I have tried the search function to no avail, so here is my question. How common is it for the cylinder flutes to be cut off center to the chambers, and by how much? I have seen a couple of Smiths slightly like this but I have one that seems to be worse than the others I've seen. I can measure from the flute to the chamber on one side and it is about .09" and the other is about .182". Is this O.K. or should I be concerned enough to contact Smith & Wesson about it?

Thanks,
Marty

Does it carry up correctly, and do the charge holes line up with the hammer, forcing cone and barrel?

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Do any revolvers have 6 flutes,,, and 7 rounds??

That would cause a variation,,,

The number of flutes is equal to the number of charge holes. Stare at a 6 round cylinder sometime and try to visualize what you just typed . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Groo here
Marty, is the thick side closer to the notch in the cylinder???
A slight offset could put more steel in that area and add strength
to the whole.

They occasionally make mistakes...



Adios,

Pizza Bob

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NRA Benefactor Member

That's off by a country mile.

That looks like it has seven flutes and six charge holes. Impressive . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Hmmmm,, someone guessed that earlier,,,,,,

Nah, you went the other way:

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I didn't count them at first.. You can see that one charge hole was used for set up, but the operator failed to see it was the wrong part.. doh!!

I'd be wanting a new cylinder for that one.

Muss,
Everything seems to line up fine but the flutes. Timing and lockup are fine. So should I just not worry about it?

By the looks of that 6 hole 7 flute cylinder. The machining for
the stop notch indexes off the cylinder boring tool set up. So it should time fine. Just looks wrong.

Probably fine to shoot.

May have trouble selling it if you don't get it fixed.

Leave it alone. S&W will probably tell you that .05 is within tolerance any way.

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I just looked at four of my 357 mag. 2 seven and 2 six shot. All the flutes are between charge holes. None directly over charge holes.

That's where they should be . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

This p ic or one like it has been floating around for a couple years, get in touch with Smith, they will repair it, but will want the cylinder back. DO NOT FIRE THIS WEAPON....

A slight offset ought not hurt anything except appearance. But I reckon S&W would probably swap it out.

As for Pizza Bob's example...Yikes!

Yikes is right.... Yikes that it even made it out of the factory that way. I don't know about anyone else, but having a flute right above a charge hole with that thin of a wall, would not promote a lot of confidence about strength.

But then, the case head end is where it's really needed, and the flute doesn't extend the full lenght of the cylinder... but still, wow.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

I'd replace it. Will it contain pressure in the thin areas that aren't supposed to be there and were never tested? I wouldn't want to find out personally. On the other hand, maybe it'll be worth *more* down the road, like rare mis-printed postage stamps

Now that's a "collectible"! When you get it replaced, I'd request it be returned as a "pencil holder" desk accessory! Or send them pics and ask if you can remove it when sending in gun.

I wouldn't care if it worked right, and would handle loads that would make Elmer Keith cringe, one of the reasons I buy Smith & Wesson's is I like the way they look.

And that ain't the way they're supposed to look.

I'd like to think I'd catch it before I got it out of the store, but if I didn't, I'd expect them to fix it.

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John 3:16 .

Y'all do realize that the pistol the OP is talking about has flutes that are .045" off (to his calculations), barely noticeable to the naked micrometer, and it is not the pistol in the picture, which has been around for a while, don't you?

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Is that seven flutes ona six shot cylinder?