624 chambers .44 Mag

[thedane]

I went through this process 2 years ago with a 3" 624. To reiterate what Keith Brown and Hondo44 have reported there are no markings on the gun to indicate whether or not it was inspected. I sent my 3" 624 back to S&W and received it back with a letter that gave it a clean bill of health.

I also bought a 4" 624 that had the red letter "C" on the end label. Inside the box was a letter sent to original purchasers advising them of the recall.

Here is a link to the thread that discusses the issue and has a copy of the original recall letter.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/171766-624-629-recall-notice.html

 

[MMA10mm]

I was 17 and had just been shooting the dickens (all Summer) out of my 629-1 (serial AHF####) which had recently been bought for my HS graduation present, when my gun/shooting/reloading mentor told me about the recall in 1985. I was the saddest 17-yr-old possible when we had to ship my newest most-treasured possession back to the factory. I was going through serious withdrawals! Funny thing is that back then I had more exuberrance than sense and had shot a thousand or two very hot loads with 2400 and the Thompson GC SWC through it, so I already knew it would pass the magnaflux....

 

[CWH44300]

I have all 3 624's and a 629-1 from that era. All were marked
with the red circle C. I have never tried to put a magnum shell
in a special. An unsafe practice.
Oddly enough the 6.5" 624 does not shoot as well as the 4"
which is a dream. It has timing issues as well. I have always
thought about sending it to one of the major revolver guys to
have it made into a 5". Even the 3" shoots better.
Hope yours was not made on Monday

My favorite 624:

The 6.5":

---
Nemo

Every time I see that 624 my knees get weak

 

[LouisianaJoe]

It's a .300 but .250 might actually work better as I have the
rear sight jacked up about all the way. The original sight
was .300 but moving the aiming point back most of an inch
seems to have raised the rear sight even more. I would get a
.250 if I had to do it all over again.
The gap between the frame and the bottom of the rear sight
is .080. A .250 would reduce that to .030.

...Nemo...

Thanks for the info. I will get the .250

 

[Nemo288]

Every time I see that 624 my knees get weak

Mine too!

...Nemo...

 

[Speedo2]

removed PC

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I checked the cylinder length of me 624 and it is correct. I was wondering if I had a 629 that was marked wrong. The .44 Mag ammo that I tried was Federal, not reloads.

As I said in a previous post, I will only put my own reloads in it.

 

[sjmjax]

Just checked both of my 624's. One each 4 inch & 6 inch.

Both are in the recall range. Both chamber factory .44 magnum ammo.

I'm not returning them. I don't want them replaced with anything S&W currently offers.

A bit disgusted with them for refusing to make proper replacement cylinders for these guns. Dittos regarding the grossly oversize throated 25-2 & 25-5 guns of which I also have several.

I have always and will always shoot .44 special rounds in them. However, I am planning on loading some hot .44 special level in .44 magnum brass just for these two guns. Will label them my .44 special magnums! See if the full length brass improves accuracy.

 

[GregG]

I did some checking on my 624 that I just started loading for.

I didn't have any .44 Special brass so I cut down .44 Magnum in my lathe. My 624 also *almost* chambers a roll crimped .44 Magnum round, except for about .050", about what the OP found on his 624 with his handloads.

I trimmed some brass to 1.160" (max SAAMI spec) and loaded a few. I fired one, and that piece of brass still had some of its roll crimp and would not anywhere near accept a bullet. Upon further review, 1.160" is slightly too long for this gun. It chambers fine *if* the cartridge is roll crimped, but the end of the case resides in the tapered part of the chamber, and when the gun is fired there isn't room for the cartridge walls to expand at the mouth. This will likely raise pressures and also size a cast bullet down.

I did some careful measuring, and this gun needs 1.130" case length to give me .010" clearance between the end of the case and the start of the tapered portion of the chamber.

I should have checked my trimmed cases by dropping a few into the cylinder before roll crimping them. A 1.160" case, if gently lowered into the cylinder, will not drop all the way in. It lacks about .020" from seating fully. The 1.130" cases all drop in under their own weight.

So it'll be 1.130" for this gun.

 

[Nemo288]

I just measured some of the newer Starline 44 special cases
and as fired they come out to 1.145". They seem to go right
to the end of the cylindrical portion of the chamber and not enter
the tapered part. I don't see any crimp left at all.
This is in a 6.5" 624 (1985).
And, yeah, a Magnum round just about goes all the way in but
not quite. The cylinder won't close all the way.

I am finding I like the Starline cases. They are a little thicker
than some at the base and taper to the cylindrical part where
the bullet resides. This seems to be the case in all their 44 flavors
from Special to Supermag.
A lot of other brands are true cylinders and potentially not as
strong. You can get Starline in both brass and nickel.

...Nemo...

 

[GregG]

I am finding I like the Starline cases. They are a little thicker
than some at the base and taper to the cylindrical part where
the bullet resides. This seems to be the case in all their 44 flavors
from Special to Supermag.

...Nemo...

They might be using the same extrusion for all three calibers?

One thing I noticed on my cut down .44 Magnum brass was that my RCBS .44 case mouth expander was putting a bulge in the case about a 1/4" below where the base of the bullet stops. I had to set up the .44 expander to stop just short of bulging the case, then using my .41 mag case mouth expander to open the mouths up. I'm going to put a taper on my .44 expander so it doesn't do that anymore. It goes too deep anyway.

Are you getting a bulge in your Starline brass when you expand the case mouths?

 

[Nightowl]

I bought an AHB serial 6 1/2" last summer and only fired it once. I was not impressed with the accuracy with my cowboy reloaded .44 specials. I tried a .44 mag case and it entered into the chamber almost up the cut next to the rim. Comparing it to the .44 special case, it entered about 2/3 the distance between the lengths of the two cases farther than it should. I could see where a heavy crimped reloaded .44 mag case might be pushed into the chambers.

 

[Nemo288]

They might be using the same extrusion for all three calibers?
Are you getting a bulge in your Starline brass when you expand the case mouths?

I think they make then all separately as I don't get any bulging
and the cylindrical portion to accept the bullet is more or less the
same on all 3 types of case. Not sure if the Specials are cut to accept the big 300+ grain bullets as I have never tried.
The 445 is definitely ready for the longer bullets. They are also harder to find.
I think they make them like once a year.

I bought an inside neck reamer when I was making 445 brass
from 303 and 30/40 brass. It was WAY too thick after cutting down.
I notice some of then are still a tad bulged at the bottom of the bullet.
I didn't ream far enough down.
Sounds like you need one. It's a die setup you mount in your press
like other dies. You ram the brass all the way up into the die and
then rotate the cutter handle down into the top of the holder die.
Mine is made by RCBS.

...Nemo...

 

[Step N. Mud]

Interesting on the recalled prefix numbers. I have a 629-1, AJL prefix and had sent S&W a email asking for the DOM and if any recalls. A quick response from S&W was the 629-1,prefix AJL was made in 1985, but no other info was given in the the return email.
After looking at the recall numbers posted on this thread, it seems that the prefix AJL was skipped inbetween the AH and AL sequence. Maybe another reason for that, but the 44 mag standard loads and reloads work fine and accurate.

or maybe the AJ was included between the listed prefix numbers?

 

[Nemo288]

I have a 6" 629-1 in the AFP series that WAS recalled and has
the red circle C on the box (as do all my 624s AHB and ALV).

...Nemo...

 

[aavspj]

I spoke with the Smith & Wesson historian today and he confirmed the .44 mag fitting in some of the 624 cylinders issue. He said there was no other problem he knew of and that no 624s have blown up as a result. He also said you can't believe everything your read on the internet.

 

[Hondo44]

One can't discount everything on the internet either. For example I didn't know some 624s would chamber 44 Mag until I heard it here. And I know for a fact one can't believe everything heard from S&W with the exception of the Historian.