S&W 627 PERFORMANCE CENTER

[N1TKS]

Recently bought a 627 performance center .357. Shot about 200-300 rounds of varioius reloads and factory ammo without the star clip. Lots of misfires. Taking the misfired ammo and shooting it in my other S&W revolver--- no problem. Looks to me like the firing pin does not protrude as far as in my other Smith revolvers or maybe the spring is weak? Does anyone have a similar experience with this gun?

 

[m657]

I've put thousands of rounds thru my own 627 V8 PC using both the moon clips and without.

There's been only 3 or 4 misfires, and that was caused by the strain screw loosening up. Since tightening that down properly, no problem. However, that doesn't rule out anything possible in your own case.

 

[swman]

Originally posted by N1TKS:
Recently bought a 627 performance center .357. Shot about 200-300 rounds of varioius reloads and factory ammo without the star clip. Lots of misfires. Taking the misfired ammo and shooting it in my other S&W revolver--- no problem. Looks to me like the firing pin does not protrude as far as in my other Smith revolvers or maybe the spring is weak? Does anyone have a similar experience with this gun?

There are other on the board, specifically dealing with Nightguards, who have the same problem of misfires with new revolvers. They've had to send theirs back to SW for replacement firing pins. Sounds like they shorted the lenght when manufactured.

 

[ENH]

Common problem, call S&W for a free shipping label. If it still happens replace the firing pin with a C&S long one. Takes about 5 minuets.

 

[Tom C]

I just put in the extended firing pin from Cylinder & Slide Shop. Works fine.

 

[Repellere]

Loctited the strain screws and added extended firing pins in all my newer N frames . . . the factory firing pins did not protrude as far as older models just as you noted.

 

[N1TKS]

Thanks fellas for all the advice.
Since I just recently bought this expensive gun, I called S&W today and had them send me a shipping label. I'll see what they do.

 

[andyo5]

With the 45 acp model 625, you can fire the gun without moon clips because the round headspaces on the case mouth. The moonclip does not position the round. But this is not true with the .357 magnum. If your .357 gun was designed to use moonclips, your rounds will be too far from the firing pin without the clips.
My bet is that when using moonclips, those rounds will fire.

 

[Revolver King]

The 627s designed to use both moon clips with or with out moon clips. will fire either way. the newer 627s have much shorter firing pins then the older ones. But my guess is that someone changed your main spring and that is the root of the problem.

 

[Stainz]

I have an '01-'02 made JM PC627 V-Comp and a 627 Pro, among many other S&Ws. The PC 627 came with the nicest trigger I have. I improved all of mine - and resprung them. They now must have Federal primers - no problem here, as most of my plinkers have never seen a store bought round. A couple of years ago, I tried some 'new & improved' Winchester primers. FTF's followed in everything but the PC 627 - the lightest trigger - it worked fine. Fortunately, I loaded mostly .38s - for my house guns - with normal hammer springs - and they work 100% - back to Federals for everything else.

After checking the strain screw for tightness, which requires removal of the grips, check the hammer spring. If it has a rib on it's back, it's a Wolff spring - look at the strain screw. If it has been reground, and even S&W will do that in a simple tweaking, aka 'Pro' series, it may go into the hollow rib of a Wolff spring, lessening it's pre-load and attendant hammer strike energy. A shim between the strain screw and the leaf spring will help, but a new and unground strain screw will fix it. Basically, it's like that strain screw being loose in a flat leaf spring revolver - the spring needs a certain amount of 'pre-load'. S&W may send you a replacement, ie, unground and full-length, strain screw gratis.

About the 'extended fp' by C&S - it's a stock fp with a wider retaining notch, permitting it to really flatten your fp return spring when dry-fired empty - avoid that if you replace it. I've found dirt, etc, under that spring - removal/cleaning well will likely 'fix' many 'short fp' problems. I bought one C&S fp - it's in my parts drawer - cleaning restored my supposed problematic 625JM.

A few minutes could save you some aggravation and a trip back to S&W. Did you buy it new??

Stainz

 

[N1TKS]

STAINZ
Yes I bought it brand new a few months ago.
S&W said it is shootable without the clips as you mentioned. I called Smith up and they said ship it back. What will they do to it is my question.? Thanks N1TKS

 

[Tom C]

Originally posted by andyo5:
With the 45 acp model 625, you can fire the gun without moon clips because the round headspaces on the case mouth. The moonclip does not position the round. But this is not true with the .357 magnum. If your .357 gun was designed to use moonclips, your rounds will be too far from the firing pin without the clips.
My bet is that when using moonclips, those rounds will fire.

Yes, the 25-2 and earlier 625s will shoot without clips, but the newer ones have a longer chamber. The bullets can seat too deeply without clips. You can fix this with the longer firing pin. I mostly shoot my 625 with loose ammo or .45 AR.