As you might have read in my previous post, I had to send two As New In The Box 386 Night Guards, that I bought over the last few weeks, back to S&W for timing problems.

I thought it was very strange that two like new guns that were manufactured 4 years apart had the same exact timing problem. One chamber, and at times two chambers, were out of time on both guns.

I was just texting with a buddy of mine who owns a very large and high volume gun store here in South Florida. He told me they constantly have timing problems with the 7 shot revolvers shipped new from S&W. Never 6 or 8 shot Smiths, but always 7 shot. He said it has been a constant issue for years. They send them back all the time.

If you own a 7 shot Smith, you should check the timing. I'm surprised no one here knew about this.

Anyway I look forward to getting my NGs back from Smith. One has been gone for over 2 weeks and the other 1 day. I also hope they come back fixed!

By timing problems, what do you mean as far as do they lock up, not fire.... what exactly happens... does it affect shooting the gun?.. I ask because I have a 386.. actually 2 of them, the snubby and the 6" but I don't plan on shooting the 6"

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Jack C

They don't fully lock up on one or two chambers. It happens on both guns when dry firing in SA and DA, and live fire as well.

I have a whole thread about it here:

Two New S&Ws with Bad Timing - Should Perfect Timing Be Expected?

WHOA! You sent me scrambling to my safe and to the phone.
I checked my 386NG, 386PD, 520/2005, 686+ (all of which just HAPPENED to be home!) and a 686+ I gave to a friend.
ALL of mine lock up fine, DA and SA, even dragging a finger on the cylinder. I called the woman I gave the 686+ to, and she said it has prefect lockup.
S&W 386PD & 386NG 30.jpgS&W 520 of 2005 30.jpg
Each of mine has had numbers in the low thousands shot through them.


Yours must have been built on Monday.

Neither of my 686+s have timing issues. One was built in 2011 and the other, a PC model, earlier this year.

Maybe this is an issue for 386s, since you have 2 with issues?

I just sold my 4" 686 7 shot and the timing was perfect.

My 7 shot 686 is perfect, no timing issues at all.

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Tennessee

My 686+ is just fine.

No issues on my 242.

My 686+ acted exactly as HarishMasher described in his original post. Rapid fire DA no problem. Slow, staged DA and it never clicked on 2 cylinders. I picked up on it after watching JM's video on trigger jobs. I sent it back. Came back fixed

My 686+ is fine.

My 686-5 is just fine. I don't see any reason a 7 shot would be more prone to timing problems.

You can see in this video how Smith and Wesson sets the timing on their revolvers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ3HDLkB5l8 The pertinent passage begins at 4:20. I just don't see how the number of charge holes would effect this in any way.

My 686 mtn gun times & locks just fine.

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S&W Accumulator

I am skeptical of any claim from a retailer that so many of the 7-shot revolvers have issues.

I recall a great number of DCUs* in the 70s and even into the 80s, more often with K frames than with L frames, after the L frames were introduced in the early 80s. That said, I carefully check every new revolver before it is delivered, and I cannot remember the last time I received one that had a DCU.

*DCU is factory repair terminology for "Doesn't Carry Up," and it happened with enough frequency in the early 80s, that S&W told me, when sending in a revolver, to merely include a note with the letters DCU, and no other "letter of instructions" was necessary.

I haven't had any problems either with my 686+ or my 681+.

My 686 Plus is fine. I never heard of such a problem with the 7 shooters.

I've seen it more often than not on seven shot revolvers. The lack of extractor star alignment pins on the current versions means there's only one good "driving finger" at the periphery of the extractor. Doesn't take much looseness to allow the entire thing to be short timed. But I've had two for years that have had a fair number of rounds through them and the timing remains good.

If there's only one or two chambers that "DCU" it's another drama further toward centerline at the ratchet. Which seems no more frequently encountered than with any other S&W. On older revolvers (pre-seven shot) it seems pretty common, almost like the fitter would go a bit far on the first and back off thereafter...

Maybe that's why the manual says to NOT stage the hammer. Hmmm

Bob

OP Here:
I'm glad so many of you have 7 shots that time properly. In addition to the 2 Night Guards that I have timing problems with, I have a 686PC 2.5" that times perfectly.

That said, some posts above suggest there is a tendency for the 7 shots to have timing issues.

Can't comment to much on this because I've never owned a 7 shot revolver. I would think if the math was correct, fitted and assembled properly, they should function as intended and timing should be OK.