How Much Movement In A Cylinder

[DougBarnes101]

How much movement is acceptable in a revolver once the hammer has been cocked?

I saw a show where S&W took gunwriters to FL to hunt wild hogs with their new .460 revolver. I understood them to say that this revolver would take .460, .454 Casull and 45 Long Colt so I wanted to check one out. I went by the local gunshop and the happened to have two of them. I proceeded to check the lock-up on the cylinder and there seemed to be substantial movement of the cylinder once the hammer was cocked. I thought that the cylinder was supposed to lock up tight so that the cylinder was directly in front of the barrel so there wouldn't be any shaving of the bullet when fired. Am I wrong?

They also had the performance center version of the same gun. Barrel was a little longer and it had a sling swivel but the cylinder had the same wiggle in lockup. So then I got to thinking maybe this is the way it should be.

I came home and looked at my Model of 1988 and it was much tighter when locked up.

Someone please help.

[Tom Balko]

I'm not a gun mechanic or historian, and as such cannot speak to the history of how the concept of lockup has maybe changed from older wheels to newer wheels. But in the 460's you looked at, in addition to other new S&W's (I think), the tightness of lockup you are looking for will not be felt until such time as the trigger is pulled through it's stroke to the point of releasing the hammer. At that time, the cylinder will be held solid when the hand presses against the star to hold the edge of the notch up against the cylinder stop. Now, whether or not that means it's perfectly aligned or not is another question.

Qualifier: Like I stated, I'm not a gunsmith, so while I believe I'm explaining the process correctly, if I'm off base on something here, I will appreciate being enlightened by someone else's expertise! I was just having a good Friday morning, and thought I'd offer my .02

Like you folks need permission or something to offer corrective guidance