light primer stikes, I think.

[CWS&W]

Hi All, I bought a S&W 686-6 about eight month ago. It's my second wheel gun, my first one, don't laugh, was a Heritage Rough Rider in .22LR and .22Magnum. I shot five SD rounds in it the first day and have been shooting reloads ever since. I love this gun, it's a great shooter specially with 148gr HBWC. But I couldn't leave well enough alone and I got a wolff spring pack. The one I installed is the Type 1 Pak - Includes a Factory Standard mainspring and a 14# rebound spring. I took it to the range and about 5 to 10% of the rounds didn't fire. Some fired after a second time others just didn't regardless of using single or double action. My first thought was did I do something wrong? But then I realized that I also started to use remington primers for the first time, I had always used Winchester before the spring change.
Thoughts?

 

[joe44va]

Are the primers fully seated? They should be a few thousandths below the case.

 

[armorer951]

If it's unrelated to your reloads, put the OEM springs back in. If it was reliable before the spring change, then the culprit is likely the mainspring.

 

[Dave.357]

I bought a really nice 14-2 that a guy tuned up with after
market springs. He still had stock springs ,groups are much
better and no misfires with stock springs . He wants to
buy gun back now (it's not for sale)

 

[CWS&W]

Are the primers fully seated? They should be a few thousandths below the case.

I think they are, they go in easier than the winchester primers.

 

[CWS&W]

If it's unrelated to your reloads, put the OEM springs back in. If it was reliable before the spring change, then the culprit is likely the mainspring.

what about the rebound spring? I still don't understand exactly how it all works in relationship to each other.

 

[Pine_Worker]

If it's unrelated to your reloads, put the OEM springs back in. If it was reliable before the spring change, then the culprit is likely the mainspring.

What armorer951 said.

 

[ContinentalOp]

Is the strain screw tightened all the way down?

 

[CWS&W]

Is the strain screw tightened all the way down?

Yes, I will double check.

 

[mh51]

Replace the new mainspring with the factory one. Make sure the trigger rebounds correctly. If that cures the problem, then the Wolff mainspring is weak.

 

[fxdrider]

what about the rebound spring? I still don't understand exactly how it all works in relationship to each other.

The rebound spring pushes the trigger forward, when you release the trigger after firing. It doesn't (or shouldn't) have any effect on the force with which the hammer strikes the firing pin.

 

[Johnnu2]

Replace the new mainspring with the factory one. Make sure the trigger rebounds correctly. If that cures the problem, then the Wolff mainspring is weak.

+1.... fer sure.... I usually just change the trigger springs; never the mainsprings..........
J.

 

[Kurusu]

what about the rebound spring? I still don't understand exactly how it all works in relationship to each other.

The rebound spring has nothing to do with the hammer strike.

Edit. Got beaten to the draw by fxrider.

 

[Nightowl]

Primers must be seated to the bottom of the primer pocket, not just below the back of the case head. This give the anvil support during the firing pin strike, and prevents cushioning of the blow by movement of the primer in the pocket upon firing pin impact.

 

[hogblue]

951 is correct

 

[CWS&W]

This give the anvil support during the firing pin strike, and prevents cushioning of the blow by movement of the primer in the pocket upon firing pin impact.

thanks for this

 

[Redlegvzv]

Is the strain screw tightened all the way down?

Yes, this is a very possible culprit. It needs to be tightened all the way.

 

[rosewood]

As others have said, seating depth could be an issue. One thing that helps at least on striker fired pistols is using Federal primers. They seem to ignite better than other brands. I have had light strikes on the contender and in my H&R buffalo classic. Went to Federal primers, all is well now.

Rosew

 

[scooter123]

In my experience Remington UMC features the "hardest" primers. While CCI has a reputation for "hard" primers that has not been the case for me with the 500 small pistol primers but the 550 Magnum small Pistol primers are a touch harder to light off. I've also seen some postings on the net that indicate the S&B ammunitions have "hard" primers but haven't every used S&B ammo in any of my revolvers so what I am saying is hearsay. Point is that primers do vary between brands and I would suggest that you do as I have done and tune your revolver to function perfectly with the hardest primers you might be using.

BTW, I have done extensive testing and have found that changing the Rebound Spring has the most effect on the Single Action trigger weight and very little effect on the Double Action trigger weight (as in perhaps 2 ounces). What has the most effect on the Double Action trigger weight is the Mainspring Tension. There are multiple ways to tune the mainsring tenstion.

One way is to replace the mainspring but that is an Either/Or approach. As in it either works reliable or it doesn't work reliably. Good news is you can reverse this change by simply changing back to the factory spring.

Another approach is the change the position of the Strain Screw, an infinitely variable approach but one that can present some issues. One way to do this approach is by filing or grinding the tip of the strain screw so it's shorter. Down side to doing is is that it is not reversable. Another way to change the position of the Strain Screw is by loosening it. The problem with doing this is that it will shoot loose unless you locktite it in position but locktite can create other issues such as not allowing an easy way to remove the strain screw. With a background as a Machinist/Engineer I use a hand made shim that fits under the head of the strain screw. I always keep a batch of these shims on hand in various thicknesses so I can tune my trigger weight by swapping in shims until I get the DA trigger pull just where I want it with the strain screw fully tightened.

BTW, the tip of the strain screw will wear down as the revolver is used. As a result there will come a time when simple wear of the strain screw will start to cause problems with misfires. I'll also note that the strain screws on the stainless revolvers tend to peen at the tip and this will cause a burr to develop that can make removing the strain screw difficult/impossible. Fortunately after removing the mainspring there is room to use a small file to remove that burr easily. BTW, do NOT try to force the strain screw out thru the tapped hole, doing that can permanently damage the threads in the revolver frame.

 

[CWS&W]

Update: I put the original hammer spring back. I don't know when my range will open again due to the corona virus quarantine so I will have to wait to see how it works.
In the meantime here are the numbers:

1 - Original:
double action more than 8# (exceeds the scales capacity)
single action 4# 4oz

2 - After wolff spring pack:
double action 7#
single action 3#4oz

3 - keeping the wolff spring pack with 14# rebound spring but reinstalling the original factory hammer spring:
double action more than 8#
single action 3# 4oz

I was surprised to see that the single action stayed at 3#4oz.