I would buy some quality hand cast bullets as close to the original Keith design as possible from either Montana Bullet Works and Beartooth Bullets sized to .430" load it to 1100 fps or so (I like HS-6 when running the 44 there) and shoot. I suspect that the gun will shoot very, very well. That said, Cylindersmith does fine work.

So far this model 24 has not taken a shine to keith type bullets. The original Keith bullets are a pain to cast(I do'nt buy bullets anymore) because of the square bottom lube groove. Works fine when shooting but they are a bit harder to get to drop out of the mould. It's still a work in progress and I've been using a Lyman 429421 keith mould but I am going to order a custom 250 gr mould from Accurate Molds. The man who makes them does some of the most beautifull work You ever saw on a bullet mould. I've never tried HS-6, but a lot of people love it. I have 5lbs of Unique and of the 12 44's I've owned, I never had one that would'nt at least tolerate it or 2400. When I hit the right load, it usually is the bullet and/or the pressure that makes the diff.
Murf205

BTW, Boxhead, Cylindersmith does'nt do anything but .45 cylinders now. He told me that he is trying to get out of the business, so if ya got a .45 that needs opening up, better get it to him.
Murf205

yup, you're right + .004 so my throats, measured with precision gauge pins from the company I work for QA department are out of spec. I was also working with 2 ex-S&W mechanical engineers that happen to work with me. I live a town over from S&W so there are a few around. I'm pretty confident of the measurement.

As I stated in earlier posts, my issue is not with accuracy but severe leading. I couldn't get through half a box before the leading was so severe that the grooves were no longer visible in the barrel. So I guess that's pretty exciting.

Dan

dla, I do'nt use Harbor Freight anything and I DID check the throats with pin guages that I bought from Carr-Lane in St. Louis, Mo. As far as being a pro, pin guages do not require a genius to use as long as the throats are clean. As far as "getting all excited" I did'nt. I just opened the throats from .4275 to .430, which is a lot closer to where they should be and the results were obvious, to me at least. I do'nt own a Ransom rest-spent the money on a throating reamer.

Just an update and a warning. I received my .44 back from S&W after sending it in with a request to hone the cylinder throats and was shocked at the result. I included a letter when I sent the firearm in to them requesting that the throats be opened to .430 and that if this wouldn't be covered under warranty repair to let me know what the cost would be so I could have them perform the throat work.

When I received the firearm back, there was simply a reply stating "can't prevent leading" and that they cut the forcing cone!!! ???? Note that no one ever contacted me about my request, I simply received the firearm back from FEDEX fairly unexpectedly.

I was also extremely disappointed with the quality of the machining they did perform. The stainless looked grey and all of the tooling marks are obviously visible. No polishing or finish machining.

I am done with S&W and will never consider any firearm from them in the future. I also caution anyone sending anything in to them after seeing the result of their "work" and their lack of communication.

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Sorry about the disappointment. I am just guessing but they probably re-cut the forcing cone because they found it to be out of spec. As to the honing of your cylinder, you really should have sent the gun to a pistolsmith who specializes in this sort of thing. S&W makes their guns to shoot factory ammunition, which these days is mostly jacketed. They are probably not going to pay too much attention to requests to modify the gun to shoot certain types of handloads. It's not their thing. They are a manufacturer. Pistolsmiths probably best handle this sort of stuff. Sure, a little communication would have been nice, but that is not unusual for them. About one call in four to Springfield ends up satisfactorily as far as my experience has been over the years. The other three make me wish I was running their C.S. department () - but, as I have said before, I can only imagine the kind of calls/requests they must get in the course of a day. Probably would baffle the ordinary mind.

You did the right thing. 44mag throats that small are just NOT going to do well with cast bullets, unless the groove dia is that small, & that is often NOT the case. The few guns that I have w/ tight throats got opened up & accuracy was improved as well as reducing early leading. Since none of my revolvers see jacketed bullets, proper bullet fit is very important.
BTW, you do NOT need a "professional" to measure anything. Get some pin gages or ID micro. Slug the bbl &/or the throats if you do not want to invest in measuring equip other than calipers.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

How do you measure the slug for a 5 groove barrel with calipers?

For cyl throats, not an issue. For the bore, use a long slug & be very patient.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I just used the brownells throat reamer and their 11* forcing cone cutter on my 629-6. I have yet to shoot any lead through the newly opened throats, but can't wait to see the results. Catfish Dan I hope you can get the results you are looking for eventually. I too was slightly disappointed with S&W CS last time I used them.

I have had pretty good luck with the S&W service department in the past.

I had to ream a bunch of .45 Colt and .45 ACP cylinders for my Ruger NMBHs. Most were very tight. All shot much better after being opened up to .4525” or so.

My Dan Wesson 744 had throats alternating in two sizes, both very small and accuracy was pretty poor. I got the Manson reamer and reamed them to .4315” and it is now the most accurate .44 I have.

My 629 Mountain Gun had the usual rough forcing cone and very tight chamber throats. I recut the forcing cone and reamed the cylinder. It is much better now.

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Tom

Deleted--bad data on my part.

Was unable to delete these two messages--my apology. No value added.

My experience has been all of the newer S&W .44 mag. and .45 Colt cylinder throats are substantially undersized as well as Rugers .45 Colts (I have no experience with Ruger .44's).
I agree with others that ideally, the throat diameter should be real close to bullet diameter to reduce leading and maximize accuracy-with cast bullets.
Since all I shoot is cast from my .4X caliber handguns (they are hunting revolvers) I open the throats to .431" in .44 and .4525" in .45 Colt.
I purchased Manson throat reamers for this purpose.
The accuracy increase ranged from noticeable to substantial, leading is not an issue. This with cast bullets obviously.

My Model 69 throats slugged 0.4295", call it 430 for practical purposes. Same bullets that performed well in a 29-2 made 1980, a 629-5 from the 90's, work in the 69, 430 cast.
I know it's not kosher to measure a 5 groove barrel with calipers, but I tried it anyway. I can catch what feel like 2 edges on the slug and get 429".

You need special equipment to measure a 5 groove bore. Best thing to try is slug the bore and see if it fits into the throats. If it doesnt fit, then you may have a problem.

A gas check design can fix a leading problem. I would try that before reaming. Lots of good info at Cast Boolits website.

Lead Bullet Technologies makes good slugs for checking throat and barrel diameters. You dont have to beat it into the bore.

"A sixgun bullet needs a gas-check like a hound dog needs two tails!"

(or something like that )

The old man (Elmer Keith) said it years ago and we all laughed. It's still funny to me - and true!

I use a little shim stock rapped around the 5-groove slugs to measure them.

Shim stock ='s a strip of metal cut from a beverage can. Measure the thickness of the aluminum strip that was cut from the can. Rap then thin al strip around the slug and measure it. Subtract 2x the al strip from the slug/al strip measurement : IE the al strip measured .003" the slug with the al strip wrapped around it measured .436". .436 - (.003" x 2) ='s .430"

The way I check a 5-groove is first find out what the bore dia." (a) is using my pin gauge set. Then I use my telescoping gauge to find the dia." from an opposing groove -> land (b) - (each groove is directly opposite a land). Then I subtract that reading from the first (a) to find one groove's depth (c), then double that number & add it to the first (a).

(a) - Bore dia. = .4438"
(b) - groove->land = .4481"
(c) - .4481-.4438= .0043"
(d) - .4438 + .0043" + .0043" = .4524"

It's kinda tedious, but it works if you have the tools.

.

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Waiting for the break of day

My 2001 vintage 629 8.75" barrel throats gauge with pins @0.428".

When shot with 0.4295" sized bullets its accuracy is superb, so why fool with it?

Hell, the first two of my own hard cast LEE 429-240GC with my first 44 mag loads out of that new revolver both scored bullseyes @25 yards.

Nothing needs fixing here.

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Life member, NRA, CRPA

I'm going to have to agree with A couple of guys on this thread. Last year I bought a 629-6 4" barrel. Gun is super tight everywhere. Especially the cylinders. Mine are .428ish. My gun shoots awesome, .430 Hornady or .4295 Seirras. I size my cast to .429 and have had zero leading. I'm not pushing them hard less than 1,000 fps. At first I was concerned but after shooting it; the concerns went away. Sometimes I think we get to caught up in numbers and read to much into it. I talked to customer service and they told me it was in spec and to just shoot it. Tight cylinders for sure but its a shooter.

I imagine it would depend on the size of the lead bullets you are using. FOr me, nothing a proper lead bullet won't do in a big bore as well or better than jacketed, at any handgun vel. My RBHB scoped will do 3" or slightly better from a rest @ 100yds using a 2x scope with good lead bullet loads. FWIW, your Magnaporting may be the issue w/ lead bullets.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO