625PC

[johes]

I just bought a new 625 Performance Center. I didn't have any 45 loaded up at the time w/Federal primers when I took it to the range the first time and had several misfires with Winchester primers. I loaded up some ammo with Federals and it shoots fine. This will be an IDPA ESR gun and I planned to reduce the hammer spring and only shoot Federals in it anyway so it just saved me a little work. I'm just a little surprised S&W shipped it out like this. Comments?

[MrBorland]

Joe - The usual suspect is the strain screw under the front of the grip - make sure it's screwed down all the way, then be sure it's tight. I generally put a dab of blue Loctite on the threads for insurance.

After that, make sure the hammer's straight & centered, so that it's not rubbing on anything during it's travel, which'll rob it of oompf. If it's brand new, it wouldn't hurt to clean the innards well, and lube all the contact points, too. Be sure the firing pin travels freely.

Did you, by chance, replace the grips with 2-piece rubber grips? Overtightening of the grip screw can cause the inside of the grips to grab the mainspring a bit, and rob it of some power.

Tom

[johes]

Tom, I replaced the rainbow colored grips w/ one piece hogues so there's no side pressure on the mainspring and the strain screw is tight. I don't think there's anything wrong with the gun except the mainspring is just a little light for winchester's. I wasn't really complaining, it has a great trigger. I only use Federals for revolvers anyway. I'm just surprised S&W didn't put a full power mainspring in. Not everyone buys a gun for gun games. Going to Boone? I'm shooting SSR, plan on doing revo the rest of the year.

[sbcman]

The most important part of this post is that we have another ESR shooter! LOL

Kind of surprised at the lite strikes right out of the factory too. But, I've heard similar stories on other factory 625s.

[Waltermitty]

In my opinion there is something wrong with the gun and you should send it back and have S&W fix it. I will assume you know about high primers and don't have those problems.

If you can determine that it is something simple & cheap (like excessive end shake) you might choose to fix it and carry on. But if it's a major defect (bad/misaligned/mismachined/broken castings, hammer stud, improper barrel setback resulting in excessive headspace, etc, etc) you could be out quite a lot of money to get it right.

Do test the gun with factory ammo. Winchesters and CCI primers should all light with a stock gun.

In my experience, S&W will not intentionally ship a light striking gun. I sent one of mine back for a cylinder replacement (which they did wrong anyway) and they replaced every competition spring in the gun because the action was too light. It turns out the endshake was so bad that the barrel gap would go to zero during matches and lock up the trigger pull, but they thought they had "fixed" the gun right by putting their heavy springs back in the gun. That's the only way they can get their guns to fire. If your gun won't fire everything you can put in it, with or without a moon clip, a defect got by them.

[MrBorland]

I agree with Waltermitty - that it's unlikely S&W somehow shipped a gun with a light mainspring and action.

You say it's got a good trigger, so I have to ask about the trigger pull: Does it feel light to you? If you have a pull gauge, I'd check it. I'm shooting at Frank's on Sunday, so I'll bring mine if you don't have one. If the pull gauge says the pull is correspondingly light, that'd suggest an issue with the springs or (more likely) the strain screw. An easy fix. If the pull gauge tells us the pull isn't really light enough to explain the light strikes, though, I suspect something deeper is going on, as Waltermitty suggested.

I'll be at Boone, too - good to hear you're picking up the wheelgun again!

Tom

[johes]

There's no end shake. I did just take the side plate off and it was bone dry. Oiled it. I noticed it has the same mainspring that came in my SSR, the one with the ridge down the middle. I don't have a pull gauge, but it doesn't feel much heavier than my SSR, and it's definitely "Federals only".

Edited August 1, 2013 by johes

[caswellranch2013]

Joe, your GP is done see you Sunday, you should just sell the 625 to me sounds like a bad one

[Jaxshooter]

I have never seen a box stock S&W revolver that would not set off any primer it was fed (other than high ones). I would find out why it would not light off Winchester primers before I went any further with the gun. I would not do any mods until I knew what was wrong in case it needs to be sent back to S&W.

[johes]

Joe, your GP is done see you Sunday, you should just sell the 625 to me sounds like a bad one

I don't think so,LOL! See ya Sunday

[Tom E]

It seems that S&W has been sending out guns NIB with the strain screw backed out. Seems pretty common. Maybe so the trigger pull feels better in the gun store? Check the strain screw. I'm not in the "it must be fully tightened" group but it does need to be screwed in "far enough" and loctited. That said, back it out too far and you have mainspring geometry issues and that isn't good. Usually the mainspring gets "re-arched" (bent) or replaced with a Wolff reduced power mainspring.

[ed_henry]

I also would check your moon clips and make sure they are not bent or otherwise allowing the round to spring when hit. That can and does reduce the impact on the primer.

I had this problem and changed moon clip from what to what I don't remember but it made a big difference and Winchester still worked.

[defilade]

Joe, I also had this problem with my PC that I purchased a few years ago. I had even installed a longer firing pin but still had light strikes with Winchester primers. I ended up sending it back to Smith and Wesson. They fixed the end shake and installed a different firing pin.

It worked fine when I got it back.

Wade

[johes]

Little update on this one. It looks like it's going back to S&W after all. The trigger has started locking up. The cylinder lock spring was kinked up and locking the gun. The end that contacts the frame was out of place and almost touching the side plate. FWIW, if you need Smith customer service, better have some patience. They seem to be very busy. I waited a very long time on the phone and going on the third day for a shipping label. The person on the phone said warranty turn around was about normal time.

Edited September 6, 2013 by johes