625-8 Firing pin bushing damage -- why?

[LiveFree0rDie]

Hello. I was shooting my PC 625-8 yesterday and while cleaning it noticed some pitting or chipping on the firing pin bushing. I've had this firearm for about two and a half years, give or take. I'm the original owner and I would place the round count at under 2,000 rounds.

I've shot almost exclusively reloads through it--mostly 200 gr. with CCI or Federal primers, both large and small.

My first question is, why is this happening? And secondly, is this something that I should replace right away? Is this normal wear and tear? I'm guessing not, considering none of my other Smiths have exhibited this issue with many thousands of rounds through them.

These chips are not very deep and the gun is functioning fine. Lastly, this is a shooter, so I'm not too concerned with aesthetics.

Thanks for your input.

 

[pittpa]

I just bought one that was shot competitively, and the bushing is unmarked, FWIW. Otherwise, can't address your questions.

 

[Jingles]

Are they actually chips? In the picture it looks to me like flame cutting from ruptured or blown primers, similar to the flame cuts some experience on the forcing cone. Have you noticed any leakage around the primers when you decap your brass? I don't think it would need to be repaired right away but I would certainly want to stop further damage.

 

[Alk8944]

It is erosion from primer failures, leaks, ruptures, whatever. .357 Magnum revolvers are particularly susceptible to showing this damage. Change primer brand you are using.

 

[Gunsnwater]

Those are not from pearcing primers those are leaking. I would think reloaded brass that was stretched from previous hot loads.

 

[scooter123]

As this is a 625-8 that means it's a 45 ACP in caliber, so a stretched case head just isn't possible. However, primer pockets do get worn from simply being primed over and over. I would suggest you use a hand primer for a while and use a sharpie to mark every case you find has a primer pocket that feels "loose" for disposal.

I would also suggest the use of a Lead Away cleaning cloth on that area determine whether this is a stain or if there is actually some erosion going on. From the pics I believe all you have at present is a stain and thus nothing to be concerned about.

 

[LiveFree0rDie]

Thanks for the insight, everyone. I'm probably due to be retiring much of my 45 brass so that's a good tip. I am going to do a deeper cleaning on this thing when I get a chance, but there is missing metal on the bushing. I was thinking some sort of flame cutting, but I didn't know that primer pocket leakage could cause this.

Again, I appreciate the input. I'll post another picture after I get it cleaned up.

 

[SLT223]

I don't see any damage. Looks like fouling caked on there. It doesnt even look that bad. Give it a scrub with a copper brush and some hoppes.

 

[muddocktor]

If that is actual erosion instead of stains, I wouldn't sweat it about changing out the bushing until you need to have something else done to your revolver. My original 27-2 I bought back in 1974 had a little bit of erosion on the bushing and it was caused by old worn out brass with loose primer pockets, like numerous other people have said already. It didn't affect my old 27 in any way and I only had it changed out when I sent it in to S&W to get it tuned up a year ago, along with some other work being done to my old 27.

 

[LiveFree0rDie]

I took a brush to it and cleaned it up a little bit better. The depth of the erosion is very shallow. I can feel and see that it is there, but I'm not going to worry too much about it right now. I've seen some other folks on here with similar issues now, though it doesn't appear to be super common. I checked all of my other Smiths and they all look perfect. One out of ten or twelve isn't too bad, I guess. I'm just surprised it didn't happen on my 686-6 before the 625, which has around 10,000 rounds through it over the last four or five years.

 

[andyo5]

Are you trying to uniform, deepen, or recut your primer pockets?
I stopped doing that years ago because I found it was causing pitting on the breach face of my autos due to gas leakage.

 

[LiveFree0rDie]

Are you trying to uniform, deepen, or recut your primer pockets?
I stopped doing that years ago because I found it was causing pitting on the breach face of my autos due to gas leakage.

No, I don't do anything like that. I can imagine it might be loose primer pockets, though. I reload on a single stage mostly so I can usually feel if they are too loose, but maybe a few got through. I should retire this brass. Plus I'd like to get on 100% small or large primers for 45 so I don't need to keep two collections of brass going.

 

[S&W1006]

I have the same issue with my 610. It happened with some of my brass that had been reloaded several times and it leaked around the primers. I disposed of that brass and haven't had any further damage. I haven't changed my bushing yet but I will eventually replace it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[andyo5]

I have attached a photo showing the problem that I used to have with leaking primers.