So, I'm an idiot

[bierman]

This could get long winded so bear with me.

I bought a used 4" 625-8 from a fellow board member several months ago. It is set up to run IDPA ESR, but I am not really interested in IDPA so I was going to use it for USPSA. It has the usual bells and whistles on it, chamfered, Apex hammer, SDM/LDA sights, action job etc. I think I am the third owner, so I am not really sure how many rounds are through the pistol. I have had it for about 5 months, during which time I have not really had an opportunity to shoot it. Finances, schedule, family etc has been making it difficult. So, to make up for it, I have been getting a lot of dryfire in. I am estimating somewhere between 10 and 15 thousand "rounds" of dryfire, all on snap caps or dummy rounds.

Last night I was dryfiring and noticed it did not sound like it normally did, with a crisp snap, but instead it occasionally sounded like a dull thud-click. I wrote it off as an issue with the snap caps and forgot about it.

Finally got to the range today and managed about two cylinders before it stopped working. I was getting the same sick sounding dull thud-click. Opened the cylinder and saw that I was only getting sporadic primer strikes. Upon closer inspection it appeared, on at least one round, that the firing pin struck the edge of theyprimer, almost on the edge of the primer pocket. On others it looks like it was striking the caseheads themselves.

Needless to say, I was disappointed, but I spoke with a fellow shooter who offered his opinion that it was a timing issue. Given the nature of the primer strikes, I am inclined to agree. Also noticed that the cylinder is peened quite a bit.

So, now on to the idiot part of the story.

I get home and decide, that just to make sure it wasn't something else, in all my infinite wisdom, to take the thing apart. I haven't taken apart a S&W wheelie in years, but that did nothing to deter me. Well needless to say, somethings have changed in the innards of those things. I have managed to get it most of the way back together, but I have no earthly idea how to get the hand back into the trigger, with the hand torsion spring where it needs to be. I fought with it for a couple of hours and am now convinced I will only get that thing back together, properly, by using the Force. Since I am not a Jedi Knight I thought I would come here and seek advise from those who are.

Any advice/help (after you are done pointing and laughing) would be greatly appreciated.

[Carmoney]

Get a flashlight and shine it into the back of the trigger.....see the little groove going across in there? That's where the fixed end of the torsion spring needs to be seated. You should be able to figure it out from there.

The original problem you describe sounds like a cylinder stop/spring problem rather than a timing problem. Replace those two parts before doing anything else (the current-production MIM cylinder stop generally drops in with no fitting), and if that doesn't fix the problem you will need to remove the peened "ledges" that have built up at the bottoms of the lead-in ramps on the cylinder. No biggie.

[bierman]

Thanks MIke, I will do that when I get back home.

Would I be able to order those parts from Brownells or do I need to go through S&W for them?

[20nickels]

Thanks MIke, I will do that when I get back home.

Would I be able to order those parts from Brownells or do I need to go through S&W for them?

You should be able to get them from either place. I would be interested in learning how to remove the peening. Do you simply just hammer them flat again? I'm sure there is a thread on this somewhere.

[bierman]

I did do a search last night before I posted my question and there is a thread out there where the recommendation was, if I remember correctly, to use a small dowel wrapped in sandpaper to sand them down. There were other suggestions, but I can't recall them right now.

[Tom E]

I did do a search last night before I posted my question and there is a thread out there where the recommendation was, if I remember correctly, to use a small dowel wrapped in sandpaper to sand them down. There were other suggestions, but I can't recall them right now.

A round ceramic "stone" works well. When you order a stop and spring you should get a hand spring too. They don't break but are all too easy to launch into never-never land while you're removing/installing.

[Carmoney]

Yeah, I use a round ceramic stone usually, but the dowel with fine paper would work fine too. I also sometimes use a cratex tip on the rotary tool. Keep in mind that the more obvious peening on the far side of the notch is not the culprit of the chamber skipping problem--it's those little ledges that build up on the bottom of the ramps that can sometimes make the stop jump the notches when the gun is cranked fast.