Smith & Wesson Model 34-1

[chakx2]

Today I shot 22lr gun first time of my life, use cheap and greasy ammo, less than half of them can shoot successfully, firing pin hit nothing for 3 rounds. Is my gun a lemon or ammo sucks?

 

[MajorD]

If I recall correctly that is ammo made in the Philippines note it is marked for bolt action rifles only so likely not the best choice in your revolver

My experience with armscor Philippines ammo was a high misfire rate. Try some different ammo, I doubt your gun is the issue

 

[Truckman]

It might also be helpful to know exactly what gun was being shot...And welcome to the forum......Ben

EDIT: Never mind, I just read the thread title...

 

[D Brown]

If you truly had no firing pin indentation, the firing pin may be broken. If so, it should be easy to fix.

If it's just an ammo problem, find some that works better in your gun.

Best of luck!

 

[Hondo44]

Unless the gun is worn, malfunctioning or improperly modified it’s not that gun’s fault, it’s a premium firearm!

Therefore it’s the ammo and you picked the worst! Get some good ammo. There’s 100s of 22 brands and most is great. Hardly any use grease anymore: it’s dry lubricant.

Try a few good name brands to find which your gun likes the best and shoots the most accurately. Every .22 has different preferences.

Have fun,

 

[Jeppo]

I bought a box of that to test in a bolt action 22. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Around here, it is the absolute cheapest 22lr ammo available…probably for a reason.

 

[chakx2]

If I recall correctly that is ammo made in the Philippines note it is marked for bolt action rifles only so likely not the best choice in your revolver

My experience with armscor Philippines ammo was a high misfire rate. Try some different ammo, I doubt your gun is the issue

Unless the gun is worn, malfunctioning or improperly modified it’s not that gun’s fault, it’s a premium firearm!

Therefore it’s the ammo and you picked the worst! Get some good ammo. There’s 100s of 22 brands and most is great. Hardly any use grease anymore: it’s dry lubricant.

Try a few good name brands to find which your gun likes the best and shoots the most accurately. Every .22 has different preferences.

Have fun,

I bought a box of that to test in a bolt action 22. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Around here, it is the absolute cheapest 22lr ammo available…probably for a reason.

Armscor 36 grain white box ammo | Rimfire Central Firearm Forum

warning about Armscor .22 lr ammo | The Armory Life Forum

I should have read reviews before buying. Avoid Armscor 22lr ammo!!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have a mid 70's 34-1 4", it seems to like almost anything I've fed it! Never tried Armscor anything! It was common on S&W 22's from that time frame to have extraction problems. I got a Chamber Finish reamer from Brownell's about 4 years ago and did my 34-1 and my 17-3. Cost about $35 for the ream and a pint of heavy cutting oil (I had a tap handle already) and about 15 minutes a chamber. Several years ago a number of Gunsmiths said they would do it for $60 a gun.

Ivan

 

[chakx2]

I have a mid 70's 34-1 4", it seems to like almost anything I've fed it! Never tried Armscor anything! It was common on S&W 22's from that time frame to have extraction problems. I got a Chamber Finish reamer from Brownell's about 4 years ago and did my 34-1 and my 17-3. Cost about $35 for the ream and a pint of heavy cutting oil (I had a tap handle already) and about 15 minutes a chamber. Several years ago a number of Gunsmiths said they would do it for $60 a gun.

Ivan

Are you talking about cylinder? Yes, one of the chamber is a little bit smaller than the others, it even too tight for insert an ammo! However, I don't want to fix it, just let it be. It doesn't affect the preformance either causing safety issue, I guess.

 

[Muley Gil]

Are you talking about cylinder? Yes, one of the chamber is a little bit smaller than the others, it even too tight for insert an ammo! However, I don't want to fix it, just let it be. It doesn't affect the preformance either causing safety issue, I guess.

Welcome to the Forum.

Don't know why you wouldn't want to fix a problem chamber in your cylinder. Of course, as others have noted, try different ammo FIRST.

 

[Hondo44]

When only one chamber is tight and the other five are good, I suspect something unique to the one tight chamber.

I had a model 18 like that. A careful inspection of the one tight chamber with good light and magnification revealed a tiny little burr at the opening to the chamber. Once I honed/polished out the burr, the chamber took cartridges freely like the other 5 chambers.

 

[H Richard]

Was this a used gun that a previous owner might have shot a lot of "Shorts" in? Could explain the problem.

 

[max503]

My 34-1 seems to require a new mainspring about every 5-10 years, and I keep it clean and it has had it's cylinders reamed. Mine gets shot a lot.