End Shake what is it??

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Forward and backward play in the cylinder. Some is normal, too much and the forcing cone hits the front cylinder face.
 
When looking at used revo's, I hear the term "end shake" and others, what do these exactly mean?

Endshake is a front-to-rear movement of the cylinder when latched shut. It can also occur with the crane/yoke. Typically this can be corrected with bushings, however this condition may show that the firearm has sustained heavy usage. You can test for this by pushing the cylinder back and forth when locked up inside of the frame.

Some movement is allowable, and can be checked using feeler gauges.

Another common item that people check is the timing. That is, if the chambers in the cylinder lock up and "carry up" (become inline with the barrel) correctly. You do not want too much movement of the cylinder in full lockup (cylinder rotated as done by pulling the trigger, and trigger held fully rearward). This can show wear exists on the hand, ratchet or cylinder stop.
 
The previous reply mentioned checking using feeler gauges. Here are the tolerances: The front gap between the cylinder and forcing cone is
0.004" - 0.010". The rear gap, which determines head space, depends upon the revolver you're checking. For 38, 357, 41 and 44 it's 0.060" - 0.068" but if the 38 or 357 has a counter bored cylinder it's 0.012" - 0.018". This can help to check Endshake but if you not trained in proper repair which can sometime be accomplished with the proper size bushing or stretching the barrel of the yoke, take a revolver with this problem to a good gunsmith or send to S&W.
 
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