Model 34 Issue

[RetiredUC]

I recently purchased a Model 34 with round butt and nickel finish made about 1980 in excellent condition. It had very difficult extraction of empty cases but I found a series of posts on this site to ream the chambers myself after having trouble finding a local gunsmith to do the job for me.

The job seemed to turn out pretty well but I've discovered that the pistol misfires one or 2 rounds every cylinder or 2. It doesn't seem to be confined to only 1 or 2 chambers, intermittent and unpredictable when it occurs.

I tried 4 different types of ammunition with the same result and there is no obvious peening on the edge of the rim in the cylinder where the cartridges are seated.

The pistol appears to have been fired very little. The trigger pull seems a fair amount lighter than the J frames (including the Model 63) that I have previously owned but it has been a long time. I'm suspecting the misfires could be the result of spring tension. Can you guys with more technical savvy please weigh in with your opinion? I seem to recall people replacing the springs in the J frame with lighter replacements back in the day. If I try and replace the springs what is the best brand, Smith & Wesson, assuming they are still available from the factory?

Thanks to all and hope you're able to get outside and enjoy some nicer weather!

 

[colt_saa]

Sounds like you need to replace the main spring

Being an older used firearm you do not know if a previous owner put lighter springs in it or clipped coils off a factory spring.

Both things were common for folks trying to do J-frame trigger jobs

Just get a replacement spring from Wolff

 

[RetiredUC]

That was my inclination, Colt SAA, but I wasn't sure if it was the mainspring or the slide rebound spring. Thanks for the feedback, Sir.

 

[Bosquebass]

The rebound slide spring doesn't affect the strength of the hammer hitting the primer. You need to try a new main spring. New stock S&W springs can be bought from Midway or they also have aftermarket springs such as Wolff. Regardless of brand the springs don't cost much.

 

[Drm50]

Did these misfires occur before you reamed chambers? Sounds like main spring but ream job should have nothing to do with light strikes.

 

[RetiredUC]

Good question, Drm50, should have added this to the initial post. I only fired maybe 4-5 cylinders through it before reaming and did have misfires also. I appreciate the feedback and will be ordering a new mainspring tomorrow morning. Glad I joined this site, lots of good info on here.

 

[RSinOR]

I had the exact same problem with a Model 34 I bought about 6 years ago. Replaced the main spring and all is well. I much prefer Wolff springs over any other brand.

 

[Chukar60]

I just went through this with a 34-1 snub I bought last year. Finally got to shoot it early this year and single action was great but double it FTF'd just about every other round.
The action seemed a little too good to be true for a J frame rimfire. Replaced the main spring with a new factory spring and now it fires every single time.
It could well be your gun has the same issue.
I am not a proponent of doing anything with springs on a J frame rimfire. Centerfire are a different story.

 

[Muley Gil]

Good luck with your M34. I bought one, new, back in the '70s. It did fine in single action, but only so-so in double action. I changed mainsprings several times, but the problem near went always.

If you reamed the chambers too deep, that would affect the head space and FTFs.

 

[Pisgah]

Here's a fact -- if you find a Model 34 with a trigger that makes you say, "Hmmm... this ain't half bad, " it means someone before you has clipped a few coils off the mainspring. It's small, it's rimfire, it needs a beefy spring. Put in a new one. It'll take you a while to get used to it, but you'll never have another misfire unless you hit a really bad batch of ammo..