RPM8shot

Have not been on this site in years. Sad to hear that Nelson has passed. I met Nelson at the Southwest Pistol League in 1994 and known him ever since. Was always a great guy, He helped everyone that asked. He did the printing for the SWPL newsletter for years. Anyway rest easy my friend, You will be missed. Randy USPSA TY27966 SWPL 627 ICORE CA8491

JAG1949, The respondents to your post gave excellent advice. Yes look at the cylinder lock, spring, re peen and lightly remove any burrs on the cylinder. Did someone do a "trigger job?" You may want to look at the strain screw. (Remove the grip) it is the slotted screw that tensions the "leaf spring" located toward the bottom of the grip. Some loosen this screw to get a lighter trigger pull. It will lighten the trigger pull but can cause timing issues due to spring tension imbalance. The strain screw should be firmly tightened. IF the trigger pull is "too heavy" then perhaps an after market spring kit is needed. If this does not work. Here is my story. I own a 1989 stainless 625 5 in bbl. I would not send your firearm back to S&W, I have a post here where I explained the concern. In the end S&W said it was something I was doing... Yeah ok. Bottom line what finally fixed my revolver was. I had the stainless steel cylinder replaced with a titanium one. Randy Lee @ APEX Tactical He is in Los Osos CA (I am not Randy Lee) That 625 is a fine firearm. BTW - Since replacing that cylinder I have been dryfiring my 625 3-5X a week, the 6 reload 6 drill, strong hand, weak hand, both hands, 10X each as fast as I can. I don't get to the range much but. Still has not skipped. I use dummy rounds, non primed wolf steel case with a copper jacketed 230gr rn bullet. I have been doing this since 2013... Best wishes with your 625, Randy Pizarro USPSA TY27966 ICORE CA8491 NRA Life Member CVD 5294D

+2 on the blindhogg site. I did my first Bomar sight cut in 2015 with the Blindhogg directions. I used a Rong Fu R31 round post mill. For the LPA cut I used the Kensite drawing. +2 Mind your cutting speeds, use "cuttting oil" not WD40. For me I use carbide only. Wear safety glasses (hard to shoot with only 1 eye) Measure twice and cut once. All the best on your new machining hobby.

barebones1, I have a P14 also. I had that same problem. I agree with Steve 53, extractor. You need a small pick or pocket screwdriver for this. Next time you shoot and the weapon fails to go into battery. CAREFULLY while pointing the weapon down range take the screwdriver and push the extractor toward the ejection port. The idea is to relieve the extractor tension on the case rim. If the round chambers then you must adjust your extractor. Hope this helps. My Para has been very good to me 80K rounds and counting. Randy USPSA TY27966 Para P14-45, NRA Life Member CVD5294,

Factory extractor on my Para P1445, Had a corner chipped out of it. On the last and longest stage at the 2001 Silver Buckle match my Para went from a semi auto to a manual single shot. I got kinda fast at it...was not fun at the time... Randy USPSA TY27966 ICORE CA8491 NRA LIFE MEMBER CVD5294

My Para P1445 was built in 1995 by Will O Hara. It was AccuRailed and Hard Chromed. I have over 80K through it and Pulling the slide back still feels like moving a mill table. Looking at the "wear areas?" yeah those are just a tad shinier than the rest. Other than that it looks just as it did on day one. Randy USPSA TY27966 ICORE CA 8491 NRA LIFE MEMBER CVD5294

When I chipped the factory extractor at 45K rounds on my Para L1445 (My fault) I used the Wilson Bulletproof replacement. I have had it in the pistol for 40K plus rounds and no problems. On the occasion that I do need to adjust it I had to get that Tool From Brownells to bend it as it is F/N hard. Probably why it lasts so long. No need to worry about the Wilson part. It is great quality. Randy USPSA TY27966 ICORE CA8491 NRA LIFE MEMBER CVD5294

Hardchrome for me. My Para L1445 was Hardchromed by Techplate in Anaheim CA, in 1995 80K rounds and still looks new.

Excellent work there Greg. Pictures are worth a thousand words. I have also had a visit with Skip Chambers. My brother and I did almost exactly what you have done there. Unfortunately my issue came back. Long story short Apex Tactical, Randy Lee Bla bla bla Titanium cylinder. What I have noticed is that the stainless guns seem to suffer more of this issue. By comparison the 625 cylinder loaded with 6 230 gr RN bullets is heavy. As far as dry firing? (Carmoney is correct) Yes on my 625 I dry fired it ALOT and yes I noticed the cylinder notches peening over. By contrast I also have a 586 no dash, that I used for ICORE and USPSA for years. No kidding that one has to have 80K plus dry fires on it. never broke a firing pin, minimal peening and Skip has not paid that one a visit. (Now watch what happens...) Randy ICORE CA 8491 USPSA TY27966 NRA LIFE MEMBER CVD8294

+1 to the "plunk" test. I use a Bearcreek 230gr rn 4.6gr Bullseye 1.245"oal, Feeds perfect in a Paraordnance P14 magazine with a BarSto BBL.

4.7gr of Bullseye. Been using this powder since 1994, works well for 45acp and 38 spcl.

Smith 52 , I have not been on the forum in a bit thus the late reply. I also have/had a 625 (that I love alot) that skiped a cylinder if I (IPSC) shoot it. I have posted my tale on a couple of forums over the past 10 years. I have battled with a skipping cylinder since 2001. I had the weapon back to the factory 4X, replaced 2 frames (At my expense) 1 hammer pivot stud, replaced ALL of the internals 2X. The only things the factory did not replace were the cylinder and star (which I asked them to change). In the end, and this is not a knock against the factory, they said "It is something that you are doing wrong" I put that revolver away for 6 years, really it sat on my coffee table and was used by many for dryfire practice. Well, fast forward again I got ahold of an old friend. Mr Randy Lee of APEX TACTICAL. I explained my problem and actually got to show him the concern. APEX said "No problem leave it with me for a bit" so I did. I received a call while on travel that my 625 was "DONE". My 625 is now an APEX TACTICAL stage 3 build with a Titanium Cylinder. (walterMITTY said it best, yes there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth.) I like the feel of the titanium cylinder,the weapon balances different but a bunch of dryfire drills fixed that. I am working on my trigger speed, At one time my brother and I could rap off a .12-.14 split time. So far the 625 has not missed a beat. You my want to look into the titanium cylinder, (Oh and YES the Cylinder and Star have now been changed) Regards, Randy ICORE CA8491 USPSA A27966 S&W 625 APEX TACTICAL S&W 686 7 shot Performance Center S&W 627 8 shot Performance Center S&W 586 No dash Mr Bob Miles Action Job S&W 681 (Home Defense, All stock) S&W Model 29 (RPM 8 Shot 38 super) Mr Charlie Prest

I had my Para P14-45 Accurailed in 1995, I shot it in IPSC for 10 years. The feel of the slide to frame fit is very solid. The slide is easy to move at any angle. (No binding what so ever)Cleaning is very easy. No more difficult than Non railed. Yes, you have to pay attention so as not to lose a rail but, After 80K rounds it is still tight and very accurate. I also had a switch top Caspian single stack 9mm/45ACP, Accu-railed. Again no big deal just send both slides. I agree if your frame to slide fit is already tight I would not do it. Regards, Randy USPSA A27966 NRA Life Member CVD5294

I purchased my P14-45 in 1995. It has a Bar-Sto Bull bbl, S&A Magwell, Accu-railed, STi trigger, SV hammer and sear, 2.25lbs, 19LB IMSI main spring, 14lb IMSI recoil spring. Bomar sight. I shot this pistol for 10years. The factory extractor broke at 45K rounds (My fault I was putting rounds in the barrel and dropping the slide on it). Now has an Ed Brown extractor, Pistol has 80K+ rounds. Nothing but great things to say about Para. Randy USPSA A27966 2004 SWPL L-10 Winner

Will O Hara, Will's Gunsmithing, Corona CA

I can shed a little light on the RPM 8-shot conversion. I had my model 29-3 converted by Charlie Prest in 1996. The conversion cost about $1800. The 8 shot conversion consisted of a new 8 shot .38super cylinder, custom extractor, custom offset firing pin bushing, custom off set barrel bushing(Nframe to Lframe), 6" slab barrel with compensator cut in the barrel, custom underlug, 6 moon clips and custom action job. In full dress with an Optima 2000 sight and Miculek grip the gun weighs in at 49oz. The gun feels a little nose heavy but I am used to it. The conversion took 1.5 years but I was fortunate and received a completed gun. The workmanship was excellent. The end shake was .002" and the headspacing was .006". The action job was so-so. The trigger pull was 8.5lbs with a hammer tension of about 45oz. The cylinder timing was spot on. I have since tuned the action to a silky smooth and reliable 6lb pull. The moon clips I received with the gun were also so - so. I have since replaced those clips with some from Hearthco. Those clips were the BEST investment I could have made as far as extraction reliability. The gun has served me well and has been nothing but reliable for the 8 years I shot it in ICORE competition. My claim to fame was a 14th place finish in the 1997 IRC. In my case I was already committed to Charlie so I could not have waited and bought a smith and wesson 8 shot. I have since purchased a S&W Model 627 -3 for limited use. Good Health and Good Shooting, Renny ICORE CA8490

I had that happen to a colt gold cup. What happened was the owner fired a .40cal round, the slide cycled and chambered the next .45cal round. He pulled the trigger and it just went "POP" kinda odd. Good thing that the slide was stuck in place. I got the cross pin to come out so I could deal with the slide assembly. I clamped the assembly in a vice took out the firing pin, slowly drilled the lead out ,got the bushing to turn and dropped the dead pieces out. Happy to say a new barrel and bushing got the gold cup back to tack driver status. The lesson here is to never pick rounds up off of the ground with out looking at them to make sure they are the proper cabiber. It hope this goes well for you my shooting friend. Randy RPM8Shot USPSA A27966

I am fascinated by the idea of having a "coffee table revolver" laying there for anyone to dry-fire. What a great idea! I must add the standing rule in the house is: "Each time the firearm is picked up and or handled, "You are to check to see if it is unloaded, No matter what!" and " NO AMMUNITION NEAR THE FIREARM " and if alcohol is present ALL firearms go into the safe. Be safe everyone, Randy A27966 CA8491 RPM8Shot yes I have one of those also, 100,000 plus rounds and counting...

I have had 3 of these hammer studs break, 2 were on the same pistol and one on a police trade in I bought. I dont know if this has anything to do with it but both revolvers are stainless steel, The first is my 625 and the second is my model 681. Both of these went back to the factory. The 625 got a new hammer stud and I went back to dry firing it as I always do. Then my normally smooth trigger pull got increasingly erratic and harder. To my shock the hammer pivot pin was broken again. I sent the pistol to Smith and Wesson and they installed what looked like a cheaply done fence post. I mean they drilled a hole through the frame and pressed in the pin and used what looked like a 3 pin staking tool on it. I reinstalled my spring kit and dry fired a little and the pin started coming loose. I called Smith and Wesson again the pistol went back and now they said "the frame is no good" OK fine 252.00 later I got the pistol back. The second was on my model 681 night stand gun, I was wiping the dust off of it and shook the hammer and to my shock it was wobbling in the frame, Off to Smith again. I asked the technician, "Is there a problem with the stainless steel used?". He said "NO!" and that "This is really rare and it was probably something I was doing". (I will with hold my comments) On the other hand my 586 sits on my coffee table and gets dry fired by anyone in the house, I can easily say that it has 100-150 thousand pulls on it, never a problem. Because of my experience I am really leery of stainless guns. Just my 2 cents Randy USPSA A-27966 ICORE CA8941

Probably the best way to get into shooting revo in both organizations is to get the rule books for both IDPA and USPSA and decide where the rules overlap and proceed from there. Renny ICORE CA8490

JTR, I also have this problem of a skipping cylinder on my 625 (1989 5"). I sent the gun back to S&W for warranty work with a detailed description of the problem and what I got back was a new frame and all new internal parts including a new cylinder stop and a crappy action job and the cylinder still skipped. NOTE: If I keep the dry fire splits to about .20sec, the cylinder will not skip. If I decrease the split time to about .15-.17(about as fast as I can go right now) the cylinder will skip. Anyway, I have been battling this dilema for over 2 years and finally resolved to send the gun to Randy Lee. I talked to him about the problem and he mentioned that the ratchet may be at fault. In other words a cylinder timing issue. I think he is right. I looked at all the parts that were changed by S&W and I see that the ratched was the only thing not changed. After very close examination of the ratchet I notice there is one spot on the ratchet that is clearanced (worn??) more than the other 5 and ironically, that is the place where the cylinder skips. In my particular case, I have stopped trying to solve this problem with cylinder stops and heavy springs (I have 5 or 6 of each part all brand new) that didn't help. Just my experience Renny

cardboardkiller, "...without compromising the reliability of the firearm..." "I'm going to fire 4 or 5 hundred rounds through it before I carry it. Shoot, reload, shoot. Again I don't understand where you are coming from with "proving process." I was simply asking what your line of testing was that would satisfy your comfort level and prove to you that reliability and accuracy have not been compromised. Namely, were you going to do some timed draws from the holster, timed fire, bench rest accuracy, split times. stronghand, weakhand, testing different types of ammo.... After all, you do have a hardchromed finish, a different grip, different sights moonclips. different holster, and so on. My questions were not a slight on you, your qualifications, or gunsmith. There were purely inqusitive in nature that's all. Renny

Nice looking piece, How comfortable are you with having an action job performed on a carry gun? Don't get this wrong I fully agree that S&W actions from the factory can definitely stand to be smoothed out. Are going to function fire that gun a few 100 times before carrying. What will be your proving process? I am just curious. Renny

Many years ago, I ran through a batch of ammo like you describe. In my case, I had 200 squibs. This was in my early days. Federal and Rainier are reputable companies. But, niether are perfect. You are bound to get a bad bullet or primer or two in over 40K rounds of ammo production. As stated 40K rounds with three bad ones, you are WAY ahead of the game. Consider those outside the curve and move on. You are probably not doing anything wrong. Your friend may want to clean his press. In my case I found a bunch of what looked like grease and wax fouling some of the passages (powder charge passage) on my press. It's worth a try. DVC Renny