How easy is it to shoot a S&W revolver out of time?

[Birdhunter6]

I have been shooting S&W revolvers for 45 years. I have had only 1 revolver go out of time. I bought a used .41 Magnum M58 in the early 80s. It was my primary hand gun for almost a decade. I shot it double action exclusively and did a lot of rapid reload practice. I shot reloads at .45 acp velocity. I particularly enjoyed beating casual shooters with 1911s on low round count drills. In short, I ran it hard, but not with full house factory loads. It had excessive holster wear but seemed tight when I got it. I have no idea of the previous owner(s?) round count. I didn't know as much about revolvers then as I do now, and my function check of a used revolver is more extensive.

When problems developed, early on, a local smith fitted a new hand and I put it right back to work. It's still going strong and never faltered again. I have run K, L & N frame revolvers in .38 and .357 just as hard if not quite as long without any similar problems.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[WR Moore]

I'm not disagreeing with your comments on ammo. However two points should be noted:

2. For long range shooting, assuming I can find a load that works, I always go for the lighter, faster rounds to eliminate holdover across various distances.

Just for S&G, I checked factory ballistics tables, which, depending upon what you consider "long range" and what you're shooting at, may make a difference.

Despite the slower start, 158 gr loads arrive at 100 yards with significantly greater energy than 125 gr loads. Doesn't matter on paper or steel.

Mid range trajectories, show about 1 inch more elevation for the slower loads. This would be ~ 2 inches of so in drop.

 

[Protocall_Design]

I shoot revolvers in Metallic Silhouette matches. Field Pistol with .357 out to 100 meters, 109 yards, and Big Bore with .44 out to 200 meters, 218 yards. Over many years, I have found that a heaviest-for-caliber hollow point bullet works the best for longer distances.

For example, a 170 or 180 grain hp. in .357 magnum, or 300 grain hp. in .44 magnum. I like the Hornady XTP bullets for good accuracy. Sierra and Nosler both work well, too.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday at an LGS range I rented a 686+ 5" 357 and boy did it shoot pretty sweet and I think I've come to the conclusion that I must have one.

This is all coming purely from curiosity. It seems that, just based on things I've read and heard over many years that with enough use, a Smith revolver's timing is a little more fragile and can suffer in a shorter amount of time than compared to other manufacturers equivalent product i.e. GP100 vs 686.

My question is, is this a thing of the past with the recent revolvers coming out of Smith (say over the last decade or so)?

Of course ANY revolver ever can have issues with enough use, and I'm not necessarily looking for a comparison against other makers.

More curious into your first or second hand experience, have you shot your revolver out of time? If so, what did it take, was it due to high round count, or maybe a heavy diet of near max pressure loads? Maybe you have one with 20k+ rounds and still going strong?

Thanks for your input! As a side comment on an unrelated note, the model I think I'd like to get is the 7" 686+ 3-5-7, so if you have experience with this one please share! Bonus if you have pics of the gun or a target you're proud of.

Have a great day!

In my fleet of S&W's starting from 1972...........NONE are out of time or had to be retimed. .22's through 45LC. Colt YES.......Put that incorrect thought to bed,

 

[daveyc]

fast double-action shooting will take a revolver out of time quicker than anything else. To add, N-frames will go out faster than L, because of the momentum built up by the heavy cylinder.

 

[austintexas]

I own a M-19 I bought in 1962, It still shoots great, I used to put 4 or 5 boxes of full house 357s thru it every Saturday until I realized that 38s felt better on my aging wrists. besides that paper or gongs don't care if it is full house or target loads. I have a 1936 registered magnum that has never been apart as far as I know.
SWCA 892

 

[Drm50]

I have bought back many guns that I sold as long as 50yrs ago. I know for a fact, excluding 22s, that many of these guns haven’t had 500, that’s 10 boxes of ammo thru them. Very seldom will the owner fire a magnum revolver in DA mode. In case of 357s if it has been shot 500 times, 450 were 38sp.
I know most guys on the gun forums are involved in shooting more than the average gun owner. Average is the key word and shooting a couple hundred rounds every weekend isn’t average. Moral of the story is most will never fire their revolver enough to break in. I’ve got S&Ws and Colts over 100yrs old that are tight as new. They aren’t safe queens just owned by the average guy.

 

[Sgt. Buzzard]

Snapping the cylinder closed a la' television and movie "heroes" doesn't do them any good either.

I was a PD firearms instructor, range office and armourer. This was during the transition time between Smith model 10's and Sigs.

Snidely's quote is 100% correct. Far more revolvers were damaged by movies than worn out timing. Pistols shaving lead is the main problem and it's a danger to others shooting on the line. I know one guy who lost an eye due to this. Police shoot little but carry a lot so timings not a typical problem. A weapon with high use such as a rental gun is a different matter. They could suffer from both timing and snapping the cylinder.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Seems like the 7 shot 357’s are more likely to display timing issues than the 6 shot versions.

I was thinking that too. But I got a 686 Plus in 2018 and I have 4000+ rounds of .38 and .357 downrange and it is still tight and shoots a tight group.