Cylinder stop notch peening?

[wproct]

This peening syndrome has been an aggravation for me. Not a serious problem, just an aggravation. It has been my experience that Smith & Wesson stainless steel revolvers tend to display this condition much worse than Ruger revolvers. Personally, I think it is a result of the design of the locking bolt and the action of the two different revolvers. I also think it is dramatically increased by rapid double action firing and aggressive single action cocking of the hammer. As has been stated before, I don't think it is a serious mechanical problem, more of a cosmetic issue. I also agree that stainless revolvers seem to display this characteristic more so than blued steel revolvers. JMHO.

 

[grip frame]

Lighting conditions showing more or less peening?
What I am talking about is the burr on the top side of the cylinder stop notch that you can see and feel by running you finger or fingernail over the notch. Has nothing to do with what light you are viewing in.

 

[italbrit]

Smith and Wesson replies : Every time the cylinder is spun ,taken out and reset causes the cylinder stop to engage. If there's significant wear and you are the original owner you've got a life time warranty, but do know that the gun doesn't have to be fired to have some signs of wear . Rachel

 

[stc1]

Would anybody explain why the peening shows under artificial lighting and not under natural light ? Of course I'm talking about stainless steel revolvers ,double action work would cause peening? If that's the case why should a brand new revolver which has never been fired have the the cylinder notches peened ?

This might be caused by how your eyesight is affected by different light spectrum. I personally see more " imperfections" with bright LED lighting than other types. I use LED flashlights to pick up imperfections and flaws in polished stone. Fluorescent lights are some of the worst for Inspection, probably due to the "strobe" effect, IMO.

 

[BigBill]

We're comparing stainless steel to forged chrome moly steel?
I did find another brand of firearm to be a softer stainless.
Sounds like another job for living with moly. I would lube it with moly, work it into the pores of the metal, by burnishing it in with a small rag first the work it in more by cycling the firearm. Then wipe off the excess and it's good to go.

 

[Nightowl]

I have a 627-2 that displayed peening right away after I got it, no fast double action, no fast single action cocking. I peened the edges back with a 4 oz hammer a couple of times. Eventually it quite peening and it has had several thousand .38s through it and it still works very well. I don't notice it on the other 627s as much. I think that first one was the worst. As long as it sets up right, I don't worry about it anymore.

 

[rogbn]

Don't mean to sound like a know-it-all, but cylinder stop-notch peening of the type shown in the link posted by peppercorn above is definitely caused / aggravated by rapid trigger pull in DA, or rapid cocking in SA, all else being equal. If the speed, or RPM if you wish, of the cylinder as it is coming into battery is greater than the ability of the cylinder stop spring to push the stop up through the bottom of the frame then the stop will not be fully extended as it comes to the stop-notch and will bang against the far side of the notch somewhere near the top of the cylinder stop. This arrests the turning of the cylinder and then the stop will finish its upward movement into the notch. The peening at the edge of the far side of the notch is where it made hard contact with the very top portion of the cylinder stop. A stronger stop spring would help with this but then that would negatively impact trigger pull, since the trigger nose is what pulls it "out of battery", as it were. The good news is that as long as it isn't severe the peening usually has no ill effect on functioning. Obviously, cylinder hardness, weight (momentum) and several other factors can come into play here; but the bottom line is that if someone repeatedly pulls the trigger hard in DA, or cocks the hammer hard in SA - and this includes while dry firing - he will probably wind up with cylinder stop-notch peening. And by the way, it does happen with blued guns and Rugers, too.