all the way back. can anyone point me in the right direction here? thank you all for looking.

Isn't this a sign of out of square at the face of the cylinder? Shims would be a good band aid but, to fix you'd have to chuck it into a lathe and square the face. I owned a model 18 years back that had this problem and had to be returned to S&W for their magic.
Steve

[WR Moore]

What the OP seems to be describing is axial endplay. That is, he holds the cylinder forward and measures the B/C gap at 0.002 in. Then he holds the cylinder to the rear and gets 0.008 in. The desired endplay is 0.003 in or less with the hammer cocked.

OP, I'd throw a couple more shims in there.

Now once upon a time, I had a customer's model 57 in the shop. Having set endplay, measuring the B/C gap on all chambers puzzled me greatly. Then I measured the cylinder length at all chambers. The cylinder OAL varied by 0.007 in. We let the factory fix that, then I finished the blueprinting. It appeared they surface ground the cylinder.

[Babysitr]

Update/ range report on M28-2 .. shot 30 rounds this afternoon at 15yd. steel. shot great no binding, looks like .002 under yoke did the trick! tried .005 first and cyl was hard to open and close, went to .002 and good to go. after measuring, looks like cyl does vary in oal, but if it keeps shooting like it did today, I'm happy. Thanks all