M19 Fowling Problem

[bridger#1]

I have two M19-3s and both experience having powder residue etc. getting into/past the gas seal on the crane and gumming up the cylinder for free rotation after just a few rounds.
Anybody else experience this and is there a 'quick' fix short of sending it back to S&W for repair?
According to the 'Standard Catalog of S&W #3, this was fixed in the -4s.
It is just irritating! On the other hand, I've put up with is since it was new, 1976, so it must not bother me that much. LOL

 

[Muley Gil]

Stop shooting chickens, ducks, etc. That will solve your "fowling" problems.

Sorry!

 

[JP@AK]

bridger#1
Are you using factory ammo or handloads? I ask because I've found Unique to be a bit dirty when used for mid-range .38 Special loads, so I'm wondering if that sort of thing might be the problem.

 

[505Gibbs]

bridger#1
Are you using factory ammo or handloads? I ask because I've found Unique to be a bit dirty when used for mid-range .38 Special loads, so I'm wondering if that sort of thing might be the problem.

I agree!! Need more info. on the loads before comments usefully can be made.

 

[stansdds]

Welcome to the S&W Forums! More information is required. Is this factory ammo or your own reloads? Full power or reduced power or 38 Special ammo? Jacketed, cast lead, or swaged lead bullets? If using your own reloads, what powder?

 

[BigChief52]

This one of those things I've heard but can't confirm personally. It's been said that 19-3s with yoke mounted gas rings foul much more quickly than cylinder mounted gas rings. Apparently, 19-3s can be either way and there was no new dash number to mark the change.

 

[Doug M.]

Over 13 years from join to first post. That has to be a record.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Over 13 years from join to first post. That has to be a record.

Probably busy looking for a partridge sight.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Some M19-3's have the gas ring on the cylinder, others have it on the yoke. The change was made from the cylinder to the yoke sometime in the dash-3 run, WITHOUT an engineering change dash number. Then, with the dash-4, it was changed back to the cylinder. It was found that having it mounted on the yoke did not improve fouling of the extractor rod, in fact it was worse, so it got moved back. Is yours one of the ones with the gas ring on the yoke? My M19-3 has the ring on the cylinder, it is a 1974 gun.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

"I have two M19-3s and both experience having powder residue etc. getting into/past the gas seal on the crane and gumming up the cylinder for free rotation after just a few rounds."

That does seem rather odd. Is perhaps your lubricant mixing with the fouling and gumming things up?

I've been shooting Model 19s (and most other S&W models) for close on 50 years and I've just come to accept that I've got to clean the yoke and inside the cylinder on a regular basis, but that's after hundreds of rounds... not just a few.

Other than service loads on the PD, virtually all of my shooting is with cast bullets, so I probably experience the fouling more than those just shooting jacketed bullets.

 

[BB57]

I agree the load matters.

I use Unique a lot but always in full power loads. Unique is sometimes called flaming dirt, but unless you are mis using it for mid range loads it's not a dirty powder.

I have bigger issues with colloidal ball powders like Win 296/H110 which produce large grains of partially burnt powder. Sooner or later you'll have a grain fall out of the cylinder and get between the cylinder and the ejector stat, preventing the cylinder from going back into the frame after a reload.

The lubricant you use also matters. I don't have powder fouling issues but then I lubricate the cylinder rod and gas rings pretty liberally with a thin oil like Remoil or CLP. I stay away from thicker preservative oils that can get gummy over time.

Also, make sure it is powder fouling and not lead. Lead fouling will gum things up a lot quicker than powder fouling and that can happen if the forcing cone isn't properly cut or the timing is a bit off.

 

[Pine_Worker]

Many years ago, I loaded with 2400. Now that is a very dirty powder.

 

[PeteC]

On guns with yoke mounted gas rings, there are small slots cut into the yoke barrel to direct gas away from the gap between the gas ring and the face of the cylinder.

A long time ago I was told to make sure to clean those out now and then. If you never clean them out, they fill up, and stop doing the job they were intended to do. Then the yoke barrel seems to get dirty and "foul" more quickly.

On a stainless 66, it is easy to see when the slots fill up with crud. On a blued Model 19, you may never notice. Dirty powder or incomplete combustion will make the problem worse. The guys who told me about the slots did a lot of target shooting (lots of rounds fired every year). This was some 25 years ago, and they used flattened ends of a match stick to clean the slots out.

This is somewhat related to the story about cracked forcing cones on some models (something I did not know when I was told to clean the slots).

There is a pic and a more detailed explanation in a recent online article, under "GAS RINGS" section:

The Smith & Wesson L-Frame Story - RevolverGuy.Com

Screen Shot:

 

[BigBill]

I used a lot of unique in shooting leadcast target rounds in revolvers and pistols. But for some reason I find the 1911/45 acp a tad dirtier over the revolvers. My magnum loads I use 2400/296.