i have a 14-3 that chipped soon after i bought the gun.It is on the area at the bottom where the flat is.it is not very deep maybe .020.other than the chip the barrel looks good not bad errodeing or cracks that i can see.i am thinking it may be able to be set back.Now for the qestion where would be the best place to send it for repair .i am thinking of sending it back to S&W unless there is a better place.I have been reading about this and have not seen this problem on a 14-3.I have no clue as to why this happened.
I would sure love to get it up and running again.

This is sad it is a real nice long tom 14-3 with 3Ts.

Are you saying there is a piece missing from inside the forcing cone. Or a piece missing from the "face" of forcing cone where it is close to the cylinder. A picture sure would help. Next question is how does it shoot?

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

I have not shot it after the chip.but as you can see by the pic i didnt get all the lead off it was spitting

Well that didn't work well sorry.
the chip would be on the face between the cylinder and barrel

I bet it was spitting - dang!

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

Thread starter's photo showing chip.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

[IMG][/IMG]

6 O'clock

I've not seen that before! And you are sure it is a chip and not lead fouling?

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Wow, that is different. No idea what would bring that on. My first thought would be to put a very slight bevel on the forcing cone so it is not a sharp edge. While unusual, it does not look to be structural. But then again, I am not qualified to properly assess this. It will be interesting to hear the qualified people offer a fix

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Yep it is a chip.The lead you see on the frame below the chip is from the bullet shaving.thought i got all that off till i see the pic all blown up.

If you are talking about the bottom of the forcing cone which appears to be a flat spot on the otherwise round cone that is correct. Don't know why, I'm guessing that's just how the parts fit together. I have five K-38s and they are all the same.

You need to click on the pic by NYFirefighter357 to clearly see the chip. OP is not talking about bbl flat on bottom of FC

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I must have a mental block. Can someone circle it or point an arrow at it? Not that I'm any genius and can solve the problem, I just want to see what you're referring to. I'm probably just staring at the wrong area.
Looking again, around 6:30 on the inside diameter of the forcing cone?

CLICK in firefighter357's pic, ans enlarge it.. There is no way to miss what the OP is talking about

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

chip inside bottom

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If S&W will do something with it I would send it in. It needs one of 2 things. The barrel turned back a turn or two and then extension trimmed and forcing cone recut. One turn would remove .0277 and 2 turns .0554. Ejector rod and pin would also need trimmed that amount. Either that or the barrel needs replaced.

That area above that flat has been know to crack. That chip that spalt off for some reason is a week spot. It might not ruin accuracy, it can't help it any. It might be fie for years, but, I would not trust it.

GOT IT! I could see the little shiny area, finally realized that shadow was the chip. Like I said, mental block. Now, do you think it is causing a problem? Where it is I don’t think it would cause an accuracy problem. Safety, I just don’t know. I would certainly want a professional’s opinion. I would certainly contact S&W for their thoughts. Please keep us posted, this should be interesting.

steelslaver
I sent S&W the same pic today.and asked what my options were for repair. So the wait is on.

The last thing i was shooting was my cast wad cutters.very soft alloy.this bullet shot very well but not for long.the chip was shaving the bullet pretty bad. the frame was covered with lead.this is what i got this gun for was shooting the wad cutters.

So a 37 thread pitch.I have been a tool and die maker for 40 years.It looks to me one turn might do the job.I have looked at it as best i can and do not see a crack.But don't mean it is not there.I am open to about anything that can be done with it.Of corse i would love to see it as it is but a good shooter,is what i want.I looked for quite some time for a 3T 14 in nice shape saw this 8.375 gun and fell in love.The love for K frames wore off quick.when it went from a tack driver to a shotgun i was just sick when i found the problem. I sure hope smith can do something for me.If not the search for a barrel will get more serious.I would imagin there are not many out there let alone one that is worth putting on.

That's not a chip. That's a DEFECT got past quality control.

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

He said just above that it "went from a tack driver to a shotgun". I guess it happened while in his possession.

I would find that depressing also.

Hope he gets it squared away.

S&W uses a 36 to the inch thread and the major diameter on a K frame barrel threads is .540. I don't think there is a crack either. But, K frame barrels sometimes crack in the thin spot where the flat is on bottom of barrel. Your chip makes a good starting point for such a crack.

There are lots of barrels out there. Numerich shows a used one and they show up on Ebay. Right now there are a bunch of 4" model 15 barrels. If you were looking for a model 15 barrel there would probably be lots of model 14 barrels. You could also put an ad in the Wanted section here. I am sure there are some around. I have one in my parts pile, but someone restamped it as a 357.

I am surely no expert.But i agree it is a defective barrel.I say this from the condition of the gun.It looks like it has been shot very little.I suspect that the 70 or so rounds I put thru it were more than had been shot befor.

I was pretty much a average gun owner for many years till i started casting my own bullets about 8 years ago.This is when i started learning more about the things that can be and are wrong with my guns.This chip was not there when i bought this gun.But it showed up realy quick.I have had it for several years still makes me sick when i get it out.

I'm not a fancy micro welder,,so I'm just wondering...

Since the damage doesn't appear to extend into the rifling of the bore and is limited to the forcing cone, could this be welded with one of todays TIG or Laser type methods?
Then the forcing cone recut (perhaps giving the bbl a better F/C angle than the factory spec in the process) and lightly refacing the breech end to once again bring any repair matl back in line with the factory face length.

Maybe more work than setting the bbl back depending on who's doing the job..
Or maybe a weld repair is just not a good approach here (cracking, stresses, ect).

Like I say, it's just a question from someone that doesn't do this type of welding.

I'm wondering about barrel replacement...barrel $125-150 ? plus labor to finish it to frame...it's a shame,but, maybe you'll like it again!

It'd be cool to fit a Model 19 barrel to it if the topstrap would match the frame. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

It's the bottom of the front face of the frame that's a problem: K frames made for un-shrouded barrels are too short, therefore the barrel shroud hangs down below the front frame face.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

It looks almost like a feed ramp for a 1911 barrel

I thought so too! LOL! I can't imagine that anyone would intentionally do this to a revolver barrel... then again, Bubba sometimes does some mind boggling things to a gun.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I will see what options S&W has when they get back to me or when they see the gun.I am sure they do not have any barrel for the 14 anymore been to many years.

I can tell you the feed ramp idea sucks lol

Then you could just say to yourself- self I could use a custom gun.

CLARK CUSTOM – Match Barrels for the S&W(R) PPC | Clark Custom Guns

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

Mitch,

I suggest you clean up all the lead debris and powder residue on the frame around the barrel and the front face of the cyl. Then go shoot it. You can't hurt the gun because of that slight divot on the face of the forcing cone.

You need to to test fire it. See how it shoots and if you get anymore lead spitting.

I'm inclined to think that if you didn't see the divot before, the piece missing was still attached and caused the spitting. Now that it's gone the problem likely resolved itself.

If it's causing accuracy problems or still spitting, setting the barrel back one turn and have the barrel face cleaned up and re-establishing a proper bar/cyl gap is the proper correction; you don't need a new barrel for sure.

If no problems when you test fire it, just forget about it, no need to fix anything. Let us know what you find out.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I would be checking the cylinder for misalignment. Maybe a bullet strike caused the damage. You said it yourself it shaves lead

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-Matt

This was my thought

That's crazy. I've never seen a 'feed ramp" on a revolver...

Here is the email i got back from SW

Dear Bob,





We would like to thank you for your e-mail and contacting Smith & Wesson /
Thompson Center.


I have not seen this before so I am not exactly sure what would cause this to
happen. We can do a barrel change for you to repair this but we no longer have
barrels for this model so you would have to source a barrel.


Thank You for choosing Smith & Wesson / Thompson Center products. Have a great day.

That was no surprise..

I'd take a file or some abrasive to the top edge of that chip and make sure there are no sharp edges to contact the bullet as it enters the forcing cone. Then see how it shoots. Failing that, it shouldn't be hard finding someone competent to set the barrel back for you.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

yes, the typical answer these days, they cannot "repair" but simply "replace" ,IF they have the parts....simply put the barrel needs to be removed recut ( set back ONE thread) and refit,recut forcing cone ,about ANY GOOD pistolsmith who speciallizes in revolvers can do this, no need to refinish anything either............
if you knew how much needed to be "faced" off the rear of the barrel, you could flt cut the barrel, and stretch the crane as needed for proper head space BUT again its the "How much"? as you will loose "headspace" in the rear..........so ,recut ,refit the barrel (set back) no big deal....and yes looks like a "feed ramp" on a revolver.........hmmm

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

I found a smith on the American Pistolsmiths Guild website that is about 150 miles from me in Madina Ohio.Sent him a email with the pic i have posted here.So now the wait again.