After returning home with my pristine, new old stock 3 inch 625-3 I noticed two issues with the barrel.

The Barrel appears to have been slightly over tightened, producing some galling where the right side of the barrel meets the frame.

The B/C gap is tighter in the right side too, dropping from a perfect .006” on the left to ~.0045” on the right.

I imagine it would be relatively easy for S&W to pull the barrel, clean up the galling, reset the B/C gap and re-bead blast the gun. What do you think and what would you do?

If it bothers you to look at it in that condition, you'll be thinking about it every day. Send it back, I would. Pretty gun otherwise you have there.

My 3 inch 625 came with Pachy's.

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Sure you did

Shoot it and see if it shoots well and if it does forget about it.

But that's just me. I own many Smiths covering the years 1926 to 2008. If I look closely enough not a single one is perfect, and the old ones that were now have wear and scratches on them.

IMO that isn't galling, it's simply a small burr that was pushed out when the barrel was tightened to the frame. I would leave that alone, because it appears that the barrel is aligned very well with the frame and you may not get it back lined up as well as it is now. If that burr really bugs you put on some reading glasses and cut it free using an Exacto knife. If you're careful to follow the crevice between barrel and frame you'll be able to cut that burr free without leaving any trace of a mark. If you don't want to risk scratching your finish leave it alone, from a functional standpoint that is a null deficit.

I'm surprised an exacto knife would cut stainless steel, I will give that a try.

I too would shoot it and see what happens. If you are experiencing binding with a dirty cylinder due to the tight half of the gap, it MUST be serviced, either by S&W or somebody who knows how to get it right on the first try.

I'd be surprised if you can fix this with an X-acto knife.

Keep in mind that nothing is ever "easy" with repairs at S&W.

Dave Sinko

I agree with scooter123 that it is not a galling mark but a burr that showed up as you see it upon barrel installation. If it shoots well and doesn't bind on a fouled cylinder face as others have mentioned, then it might be best to keep it as is. The worst you can do is fire the pictures to S&W and get their input on it. Beyond that , it is a beauitful gun you have!! Enjoy!!
Jim C.

The blade on an Exacto knife is harder that most high end pocket knifes and they are quite difficult to sharpen because of this. They are also VERY brittle so you'll want to pay attention that the force applied to the blade is in line with the blade, if you try and go the least bit sideways you'll probably snap the tip off the blade.

As for the exact procedure, keep repeating on the same cutting path and you'll probably cut thru that chip. However, keep in mind that the goal isn't to get that chip free in one pass, it's to get that chip free without leaving any trace of what you did. Meaning, take your time and let it happen when it happens.

I've ordered an exacto with the "Z" blade so we shall see.

I'll need one more exacto blade to finish the job, but damned if it didn't work!

Looks great to me, now go shoot the thing it is crying to be shot.

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M.J.Hanna

This. I wouldn't mess with it, if it shoots well.

It could come back from S&W and deliver bad groups, and you would WISH you had left it alone.

But, that's me.