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Good old S&W has burned me again.
Today I took my brand new Model 648 .22mag revolver to the range.
This was going to be a long range session testing 10 different ammo brands and bullet types in the attempt to see which ammo the new gun liked.
Things started off fine. CCI Maxi-Mag 40grn were dead on at 20ft. This was just an initial sight check. No issue.
Moved the targets out to 25’ and fired a cylinder of each brand/type.
By the fourth cylinder, the gun started to misfire. At first it was one round per cylinder, then two, then three or even four. The ammo was fine. On most of the rounds I could rotate them in the chamber and the subsequent hammer strike would fire them.
So I think I’ll increase the strain screw tension. That requires removing the grips. I then discover the strain screw is already tightened in as far as it’ll go. Fvck. End of range session.
Now… I’ve been down this road with the damnable S&W frame mounted firing pin before. The firing pin is too short. With the tiniest bit if use it peens down just enough to stop striking the rim deep enough to set off the round.
I was prepared.
Due to previously owning a 986 that gave me an ulcer with this issue, I have several extra length firing pins. So I decided to take the new gun apart and see if the old(long) firing pin would fit in the new gun.
After careful disassembly I checked the old and new pins with a micrometer. Dead match! Except the “old” pin is about .08” longer. Woot!
The old pin went in perfectly.
After re-assembly it appears to be making a much deeper indentation on the fired brass from the range trip earlier.
I hope this works. But what a pain in the ass.
A newbie would’ve been forced to send the gun back in to S&W who probably wouldn’t fix the problem anyway.
What really torques me off is I have fifty year old S&W hammer mounted firing pin guns that have gazillions of rounds thru them that run like a sewing machine.
The frame mounted thing is trash.
Today I took my brand new Model 648 .22mag revolver to the range.
This was going to be a long range session testing 10 different ammo brands and bullet types in the attempt to see which ammo the new gun liked.
Things started off fine. CCI Maxi-Mag 40grn were dead on at 20ft. This was just an initial sight check. No issue.
Moved the targets out to 25’ and fired a cylinder of each brand/type.
By the fourth cylinder, the gun started to misfire. At first it was one round per cylinder, then two, then three or even four. The ammo was fine. On most of the rounds I could rotate them in the chamber and the subsequent hammer strike would fire them.
So I think I’ll increase the strain screw tension. That requires removing the grips. I then discover the strain screw is already tightened in as far as it’ll go. Fvck. End of range session.
Now… I’ve been down this road with the damnable S&W frame mounted firing pin before. The firing pin is too short. With the tiniest bit if use it peens down just enough to stop striking the rim deep enough to set off the round.
I was prepared.
Due to previously owning a 986 that gave me an ulcer with this issue, I have several extra length firing pins. So I decided to take the new gun apart and see if the old(long) firing pin would fit in the new gun.
After careful disassembly I checked the old and new pins with a micrometer. Dead match! Except the “old” pin is about .08” longer. Woot!
The old pin went in perfectly.
After re-assembly it appears to be making a much deeper indentation on the fired brass from the range trip earlier.
I hope this works. But what a pain in the ass.
A newbie would’ve been forced to send the gun back in to S&W who probably wouldn’t fix the problem anyway.
What really torques me off is I have fifty year old S&W hammer mounted firing pin guns that have gazillions of rounds thru them that run like a sewing machine.
The frame mounted thing is trash.
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