Waiting on endshake shims

[JohnRippert]

Been dealing with some pulled muscles/tendons in my left hip and unable to do a lot of the stuff I normally keep myself busy with. I decided to open up the mid '50s K22 I bought a few months ago. It is in really good shape but the cylinder gap is only about .001 or even a bit less. Makes it tough to open. Of course, when I went looking for my shim kit from Shively Sales I could not find it. So I ordered another set last night and proceeded to disassemble. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean it is inside, as it has seen quite a bit of use from the cartridge marks on the recoil shield and the finish wear on the ejector rod. Going to stick a .003 shim in it and see if that is enough. If it were not for the ridiculous heat here in Texas I would spend a lot of time in the garage cleaning and working on a bunch of my revolvers that I never got around to opening up before I retired. Being gimpy stinks.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Yep, you've got a very clean K22 and the case hardening on the hammer is still really nice!. I've only got one K22 (1948)...it's in pretty nice shape- except I think a previous owner stoned the sear or hammer so it has a hair trigger and a slight push-off. I'm going to have my local gunsmith take a look one of these days, but right now I'm just very careful with it. We have the same heat and humidity issues in Florida this year, and you're right, it's tough to hang out in the garage. I took some shotguns and a rifle out to the range early one morning last week, and it beat the heck out of me. I was sweating heavily in about 20 minutes and sun baked! After 90 min. I was soaking wet...should have remembered to bring along an extra shirt! And I agree, getting old stinks. Too many aches, pains, and strained muscles! LOL!

 

[Retired W4]

My old 66-1 (2.5") had an end shake problem. Shims took care of it. More recently, a buddy's 28-2 needed it so I fixed it up. I believe I got mine from Brownell's years ago.

 

[sodacan]

Am I missing something? Why would you put a shim in a gun with a .001 b/c gap?

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Am I missing something? Why would you put a shim in a gun with a .001 b/c gap?

To restore the gap to .004" - .010" tolerance. I'm going to have to check out these Shively .003" bushings because I've only seen .002" and .004".

 

[walter o]

Yes i thought that the shim was to close the cyl /barrel gap ,not increase it

 

[hobby-gunsmith]

waiting on endshake shums

I agree with Sodacan on a .001 B/C gap. If you are not shooting the gun as a defensive gun, I would leave it alone. Even at a .003 B/C gap, if you are not using the gun for defense, I would leave it alone. If the cylinder is hard to open, I would look at the ejector rod backing out or bent.
Nick D

 

[JohnRippert]

I agree with Sodacan on a .001 B/C gap. If you are not shooting the gun as a defensive gun, I would leave it alone. Even at a .003 B/C gap, if you are not using the gun for defense, I would leave it alone. If the cylinder is hard to open, I would look at the ejector rod backing out or bent.
Nick D

Ejector rod is fine, and screwed in properly. You can see the marks on the face of the cylinder where it is rubbing the forcing cone. It is the only revolver I have that is hard to open because of the cylinder to forcing cone contact, so I am going to get it back within spec. To each their own.

 

[Dennis2149]

Had to add a shim and open the gap on my K-22. After shooting 30 rounds or so, the build-up of carbon etc on the face of the cylinder started to rub during cylinder rotation.

 

[OutWest50]

What I think is the case based on the discussion .... is that the gun has developed excessive cylinder endshake. The shims will address the endshake which in turn will open the B/C gap a corresponding amount.

Just a thought. Before installing cylinder shims it may be good to first address yoke endshake (if any), then evaluate the cylinder shim issue.

 

[sodacan]

What I think is the case based on the discussion .... is that the gun has developed excessive cylinder endshake. The shims will address the endshake which in turn will open the B/C gap a corresponding amount.

Just a thought. Before installing cylinder shims it may be good to first address yoke endshake (if any), then evaluate the cylinder shim issue.

Shims close the gap. The math doesn't work. .001 to .003 will make the cylinder impossible to open.

 

[JohnRippert]

Shims close the gap. The math doesn't work. .001 to .003 will make the cylinder impossible to open.

There are yoke and cylinder shims. If I am thinking correctly a cylinder shim will keep the yoke shaft from fully seating in the cylinder by the width of the shim. Thus moving the cylinder face that amount away from the forcing cone.

 

[USBP SW]

There are yoke and cylinder shims. If I am thinking correctly a cylinder shim will keep the yoke shaft from fully seating in the cylinder by the width of the shim. Thus moving the cylinder face that amount away from the forcing cone.

You are correct, shims move the cylinder back away from the barrel extension. The only concern would be if there is too little room between the cylinder and frame. There has to be enough fore and aft movement to add the additional shim, otherwise cylinder opening could be difficult.