Is that old S&W revolver as reliable as you think??

dandyrandy · Oct 20, 2016

I wanted to open a debate about revolvers. Has anyone had a failure to fire with a revolver for whatever reason that was NOT due to ignorance or neglect? I was under the impression that a Smith and Wesson revolver or any other revolver for that matter is one of the most reliable things on planet Earth. I understand all revolvers shoot different and some are better quality than others. With that being said what are some of your favorite and most reliable makes of revolvers? I do have to say that I never had a S&W revolver that broke or didnt function properly that I could not fix or correct the problem quickly myself. That also goes for all revolvers I have owned too! I hope to continue my revolver obsession but I dont want to get turned off them because I had to much high expectations for them.

m1gunner · Oct 20, 2016

Has anyone had a failure to fire with a revolver for whatever reason that was NOT due to ignorance or neglect?

Yes

poordevil · Oct 20, 2016

In over 40 years of shooting Smith and Wesson revolvers, the only gun related failure was a broken firing pin/nose on the hammer on a M-624.

I got back to town, took out the hammer and took it to a gunsmith in San Diego CA and in about 5 minutes while I waited, it was fixed. Never had any other issue ever.

dandyrandy · Oct 20, 2016

I love the 45 acp cartridge but I had lots of 1911 failure to fire for numerous reasons. Though NEVER had a Colt 1911 fail on me EVER. Love the 22 but had many failures with all types of 22 autos. Love the 9mm cartridge but had a few failures with some autos. NEVER had a failure to fire on ANY 9mm Smith autos and NEVER as of yet had a failure to fire with ANY revolver regardless of make..... Oh well I did have an issue with a few revolvers. One sticks in my mind though besides the Smith revolver that the hammer broke off while shooting but it would still shoot double action so that doesnt count. I did have a failure to function properly with an old H&R revolver but it still shot that 38 S&W bullet every time! I called it the gut buster special! lol

dandyrandy · Oct 20, 2016

poordevil said:
In over 40 years of shooting Smith and Wesson revolvers, the only gun related failure was a broken firing pin/nose on the hammer on a M-624.

I got back to town, took out the hammer and took it to a gunsmith in San Diego CA and in about 5 minutes while I waited, it was fixed. Never had any other issue ever.

Just curious how did that firing pin break? I do prefer the internal firing pin of the Taurus and Rugers more than the exposed one of the Smith and Rossi revolvers. I do have to say this that the only Smith revolver problems I ever had were all hammer related.

shouldazagged · Oct 20, 2016

Never had any Smith revolver fail to fire or function as designed except when firing a little break-top .22 we found when my first wife's grandmother died. Ammo was copper-cased and green with corrosion. Two rounds failed to fire. No fault of the little gun--they fired the second time around,

Kanewpadle · Oct 20, 2016

During 45 years of shooting 38/357 and 44 mag Smith revolvers, I've never had a malfunction other than a loose ejection rod. No problem with factory ammo or reloads.

S&W Rover · Oct 20, 2016

I've never had a S&W revolver fail to fire for me. Nothing broken or jammed up. Firing perhaps 1500 rounds a year. J's, K's, and my new L.

I've had numerous FTF's and FTE's with semi-autos, including a Colt Series 70 Mk IV that NEVER got off a full magazine of ball ammo, and a S&W 457 [corrected] that was a jam-0-matic. I have to say, I've never had a single problem with my S&W SD9, any M&P pistol, or any Sig I owned. Ever. I have a couple of S&W 3rd Gen pistols that have been good but my round counts are too low to say they are as good as they seem so far.

My working hypothesis is that once a gun (revolver or pistol) has fired reliably for me for a couple of hundred rounds, I can expect it to be reliable in the predictable future.

rwsmith · Oct 20, 2016

Dud ammo....

The only failure I've had that isn't due to my ignorance or stupidity (like reloading too high primers) was with dud ammo, but pull the trigger again and you get another shot without going through tap, rack, bang and stuff.

I think I've only had one dud with commercial ammo, and a few with my reloaded stuff. That's out of about 5000 shots out of my revolvers.

I expect that if a gun will fire it will fire the next time. If it decides to break on the very shot that I REALLY need to take, that would be very long odds.

Big E3 · Oct 20, 2016

I have never had a failure to fire on any of my Colts, Rugers or Smiths. I had a hammer nose on a Rossi 357 break once. As soon as it was repaired I sold it because I knew I would never trust it again.

Absalom · Oct 20, 2016

Kanewpadle said:
..... I've never had a malfunction other than a loose ejection rod. ....

^^^^ This.

I remember a couple of occasions with older K-frames where I was unable to open the cylinder for re-loading after shooting a full load, which in both cases turned out to be the ejector rod having loosened (likely over time).

Bastogne71 · Oct 20, 2016

Yes

Three that I can think of in the last 40+ years, All S&W.

First was a model 27-2 bought new around 1975. The cylinder gap was too tight so the powder fouling on the cylinder face would jam the cylinder after 12-18 rounds. Smith & Wesson fixed it and haven't had a problem since.

Next was a model 63 with a lose ejector rod. Tightened it myself and it has worked ever since.

Last was a model 340 Sc. After four rounds of Federal 158gr 357's, the last round had inertia pulled beyond the cylinder locking the revolver up. Could not turn or open the cylinder. Hurt way too much to shoot and I had lost faith in its reliability so I traded it in.

BB57 · Oct 20, 2016

The only "malfunction" I've ever had with a S&W revolver that was not "directly" ammo related (bullet backing out, dud primer, etc), was a couple instances where unburnt bits of colloidal ball powder found it's way under the ejector star and prevent the cylinder from going back in the frame after a speed reload.

It's a bit of a PITA to clear quickly as well. You end up having to dump the rounds, then extend the ejector, pick or flick the offending bit of powder off, and then re-load.

It's one of the reasons I avoid colloidal ball powders in my 2.5" .357 Mag self defense revolvers.

silentflyer · Oct 20, 2016

A few failures to fire because of ammo, but zero problems with the any revolver in 45 years of shooting hand guns. A few jambs,fail to feed/eject with semi's..

lhump1961 · Oct 20, 2016

No.

.......

UNCLE PAULY · Oct 21, 2016

Had the cylinder jam and refuse to open on a 1967 model 40 centennial.

Bought gun in online auction and did a quick clean before shooting 20 -30 rounds.
Cylinder would not open after last 5 shots. Gunsmith found nearly 50 years of dirt, rust and other crud inside. Good internal cleaning and good as new.

Lesson learned - I open side plate on all used guns for inspection and cleaning before shooting 1st time.

dwever · Oct 21, 2016

S&W 1975 J Frame - No failures
S&W 627 5" Barrel - No failures
S&W 627 2.625" Barrel times 3 - no failures
S&W 586 L-Comp - No failures
S&W 629 - No failures
S&W 617 - No failures

S&W 1911 Melonite - jammed frequently on certain .45 ammo such as Blazer Brass
S&W 1911 Gun Site Edition - 1 malf.
Wilson Combat 1911 CQB Elite - 3 Malf.'s
Wilson Combat 1911 X-Tac 9mm - 4 Malf's
Kimber 1911 Super Carry Custom HD - Frequent malfunctions (NEVER another Kimber)
Glock 22 3rd Gen - No failures
Glock 27 3rd Gen - No failures
Glock 35 3rd Gen - No failures
Glock 22 4th Gen - No Failures
Glock 35 4th Gen - No Failures (one malf. my fault)
Glock 34 4th Gen times 2 - No Failures

Ed Fowler · Oct 21, 2016

Smith & Wesson & Ruger revolvers just shoot, kind of like it is their job.

Brian in Oregon · Oct 21, 2016

The only S&W revolvers I had chronic problems with were the Model 52 .22 Jets. That was due to the design of the ammunition.

Had the ejector rod loosen up and prevent the cylinder from closing on a revolver. I don't recall which one. Never had another problem with it. It might have been my fault anyway, because there's a good chance I detail stripped this gun and the problem was afterwards. Lesson: requalify your gun before packing it after detail stripping.

Broke a firing pin from excessive dry firing, but caught it before shooting. By excessive I mean dry firing numerous times a night for several years. I use A-Zoom snap caps now. The Pachmayrs snap caps would wear out within a few days.

Had the hammer pivot pin break on a Model 25-5. Factory fixed it under warranty.

The above happened over a span of about 35 years and out of several dozen S&W revolvers.

Contrast that with my only Colt revolver being an absolute piece of junk.

BUFF · Oct 21, 2016

Yes. Model 14 that the firing pin shattered/broke during a match. The gun had several thousand rounds through it at that point.

New Model 686 no dash that locked up the cylinder when firing some Magnum ammo. The L frame was new at the time and S&W was unaware of the hammer nose bushing/firing pin dimension problem yet, which later led to the recall ("M" stamped modification).

A first year Model 642 cracked the frame just below the forcing cone after 20 years and a lot of use, but the gun was still functioning just fine when I found the crack.

Is that old S&W revolver as reliable as you think??

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