Gas cutting on 629-1

[Recon]

Despite staying within published loading data my 629 cylinder doesn't seem to hold up to a combination of Win 296 and 180 jacketed bullets.

One thing I find interesting is how the cutting seems to be away from the cylinder yet doesn't appear to be affecting the cylinder itself. The forcing cone shows no indication of cutting.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

More often than not,flame cutting seems to an issue with the top strap and forcing cone.My tired old eyes don't really see any damage in the picture.Specifically,where is the damage?

 

[Recon]

Canoe:

The pitting or gas cutting is around each of the chamber holes on the front of the cylinder yet there is no cutting on the tap strap or forcing cone.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

Interesting.I have never seen (or perhaps just didn't notice)this before.It would appear to possibly be a blowback effect from the forcing cone of the powder flame and jacket particles which can have a sandblasting effect.

Just curious....About how many of these W296/180 JHP loads have you put through it?

 

[BruceM]

I've shot a fair number of Sierra 180 grain JHC loads with maximum or very near charges of H110 or W296 out of numerous Smith M29's and M629's. I have NEVER seen cylinder face erosion like that. I would ask S&W service about it but I wouldn't mention that the ammo was hand loaded. Have you measured the barrel/cylinder gap and also checked for headspace/endshake issues?



Bruce

 

[canoe on the yukon]

Since my question will be to both of you and only "slightly" off topic,I feel as though it probably won't be in poor form to ask the following question.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

I apologize.....I tapped the post button by accident....My question is......

How well do these 180 JHP's hold up?I've thought about trying them.Sometimes limited penetration and more violent expansion is exactly what I do want.

 

[pownal55]

w296 and h110 are notorius for flame cut on the top strap, but i have never seen that effect. your gun may need a good inspection. bear in mind that stainless is softer than blued steel causing a minor problem to show up a little quicker.

 

[Stevie]

I've seen similiar damage on a well used and abused S&W 1917 .45 acp revolver. The bore on this particular revolver had a lot of internal pitting too. I had presumed the top strap erosion and cylinder face pitting was caused by corrosive priming(and likely was in this particular guns case).

Wonder whats happening with the forcing cone and breech end of the barrel. Any erosion there?

 

[BruceM]

For game, I like the 210 grain JHC better. If you make a mistake & hit the shoulder joint of the deer, the bullet doesn't penetrate that well.

B.

 

[canoe on the yukon]

For game, I like the 210 grain JHC better. If you make a mistake & hit the shoulder joint of the deer, the bullet doesn't penetrate that well.

B.

I would never use it for deer.I was thinking more along the lines of large varmints.

 

[john traveler]

Recon,

I just had a quick look at my M629 to check the barrel stub ("forcing cone" end). Is your barrel end sharply beveled? MIne is squarely cut, like most all S&W I've seen. I could not believe that the "flame cutting" signature showed the barrel end to be so thin. Is it a S&W stock barrel or a custom job? How many rounds fired?

Here's why I ask: I once had an opportunity to examine an M39A2 20mm aircraft revolver cannon, and noticed that the barrel breeches were notably thick. On another occasion, I asked an ordnance engineer why this was so, and his answer was that it was intended to minimize flame-cutting of the revolver cylinder and barrel breech and thereby extend useful cannon life.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I apologize.....I tapped the post button by accident....My question is......

How well do these 180 JHP's hold up?I've thought about trying them.Sometimes limited penetration and more violent expansion is exactly what I do want.

My experience has only been with Remington 180s and factory loads, but I'm not impressed. Expansion into water was quick and violent, but penetration was less than 8 inches into water jugs. I can't think of a single thing I'd shoot with them that wouldn't be better served using something else. They're definitely fun on the range, though. Recoil is violent and the blast is impressive. When somebody next to me starts shooting better than I do, a cylinder full of the Rem 180s usually solves that problem. Everybody nearby has a flinch when I'm done.

By the way, they run a hair over 1600 fps from my 6 inch 29-4.

 

[Recon]

Interesting.I have never seen (or perhaps just didn't notice)this before.It would appear to possibly be a blowback effect from the forcing cone of the powder flame and jacket particles which can have a sandblasting effect.

Just curious....About how many of these W296/180 JHP loads have you put through it?

Canoe:

I didn't keep track of the number of rounds but would guess somewhere between 300 and 500.

 

[Recon]

Have you measured the barrel/cylinder gap and also checked for headspace/endshake issues?



Bruce

Bruce:

I had the revolver back to S&W to repair a broken trigger axle and they went through the whole gun but didn't mention the erosion. On the range the revolver shoots just as well as it ever did. They may have changed something with the gap but didn't say anything about it.

 

[Recon]

Wonder whats happening with the forcing cone and breech end of the barrel. Any erosion there?

Stevie:

No erosion on the forcing cone or breach.

 

[Recon]

Recon,

Is your barrel end sharply beveled? Is it a S&W stock barrel or a custom job? How many rounds fired?

john:

It appears to be cut square to me. The revolver is completely stock and unmodified. Best guess on rounds fired with the 180's is between 300 and 500.

I would have thought the erosion would have started from the edge of the cylinder hole and worked it's way out. I've seen flame cutting on Model 19's in both the front strap and forcing cone but haven't seen anything like this before.

 

[ricks1]

There is too much play in the cylinder or gap at barrel is too much. I sold a 629 that looked like that . The one I have now the gap is so close its hard to get paper between the cylinder and barrel

 

[Recon]

There is too much play in the cylinder or gap at barrel is too much. I sold a 629 that looked like that . The one I have now the gap is so close its hard to get paper between the cylinder and barrel

ricks:

You're probably right. I wish I had checked the gap before I had some unrelated repair work done by the factory to see what the gap was like. I don't know if they changed the gap but it's really close now.