Loose barrel retaining pin...?

[Hoppe's no.10]

I recently purchased a 28-2 Highway Patrolman that is in great shape, carried little and shot even less and I've only had a chance to put a few .38 Spec. target loads through it. Cleaning it the other day I noticed the barrel retaining pin was not centered "in" the barrel but rather a bit out on the right hand side of the gun. It took a few very, very light taps with a nylon punch and a plastic gunsmith's hammer to re-center the pin. Generally how tight are these pins supposed to be excluding rust, oxidation etc. I looked in Kuhnhausen's "The S&W Revolver" and he just gave info. on removing the pin not on "tightening" it in - if such a thing is possible. Problem with the gun or just a problem in my mind? Thanks in advance.

Hoppe's no.10

 

[Gunhacker]

Not uncommon for the pin to be slightly to one side with the head barely protruding above the outline of the hole.

If that's the way yours is, I'd leave as is. Unless you have a pin punch made with a tip to fit the rounded end of the pin, you run the risk of a flat tip punch sliping off deforming the end of the pin and/or hole and marring the frame.

 

[Texas Roots]

This is fairly common to find the pin not quite tight enough for the hole size. I've run into it with several of my N frame guns I've had over the last 35 years or so.

You can take the pin out, put a little bend in it so that when you reinstall it, the bend will create enough friction to hold it in place.

OR... you could put a little Loctite Purple or Loctite Blue on it and then reinstall it.

OR... you could make your own oversize pin. This is the route I like to take personally.

So, you can fix it any way you like or just leave it as is.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

or put a dent on the pin to make it bind up.

I bend or create a flat spot. If done right, you don't need the locktite.

 

[JMusic]

Yeah I'd center punch in two opposing places and one drop of loctite green. The reason for the green loctite is you should never have to remove or want to remove the pin, plus it leaches down and firms the barrel if there is a problem there. You can still heat and remove with no finish problems.