625 JM 45ACP 4"

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Laci

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Hey Guys
I am a revolver nut living in the land "down-under", Melbourne Australia, where owning a handgun is riddled with laws and regulations so I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to legally own and shoot my own little collection.

I recently purchased a 625 JM 4" 45ACP and had it worked before I even laid eyes on it. This is what my guy did;

Barrel reset, crown and recut forcing cone.
Full action job.
Chamfer extractor and re bead blast to match.
Shim crane.
Crane stretch.
Extended firing pin.
Re time cylinder.

Some of the work was done because the factory just doesn't quite deliver the fine detail that I want in my guns.

The gun is beautiful but I hate the JM grips and have ordered Hogue Round Butt Grips Pau Ferro Convert w/Top Finger Grooves, as a replacement.

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First time out on the range after firing about 30 rounds of my own reloads of 230Gr RN lead with a 4.2Gr charge it started to play up. The finely tuned trigger started to feel gritty then it jambed and could not be fully squeezed, finally the cylinder would not cycle.

After speaking to my gunsmith he seems to think that it's the bullets, perhaps the lead or even my reloads. He told me to try some factory American Eagle or Federal ammo preferably copper jacketed, which is a big no no at our gun club, before looking any further. I will follow his advice but I have my reservations if that is the cause.

Has anyone else experienced any issues with one of these guns?

Any other input regarding this model and advice on grips would be appreciated.
 
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Welcome. I enjoyed some time in your beautiful country last year.
Was it a new gun? How many rounds did you fire without a problem before the work was done?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
The 625 JM has EDM rifling, which is best used with jacketed ammunition. If FMJ is not permitted, perhaps half-jacketed, HP or plated. Still, shooting lead bullets is not going to cause a problem with the action if the cylinder is properly aligned with the barrel. Are you seeing an accumulation of lead on the face of the cylinder? Getting spatter from the forcing cone? If soft lead is causing a problem, try plated or better yet, hard cast.

A possible cause of your trouble is a loose or short tension screw (in the grip, bearing on the main spring). The main spring takes on an S-shaped curve, and keeps the hammer from coming back smoothly.

There could be debris inside the revolver too, or even a broken or misplaced spring or two.

The 625 PC has broached rifling, which is deeper and better suited for lead bullets. Honestly, I use hard-cast lead bullets in all kinds of revolvers with no problems or excessive leading. I use them in pistol caliber carbines up to 1800 fps.

I replaced the JM-type spade handles with grips by Ahrends - moradillo (aka pao ferro) combats with finger grooves and a flat front. For me, Ahrends grips promote a higher hold and fill my hand better. They're available target-style, without finger grooves.
 
Welcome to the forum!

Not trying to be smart but since the gunsmith did all that work for you can't he look at it? Is he not local?

Otherwise, there's probably several possible causes though with such a low round count fired it seems odd.

How does the cylinder turn with it open? Freely or drags?

With the cylinder open, & the release back, does the trigger feel okay or tight?

.
 
Welcome to the Forum. Always great to have new members. Please note it is nigh impossible for a bunch of well-meaning knowledgeable members to make more than an educated guess as to what is wrong with something they have not handled.

Is it possible "too much" was done to the revolver by the 'smith? Is he even qualified to do this work, being that there are few guns in your country to work on? In the 1970s, the "thing" to do in the US was to purchase a Colt 1911 Government model and turn it over immediately to a gunsmith to make it "better." All sorts of mods then ensued, too many to enumerate, done by all types of 'smiths. The result was used gun shelves full of heavily modded 1911s that didn't perform as the 'smiths had promised which other folks didn't want...

I have the very same revolver and all I have done to it was to change out those JM grips. By all means, take yours back to the person who worked on your gun. Or take it to another 'smith for a 2nd opinion. Also find a way to try factory ball ammo. I wish you well, mate.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
 
If coated lead bullets are available to you for reloading, give them a try.

My 625-8 would shoot conventional cast bullets well but accumulate quite a bit of lead over the course of a shooting session. Shifting to coated projectiles cured that issue.
 
I think the 'smith may have removed too much play in the cylinder. Small amount of fouling then binds things up. Could also be something as simple as crud under the extractor star.

As for firing debris getting into the frame recess enough to distress the trigger action, it seems unlikely! I run thousands of rounds of cast lead bullets through my revolvers without having any dramas with the "frame guts".

Can't see how running jacketed ammo would help much, myself. This revolver should be entirely compatible with your usual Oz HiTek coated projectiles. Suspecting the 'smith may not be as knowledgeable as you might get in the States.
 
Welcome to the Forum, Laci. You'll find an incredible amount of useful information here, and being a self-described "revolver nut," you'll be in good company! :)

I had a set of similar issues with my 625-2 not long ago, and sent it back to the factory to be checked out. Mine had had a customized 4" barrel installed, but no other modifications that I know of. (I am not the original owner.)

Long story short, the factory put my revolver back in perfect working order and I wasn't charged anything -- even shipping -- for whatever was done. I realize it's a tall order to get your revolver back to Springfield from Australia, but just thought I'd throw in here for what it's worth.

Glad to have you aboard, mate.
 
Laci;
I have a pair of 625's. One is a 5" 625-6 Model of 1989 and one 4" JM Special Model 625-8. Both are .45 ACP. I shoot my own cast bullets and have several thousand through each of my revolvers. I mostly shoot 200gr SWC (Mihec version of the H&G #68). The alloy is WW's + 2% tin. The bullets are sized at .452" and are a push fit through my cylinder throats (perfect out of the box). I changed the grips to Pachmayr grips which cover the back strap (I have long fingers and medium to large hands).

I almost NEVER clean my barrel. I run a plastic chamber brush through the chambers and that is about all the cleaning I do other than wipe the gun off, of course. My guns will shoot well under an inch off a Ransom Rest at 25 yards on demand. I have a goodly number of Smith and Ruger revolvers and these two 625's are among my favorites.

By the way, my powder charge with the #68 is 4.0 grs. of Bullseye or equivalent.

The only thing I have done to my 625's is I installed a matched set of springs from Jerry Miculek (Bang, Inc.) and set the double action at 9.0 lbs. and the single action at 3.0# (my preference) and changed the grips.
My 5" 625-6 with Red Dot Sight:



10 shots standing at 50 feet (I normally shoot outdoors but it was COLD outside, hence 50 feet):



Here is my JM Special:



Here is a target with my JM Special, standing at 25 yards. Yeah, I LOVE these revolvers!



Dale53


FWIW
Dale53
 
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I would evaluate a gun on its own merits before I had it modified. Changing it cosmetically is one thing, but extreme modifications to the frame or mechanics is another. Live and learn.
 
Welcome to the FORUM! I have a 625-8 (JM) It functions well with any ACP I have put through it. Now the disclaimer..... it gets leaded badly with lead bullets. Hard to get clean. That gun gets coated, plated, or jacketed bullets. Problem solved. I have changed the front sight to HI-Viz. Changed the stocks a number of times. 1 Of my favorites to shoot! Bob
 

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I really appreciate the comments, thanks guys!

The smith, who is a very knowledgeable guy knows his competition revolvers really well and would be more than happy to look at it but he is in another state so it’s not that easy.
Further testing on the range is starting to help me focus in on the issue and so far I have found more clues.
I have been shooting my own reloads 230gr lead with 4.2gr powder, federal primers crushed to 7thou in new Starline brass. The smith told me to try factory American Eagle or Federal bullets to see how that goes. So far I had no luck in doing that but found some 230gr ‘electro-coated’ projectiles which I prepared with the new brass and 4gr powder.
The first 2 clips (12 rounds) worked without a hitch but by the third clip things started to sour. I spun the cylinder before firing each time and it was free but midway through the third clip the cylinder started binding. I looked at the flash gap and it looked clear but the back of the brass was binding against the recoil shield at the top either side of the firing pin bushing. Later I found that the brass casing base distortion during firing was the cause as I selectively removed the offenders which allowed me to freely turn the previously binding cylinder.
I really think that it’s a spacing issue and perhaps I need to send the gun back to the smith, which is a bit of a pain. However before taking that step I will source some of the factory ammo he recommended and give that a ‘shot’.
 
The 625-8 with the EDM rifling suffers from the same issue as Marlin rifles with their "microgrove" rifling and lead bullets... hard cast or copper electroplated lead bullets is the cure for both accuracy and leading.

I replaced the JM grips on my 625-8 with the Model 500 Impact Absorbing Hogue Square Butt Conversion Grips (SKU: 294670000) sold by S&W. They are the grips that come on the X-Frame 460's & 500's. I like them due to them covering the frame back strap and the fit in my hand. They are made to tame the heavy recoil of a 500 Magnum, so shooting target load .45acp's with them is child's play.

Where those grips really shine is on a M69 .44 Magnum L-Frame... with arthritis steadily creeping into my hands, those Model 500 grips have been slowly replacing the factory and aftermarket wood grips on my other S&W N-frame revolvers.

As for the issue with your 625-8... I think the 'smith closed up the built in tolerances/spacing too much where just a small amount of fouling is now binding the gun.

It reminds me of my experience way back when, with my first magnum handgun, a 4" bbl S&W M28-2.

The first box of .357 Magnum ammo I bought and used in it was naively, a box of factory Remington 158 grain swagged lead SWC. What that ammo did to the gun 3/4 the way through the 50 round box sounds like what is described with your gun, the heavy lead fouling closed up the barrel/cylinder gap where it started to bind up the rotation, it even started to make swinging open the cylinder difficult as the cylinder face was starting to bind on the rear of the barrel.

That ammo, lead fouled the gun so badly that when I got that gun home and soaked the barrel interior with Hoppe's #9... I had long strips of lead coming out if the rifling groves... never seen anything like that since then, after learning my first lesson about the effects of shooting soft lead at too high velocities.
 
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