S&W 24-3 44 special

[Frank46]

I own a S&W 24-3 4" barrel revolver in 44 special. Have a couple things wrong with it that concern me. First off the lockup could be better. You don't get that snick when manually closing the cylinder that some of my other revolvers do. Second is that I have shiney spots on the breech end of the barrel. So at this point it's a safe bett the cylinder is hitting the barrel. And I feel the crane or yoke may be out of alignment most likely the cause of the shiney spot on the barrel.

And for my last question, does S&W still service these revolvers?.I mean they were made in the mid 80's so they are about 36 years 0ld.How do I find out if in fact that they still service these revolvers. Your help is appreciated. Thanks, Frank

 

[Jeff97223]

Smith & Wesson revolvers have a lifetime guarantee. Send it in.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[HamHands]

NOOOOOO, don't send that M24-3 in to Smith and Wesson. If in fact it will chamber a .44Mag round in the cylinder then you will never, ever see if again... (mine is one that will chamber .44magnum rounds but I just keep .44Magnum and .44Special ammo separated so it's not a problem for me.) When Smith cut the chamber throats back in the 80's they cut them just a tad deep. It's caused zero issues on my M24-3 in regards to accuracy. But if it fails Smith's specs then they will deem it dangerous and keep it. You will get a new model with a hole in the frame. There are plenty of threads on Google if you search about this subject. Mine will never see Smith's doors, ever. Take it to a competent Revolver Smith is my advice. I've learned how to work on Revolvers (not as intimidating as they seem) a small partly because of this subject. Jerry Miculek's youtube video's are golden and you can buy all the drivers, wrenches, jigs', etc on-line from Brownell's and/or Amazon if you decide to deal with any problems yourself.

 

[Murdock]

Magnum rounds fittng in the Special chambers of a 24-3? That came out of the blue.

Just tried that in my 24-3. Magnums don't fit. Serial number ABZ68XX.

 

[Jeroenw114]

You will get a new model with a hole in the frame.

Interesting. They do not return your revolver but you do get a new one for free?
I did some googling buit could not find this subject.

 

[HamHands]

Magnum rounds fittng in the Special chambers of a 24-3? That came out of the blue.

Just tried that in my 24-3. Magnums don't fit. Serial number ABZ68XX.

It's a thing... I'm not home or would prove it... Look at Google... Heck, I've posted pics here before but since have deleted my "old" Imgur account due to Regime changes and haven't transferred any pics yet. When I get home from this business trip, I'll post more pics.

Best regards,
Hams

 

[HamHands]

Interesting. They do not return your revolver but you do get a new one for free?
I did some googling buit could not find this subject.

It's not a positive thing... You don't want to go that route. At current you would lose a 2K+ gun for a sub $600 one... Garbage!

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I bought my 4" 24-3 brand new when they came out in 1983. I never heard of magnums possibly fitting it so I just checked and it's OK. I better check my six incher.

 

[LittleCooner]

I copied this from another forum, please do your own research, but it appears a few of the 624 left the factory with the long chambers and were subject to a factory recall in years past.

The 624/629 recall was for S/N's within these ranges, shipped between January 1, 1985 and June 8, 1985:

ADXXXXX
AEXXXXX
AFXXXXX
AGXXXXX
AHXXXXX
ALVXXXX
N910000 thru N953000

There were only about 500 guns with the defective cylinders that were a result of a supplier shipping 11 stainless rods that were out of spec in the metallurgy.

The "Spec Ord" on the end label is the Julian date of the gun... the 318th day of 1985 or November 14th, 1985, which is after the period outlined in the recall.

Guns that went through the recall process should have a "C" enclosed in a circle stamped on the box end label in red ink.

624-629 recall Label.jpg

Of course... always confirm with S&W with a call.

 

[Jeroenw114]

I think two different tales are combined now.

On the forum you refered to no long chambers were mentioned.
Just the text about the stainless rods that were out of spec in the metallurgy.
That woyuld give cilinders in faulty metal quality.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

NOOOOOO, don't send that M24-3 in to Smith and Wesson. If in fact it will chamber a .44Mag round in the cylinder then you will never, ever see if again... (mine is one that will chamber .44magnum rounds but I just keep .44Magnum and .44Special ammo separated so it's not a problem for me.) When Smith cut the chamber throats back in the 80's they cut them just a tad deep. It's caused zero issues on my M24-3 in regards to accuracy. But if it fails Smith's specs then they will deem it dangerous and keep it. You will get a new model with a hole in the frame. There are plenty of threads on Google if you search about this subject. Mine will never see Smith's doors, ever. Take it to a competent Revolver Smith is my advice. I've learned how to work on Revolvers (not as intimidating as they seem) a small partly because of this subject. Jerry Miculek's youtube video's are golden and you can buy all the drivers, wrenches, jigs', etc on-line from Brownell's and/or Amazon if you decide to deal with any problems yourself.

Just clear things up..........The 24 NEVER chambered the .44 mag EVER.......The 624 spl , some cylinders were claimed to chamber the mag and had bad steel etc......You can send that 24 back and they can rebuild it for you if needed.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Magnum rounds fittng in the Special chambers of a 24-3? That came out of the blue.

Just tried that in my 24-3. Magnums don't fit. Serial number ABZ68XX.

That's cuz it didn't happen.................

 

[HamHands]

That's cuz it didn't happen.................

I cant wait to get home...

 

[jtcarm]

I own two 24-3s and neither will chamber a magnum case.

I have had considerable issues with end shake on the one that's been fired extensively. It's been to the gunsmith on a couple of occasions, once when I noticed the center pin barely protruding from the extractor. It was so long ago I don't recall what they said. By Another time for endshake.

When it developed endshake again, I installed Power shims which cured it, but still left me with a .011 BC gap.

I love this revolver, but it's fragility has left me disappointed.

I should mention there have been no Elmer-class loads through this gun. Nothing over 25,000 PSI.

 

[22hipower]

I copied this from another forum, please do your own research, but it appears a few of the 624 left the factory with the long chambers and were subject to a factory recall in years past.

The 624/629 recall was for S/N's within these ranges, shipped between January 1, 1985 and June 8, 1985:

ADXXXXX
AEXXXXX
AFXXXXX
AGXXXXX
AHXXXXX
ALVXXXX
N910000 thru N953000

There were only about 500 guns with the defective cylinders that were a result of a supplier shipping 11 stainless rods that were out of spec in the metallurgy.

The "Spec Ord" on the end label is the Julian date of the gun... the 318th day of 1985 or November 14th, 1985, which is after the period outlined in the recall.

Guns that went through the recall process should have a "C" enclosed in a circle stamped on the box end label in red ink.

624-629 recall Label.jpg

Of course... always confirm with S&W with a call.

The 624 recall has been addressed in numerous previous threads. It is possible to chamber some 44 mag ammo in 44 Special chambers but that has more to do with the manufacturing of the ammo than the depth of the 44 Special chambers. Please see this previous post:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-re...9-model-624-recall.html?597049=#post140503475

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[HamHands]

Finally home... and unpacked... Pulled my favorite Revo/Handgun out of our Liberty Safe...

Pulled (6) Underwood 255 grain Hard Cast .44Magnum "Keith's" from a factory box, loaded her, and started taking pics (safely of course)...

Here are the results just as the last 4 times I've posted this problem and checked and performed pics just as before just as other members here have as well... I used a Different box from a different lot number as well from before just to be fair of my favorite brand of factory ammo...Underwood just well for diversity's sake...

Pick #1 Pic of the subject "firearm", the M24-3 Lew Horton Special (my baby) posted in random other recent and past post and the subject of this thread... She's an OEM M24-3 Lew Horton Special built in 1985, Serial # AEJ17XX AND pic #1

Pick #2 of Factory .44Magnum loads in 255 Grain and fully seated... they seat fully in the chambers...

Pick #3 another pic of fully seated .44Magnum 255gr pills from
Underwood...

Pic #4 to pic just to show full seat along with factory box of 255gr Underwood .44Magnum loads fully seated in my M24-3 Lew Horton Special...

Pic #5 pic of the fully closed cylinder face with same aforementioned 255 grain Hard Cast Keith's from the front-end...

They seat fully, cylinder closes fully, they rotate freely both DA/SA, and will most certainly fire from an M24-3... Nuff said! There is plenty of docs on Google on he subject and on AR15.com

ETA: I've read multiple examples across other boards/forums of guys not getting their M24's back from Smith because of cylinders that will chamber multiple brands/types of .44Magnum cartridges.

Underwood isn't the only brand of ammo I've been able to fit into this M24-3 Cylinder, close up, lock up, and freely rotate. The Underwood is 255 grain. 240 grain pills that are shorter have most certainly fit as well just as full Hard Cast Wads have as well. I'm sure 90% of those would fire fine from this particular Revo though I most CERTAINLY wouldn't suggest it due to the tapered barrel and I love this MF gun! So I shoot .44Special and even Hot .44Specials as well as she's my "Hiking" Revo in the Carolina Mountain's. When I go Kayak Fishing it's the M629-5 with Hot Specials or 305 grain Maggies. It's Stainless Finish is more weather resistant so that is the ticket for those applications as well as when I go running because it wipes sweat off easily as well...

IF anyone wants to send their M24-3 back into S&W for repairs then do so at your own risk is all I was warning against. I won't personally do it EvAR! For one I know how to work on "J"s and "N" frames proficiently. Simply Search thru multiple search engines as Horror threads are still out there upon the aforementioned subject. I don't care to get involved in this subject anymore and was just trying to save someone a mistake by learning from others. Of course YMMV... I love my M24-3 as it was a 3-4 year search for a LHS version and is my reiterated favorite Handgun.

ETA: Another couple pics that I forgot to post with the 255gr Underwood .44Magnum loads in the lovely M24-3 LHS...

Be safe and God Bless.

-Hams

 

[spring1271]

Got to admit this peaked my curiosity so i pulled my 24-3 out and gave it a try. I found that factory 44 mag would not chamber but my heavy 250 Keith 44 mag handloads with a heavy crimp would, though the OAL was longer than the cylinder . Have to be more careful with lighter 44 mag reloads from now on that have a shorter OAL.

 

[HamHands]

I own two 24-3s and neither will chamber a magnum case.

I have had considerable issues with end shake on the one that's been fired extensively. It's been to the gunsmith on a couple of occasions, once when I noticed the center pin barely protruding from the extractor. It was so long ago I don't recall what they said. By Another time for endshake.

When it developed endshake again, I installed Power shims which cured it, but still left me with a .011 BC gap.

I love this revolver, but it's fragility has left me disappointed.

I should mention there have been no Elmer-class loads through this gun. Nothing over 25,000 PSI.

Try loading a fully loaded/complete pill in her...


I've ran the gauntlet from 190 grain soft cast HP's from Underwood, to 200 grain Gold Dot's and up to Hot and heavy "Keith's" rated at almost 1,100fps thru mine without any problems as she's nice and tight as the day I picked her up. 250-260 grain Keith style pills at 1,075FPS are the hottest I'd ever shoot and are close to the upper limits of Elmer's well documented/established threshold; though I know he ran them 100fps hotter even. The M24-3 with heavy Specials will do just about anything I want her to do.

If I need anything more then I'll use my M629-5 with Prvi's or Underwood's 305gr loads that push a hair more than 1,250fps from my 3" barrel. Which is a heck of a hard hitting load.

Anything more and I'll run those same loads thru my 18.5" Ruger M44 Semi-Auto Carbine which is the hardest hitting Carbine I've ran to date. They push almost 1,800fps and still divot my 1/2" AR-500 Plate even @ 125 yards...

They are the "Fat-Pops" below left center and yes, they certainly are divots from that 305gr Underwood Hard Cast Loading...

 

[HamHands]

Got to admit this peaked my curiosity so i pulled my 24-3 out and gave it a try. I found that factory 44 mag would not chamber but my heavy 250 Keith 44 mag handloads with a heavy crimp would, though the OAL was longer than the cylinder . Have to be more careful with lighter 44 mag reloads from now on that have a shorter OAL.

That is "Smith's" beef and why you might not ever see it again should you send her back to them. Any "Heavy" load should and has to have a nice crimp so as to not walk out under recoil the subsequent loads in a chamber. I was warned by Tim Sundles personally (in several emails), the owner of Buffalo Bore about needing "Heavy Crimps" in .45Super almost 10 years ago where he specifically recommended me to run .45Auto-Rim's in my them M625 instead of .45Super's as my "Wood's Rig"... before building my Springfield Armory 1911 5" Gov't Model "Loaded" into our "Dedicated-Woods-Sidearm"...

Tim said that without a heavy crimp with the .45Super's; (even from his company) would likely sometimes cause a cylinder to lock up due to unfired pills unseating from recoil especially if they were unloaded from a cylinder that maybe shot a couple previous pills, unloaded, then subsequently unfired but previously loaded pills were then put into a chamber again, carried and shot.... Guess what, he was right! I switched from the M625. I fully dedicated and built out my 1911 and "Fully-Dedicated" it along with (5) fully dedicated and marked 8 and 10 shot magazines into full-time .45Supers, completely. Ran her for 5 years with no problems and sold the M625 to my lil' brother.

Point being, all and any Heavy .44Special and .44Magnum loads, (any heavy revolver loads) need a "Heavy-Crimp" to avoid the aforementioned problems of bullet unseating under recoil. Thus, heavily crimped loads "as required" Will-Still fit in my M24-3 (and other's M-24-3's) and is the point of my posts and pics. It's NOT a problem as long as you don't shoot .44Special and .44Magnums side by side between an M24 and an M29's side by side or their Stainless Counterparts...

Just don't go sending any Vintage "High-Ball" and "Minty"
M24-3's... especially of the 3" Lew Horton Special babies that are going for sub $3,000 dollars these days to Smith & Wesson for factory repairs because they will be in an Executive's, or a shop foreman's, or another factory worker's collection... as opposed to yours; and you very well could be receiving a newer "Upgraded" version that many of us would see as a "Down-grade"... Over and Out, hope this helps, Bada-Bing...

ETA: I'll take anyone's M24-3 "Problem Revolver" and replace it with a new model of your choice with the proper "frame-hole" if anyone would like to take me up on that offer... Just PM me and the proper account number of choice and it will be a done deal if you send me your defective M24-3...

-Hams

 

[Frank46]

I mentioned that this was a 4" barrel on my 24-3, and you did your ammo fit tests with the 3" barreled one. Which I also have. And as I recall the recall was for the 624 which I also have and does have the red letter "C" on the box. The only 44 magnum I have is a Ruger Redhawk And that hasn't been fired since I bought my 44 special chambered revolvers. Thanks for your info, Frank