Got a nice pair of J frames sans Hilary hole. My question is, can anyone see anything wrong with switching the cylinders of my 442 and 642 for that two tone look? I’m thinking the specs are the same but I’m dumb enough to turn a gun into a grenade so I seek guidance from my betters.

Attached Images

	F70DA037-4821-49AD-8DB2-AB3D6DEDE4B3.jpg (51.0 KB, 201 views)
	3F3ED1E5-5B82-491F-BD84-7ECCFD4B6520.jpg (27.4 KB, 47 views)

In theory it should work. reality disagrees sometimes.

Pull the cylinders, crane and all, and swap. give each a dryfire run checking the timing. If that goes well go for a light load live fire run. You will know from there.

Ivan

If only you had the two revolvers and could simply make the switch and see what you've got.

Hey, wait a minute... :-)

__________________
Pisgah

Guess I’ll give it the ol college try, what’s the worst that can happen…maybe I’ll test it left handed first just in case

Id swap the cylinder releases and call it good.

__________________
My Daddy was a pistol..

The key to proper functioning will be the ratchet teeth (extractor star). You may swap the complete cylinder/yoke assembly from one into the other gun and it may work perfectly, but if not swapping the extractor may help.

Personally I'd stay with the one-tone look if they go bang every time . Good luck in your decision.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

You can try it. You might get lucky and have the cylinder carry up, end shake, and barrel-cylinder gap all within spec. Then again, revolvers are notorious for requiring a degree of hand fitting.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA

It's true -- there's a possibility there may be a timing or endshake issue, but those are easy-to-spot problems that should create trouble only for those impatient enough to not make a thorough examination of the gun after the swap and before shooting it.

My bet -- it'll work. These days production is much more about CNC-created consistency in parts than it is about fine hand-fitting...

__________________
Pisgah

If you just switch the bare cylinder and leave all associated parts with the revolvers they came with there shouldn’t be any issues.

You can swap the cylinders and check timing, etc but do not swap the yoke since the yoke is fitted to the frame of the original gun. It could work but if not, then you have two guns with issues… based on issues, the next thing to do is swap hands and see if that brings the cylinders back into time.

__________________
S&W factory revolver armorer

It won’t cost you anything to try the swap. I have done it before. A range rod from Brownells will give you the peace of mind that everything is lined up correctly. It’s cheap insurance.

Best Regards
ADP3

Thanks for the input. I’ll make sure to leave the yoke to the original gun

Bad idea!
1971 through 1980
S&W's service manager and I did lots of head work on things. this was one he was totally against.

This involves form versus function. Is your gun in good working order? Does it go bang? All gun owners should know that function beats form. Your answer is there. Do not fuss with the mechanics of a working gun to make look pretty.

I have a pair of the same guns with Crimson Trace lasers on both. Car guns for myself and wife.
If it ain't broke don't fix it! If you just have to do it rig up some way to test shoot them without losing a hand.

__________________
NRA & TSRA
Texas CHL Holder

WOW. Having replace lots of barrels and cylinders I find one turning into a grenade highly unlikely unless the cylinder that blows had serious issues to start with.
If they carry up correctly and they pass the range rod test, they will work as safely and well as a factory one. Between the forcing cone and the normal rotational slack cause by the cylinder stop needing enough clearance to drop in the notch and operate in its window about the worst you would get is some spitting. Spitting is usually caused by a large gap and the forcing cone not being cut correctly

Cylinders don't get weaker by being moved from one gun to the other. You seldom have much in the way of timing issues. I have even stuck a 6 shot 32 H&R cylinder in a 5 shot 38 special frame and had the cylinder carry up and time right. Shot very well too with a 32 caliber barrel. I run into more issues with yoke tube length and Barrel to cylinder gap than timing issues. Once those are sorted out I am almost always good to go.

I have done probably 40 or more cylinder swap, reamed them to different calibers, chance barrels etc so far and fired every single one and still have all my fingers. I will also note that S&W test fires every single new revolver by hand. If it was as dangerous as some people believe it is they would not do so.

Check out this performance center guy install a raw cylinder, cut the ratchet teeth, check the carry up dragging cylinder, cut the forcing cone, then assembling, check the gap, and checking it by plunging the range rod to check alignment in just a few seconds. from about 4:20 on

The whole video is well worth watching

While you do need to have a clue about how things need to be and how to adjust them it isn't rocket science and once done with the proper checks LESS dangerous than buy a new gun off a rack and firing it without doing the same checks

Snatched the words from my screen.

I am sure you are right. You know much more about that than I ever will know. Thanks for the info. I just thought a cylinder swap might cause a problem. I'll never try it but it's good to know I probably won't blow my hand off if I do!

__________________
NRA & TSRA
Texas CHL Holder