Barrel alignment

[bedwards]

Can you back off an over clocked barrel on a 629-1 without a frame wrench? It is ever so slightly over clocked. It is not pinned. The only wrench I can find is at Brownells.
Upon edit, I will have to get my gauges out tomorrow, but I think the cylinder gap is too tight also which points to overclocked barrel. I really like this gun and have no intentions of sending it back.

Much thanks in advance

 

[stansdds]

Uhhhhh... I suppose you could do it without the proper tools. I'm sure lots of people have. I'm also sure that there is less chance of damaging the frame when using the proper frame wrench.

 

[Riposte1]

Is the front sight off center or tilted - moving the barrel will move the sight.

Riposte

 

[Yendor 1]

If it’s fixable, little things like that (the barrel being out of time) drive me nuts. The 629 is one of S&W’s premier, flagship guns, and the barrel and front sight are crooked.

Imagine, the only job you have is to install barrels and…..

They needed to have bought a magnifying glass for that dude.

If you do manage to get that rectified, please report back. I want to hear about the process.

 

[The Kid]

50 years ago the recommended home gunsmithing method was to clamp the barrel in a vise and put a hammer handle through the frame. Not a good practice no matter how many times you read it and it can and will spring a frame.

If you’re serious about doing it yourself buy or build a proper action wrench.

 

[bedwards]

I guess I need to get a picture, but it looks just like all of them if you do a search. If you're looking down the barrel, it's canted to the left. Enough that the ejector rod is not catching well. Like I said, I can adjust the sights enough to make it work. I'm going to buy the frame wrench I guess. I just hate to spend that money for a one time use.
Thanks for all your replies.

 

[bedwards]

Do I need to buy vise jaws or can it be held with lead or wood? I think the torque speck is only 30 ftlbs.

 

[Toolguy]

Moving it that much will not affect the cylinder gap. There is a tool for that, too, but again, not cheap. You can use softwood blocks in the vise (like white pine) on either side of the barrel that will conform, but not mar the finish.


Once you get the frame wrench, you could pay for it by starting a reclocking business. You'd be buried in work in a week.

 

[bedwards]

Ok, had a very successful day. I have some pictures also. These are before pics.

 

[bedwards]

These are after pics. The last pic is how I rotated the barrel assembly with tin babbitt and a small brass hammer without marring or warping anything. The cylinder gap is .003


I spent an hour and 2 boxes of shells yesterday trying to sight it in. Today it took 20 mins and 25 shells.

thanks to all who replied

 

[lihpster]

Much better now. Nice work.

 

[Rustywrench]

Nice Job! Hard to believe that one made it past inspection at S&W.

 

[Rpg]

Why would you buy it in the first place? If it bothers you that much, seems like you should have left it in the LGS.

 

[stansdds]

That barrel was seriously over-clocked. Hopefully, backing it off to get the rib and front sight aligned with the frame did not reduce the torque on the barrel enough to cause it to begin to unscrew from the frame.

 

[WR Moore]

The torque reaction of right hand twist rifling tends to tighten right hand barrel threads. Screwed in hand tight, the left hand edge of the barrel serrations should line up with the right hand edge of the frame serrations. A wee dab of grease on the frame/barrel face can make getting proper alignment a bit easier.

 

[jeffrefrig]

Send a bill to S&W for your time at $125/hour…and a job application.

 

[75Vette]

You shoulda helped forum member Blaine replace his front sight before S&W ruined his gun. Just sayin... Good job on the barrel BTW.

 

[rwsmith]

Nice Job! Hard to believe that one made it past inspection at S&W.

+/- 5 degrees is 'in spec'. It should have failed on the barrel/cylinder gap if not the clocking of the barrel. For about 10 years now, the customer is S&W QC. I think they figure that most people will buy it and put it in a sock drawer. No complaint, it's a good gun. Complaint? It's still a good gun because it's 'in spec'.

 

[bedwards]

I don't know why I didn't catch it when I bought it and yes I did look it over in the store. I've had it a couple years now and only shot it once. I never could get it to group very well and I guess not as the ejector rod was not catching in the pin. It would try to lock up randomly. I thought it was my reloads but after adjusting the barrel, I ran 25 through it today sighting it in and it ran flawlessly. Shoots much better.

 

[Lou_the_welder]

If I seen a guy bang a rifle sight on a concrete floor- this is much better.

True story

 

[CALREB]

I have seen a bunch that seemed slightly over clocked, where the barrel lines line up on the left side of the channel for the sight. None as bad as yours and it looks like some material build up against the frame. I wonder if a previous owner didn't think the barrel was loose and put some steel wool threads or something on the threads and then cranked it tight. Anyway looks fine now glad you were able to get it right.

 

[Mark IV]

It's predictably tempting to criticize the OP for missing that glaring flaw at the gunstore, ( though its a fair point), but i can't cast any stones myself, because I've done the exact same thing, not only with guns, but bicycles and guitars. After you see the flaw, you can't miss it, and feel like an idiot for not noticing it.
Anyway, glad to hear the OP managed to correct it without making it worse.
I'm still a S&W fan, but I've gotten leery of their stuff even on my local used market.

 

[The Kid]

Glad it worked out for you. And for the guys decrying S&W’s newfound lack of QC, that gun is at least 30 years old.

 

[Taj]

Can you back off an over clocked barrel on a 629-1 without a frame wrench? It is ever so slightly over clocked. It is not pinned. The only wrench I can find is at Brownells.
Upon edit, I will have to get my gauges out tomorrow, but I think the cylinder gap is too tight also which points to overclocked barrel. I really like this gun and have no intentions of sending it back.

Much thanks in advance

Barrel/cyl gap is set after barrel install by the guy doing the final fitting. A too small B/C gap is not an indicator. A good way to judge is to look at the barrel frame juncture from the muzzle end. An improperly clocked barrel will show a different reveal on the frame from right to left. Over clocking can be an issue depending on how much it's off. Backing it off can cause the barrel to be loose. If it's a tiny bit out of clock, you might get by with it. Depends on how tight they had to torque it to over clock it. Might be best to let the factory do it. I was with S&W when they went away from pinned barrels and some of the new guns had the barrels so tight, even the custom shop was complaining about bending frames trying to remove a barrel.

 

[RMFnLA]

50 years ago the recommended home gunsmithing method was to clamp the barrel in a vise and put a hammer handle through the frame. Not a good practice no matter how many times you read it and it can and will spring a frame.

If you’re serious about doing it yourself buy or build a proper action wrench.

Yeah, some yahoo gun writer suggested that.

When I was ‘smithing I had a guy bring in a S&W that he did it to, and he actually dented the frame outside of where the crane is inserted.

I was able to get the gun back into action by reaming out the hole, but there was no way to eliminate the dents completely.