929 questions for you folks who actually have one.

[357454]

I picked my 929 up on Tuesday and have not had time to open her up, a few observations follow. The front sight ramp on this gun (pics below) is shorter than most of my S&W revolvers, I contacted Warren at Protocall design for info and will be ordering a fibre optic sight tomorrow. The double action out of the box is @ 11 lbs. and relatively smooth. The finish work is not as good as my 10 year old 627 8 shot, but as far as I know neither ICORE nor USPSA give awards for pretty guns. I have fired four moon clips of ammo thru the gun and will begin accuracy testing as time permits. The extractor is rubbing on the fired rounds stopping them from droping cleanly from the cylinder. Fortunately I have my trusty 627 to shoot while I get this one ready for competition. As a side note I have found that Winchester brass is acceptably tight in the TK custom moon clips I purchased.

I found a little time to work with the 929 yesterday, after smoothing up the action I now have a reliable 6 3/4 pound pull (all stock components except for an 11 lb rebound spring) Accuracy is slightly better than my 6 1/2" 627 and velocities are slightly faster with the same powder charge and a 356 dia extreme 147 RN versus the Extreme 357 dia 147 RN I have been using for USPSA.

Average velocity for the 929 was 896 fps versus 878 out of the 627. For powder I am using 3.6 grains of red dot, no pressure signs and easy extraction. I also fired a few of the Short Colt rounds thru the 929, although the diameter for these plated bullets is 357 accuracy was very good with no noticeable difference is recoil, I had put the chrono away before I shot these rounds but will check them out further next time I am at the range.

Edited October 11, 2014 by 357454

[MWP]

Did the short colts expand too much to be used in the 627 chamber now?

[peterthefish]

Did the short colts expand too much to be used in the 627 chamber now?

I'm assuming he's referring to the .357 sized bullets, not dropping a Short Colt round in?

[MWP]

I think he really meant shooting short colts in the gun. They fly into the cylinder with ease, and even headspace perfectly. Rumor is they will expand too much at the bottom of the case to be resized into a straight walled cylinder. That's the theory anyways....

[357454]

I think he really meant shooting short colts in the gun. They fly into the cylinder with ease, and even headspace perfectly. Rumor is they will expand too much at the bottom of the case to be resized into a straight walled cylinder. That's the theory anyways....

Yes, I was using short colt cases with the moon clips from my 627, I have not tried to resize them. Will give it a try later this evening and let you know what happens.

[357454]

I think he really meant shooting short colts in the gun. They fly into the cylinder with ease, and even headspace perfectly. Rumor is they will expand too much at the bottom of the case to be resized into a straight walled cylinder. That's the theory anyways....

I inspected and resized the 38 Short colts I fired in my gun a few days ago, there was a noticeable increase in diameter just above the base of the case, after resizing the case looked normal and feeds into the chamber with ease. II would expect a serious diet of resizing and firing would stretch the casse to the point you might see some case head separation, however an occasional firing in the 9mm cylinder should not lead to any problems especially at the pressure levels I am currently using.

[peterthefish]

I think he really meant shooting short colts in the gun. They fly into the cylinder with ease, and even headspace perfectly. Rumor is they will expand too much at the bottom of the case to be resized into a straight walled cylinder. That's the theory anyways....

I inspected and resized the 38 Short colts I fired in my gun a few days ago, there was a noticeable increase in diameter just above the base of the case, after resizing the case looked normal and feeds into the chamber with ease. II would expect a serious diet of resizing and firing would stretch the casse to the point you might see some case head separation, however an occasional firing in the 9mm cylinder should not lead to any problems especially at the pressure levels I am currently using.

Do they fit back in a 38/357 after sizing? If they're getting expanded at the base I would the sizing die may not get far enough down to get them back. If not seems like a good way to wreck expensive brass when free brass would work.

[357454]

I think he really meant shooting short colts in the gun. They fly into the cylinder with ease, and even headspace perfectly. Rumor is they will expand too much at the bottom of the case to be resized into a straight walled cylinder. That's the theory anyways....

I inspected and resized the 38 Short colts I fired in my gun a few days ago, there was a noticeable increase in diameter just above the base of the case, after resizing the case looked normal and feeds into the chamber with ease. II would expect a serious diet of resizing and firing would stretch the casse to the point you might see some case head separation, however an occasional firing in the 9mm cylinder should not lead to any problems especially at the pressure levels I am currently using.

Do they fit back in a 38/357 after sizing? If they're getting expanded at the base I would the sizing die may not get far enough down to get them back. If not seems like a good way to wreck expensive brass when free brass would work.

Yes, they dropped back into my 357 cylinder with no problems, the expansion was just above the base, which was resized when I ran them thru my die. I do not plan on runing the 38 short colts thru my 929 on a reguler basis however I could not pass up the opportunity to give it a try.

[peterthefish]

Yes, they dropped back into my 357 cylinder with no problems, the expansion was just above the base, which was resized when I ran them thru my die. I do not plan on runing the 38 short colts thru my 929 on a reguler basis however I could not pass up the opportunity to give it a try.

Fair enough - doesn't hurt to know I guess.

[357454]

Been workng on the 929 as time allows, first time I fired it I noticed was the empty rounds would not drop from the cylinder, seems the extractor is rubbing on the fired cases preventing them from dropping out, spent some time with a round rod wrapped in very fine emery paper truing up and polishing the surfaces untill the clip with empty cases fell freely. Shot it in it's first USPSA match toady, things were going well until the fourth stage, after @ 125 rounds, suddenly I could not hit a thing, all of my rounds were impacting @ Six inches low, did four standing reloads for one plate rack, a quick glance at the sights indicated they were OK, then noticed the barrel end cap had come loose. The bullets were hitting the end and deflecting, although I was certian I had tightened it securely, I will clean it thoroughly and apply lock tight to the threads. I like the balance of the gun and found no noticeable difference in reloading times when compared to my 627 with 38 short colts. Inspite of some of the things I have read about getting the cylinder hot on an extended stage I did not notice anything out of the ordinary even after my plus fifty round debacle.

[Tom Freeman]

, then noticed the barrel end cap had come loose. The bullets were hitting the end and deflecting, although I was certian I had tightened it securely, I will clean it thoroughly and apply lock tight to the threads.

I yanked that thing off once I found that the carbon build up was making the exit diameter smaller.

[Gregg K]

I yanked that thing off once I found that the carbon build up was making the exit diameter smaller.

It's a crap catcher for sure, I could have done with out the end cap since it's just another thing that requires cleaning and I don't like to clean things.

[S&W686]

I agree with the build up of carbon on the end cap and compensator. It's a little bit of a pain to clean. Would the end cap be required when shooting a match?

Edited October 20, 2014 by S&W686

[RevolverJockey]

I agree with the build of carbon on the end cap and compensator. It a little bit of a pain to clean. Would the end cap be required when shooting a match?

What is building up on the cap? Lead?

Lee