Sam Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Personally, people who practice enough to break guns in two, impress the heck out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 One theory about the cause is that high pressure loads (or overtigthening) in combination with poor barrel cleaning when switching between lead/plated and jacketed bullet can cause this to happen. Stressing the barrel where it is weakest (the threads) by hot loads can cause cracks in the barrel, lengthwise cracks at first. The cracks are caused beacuse the barrel can't expand at the frame joint as much as the rest of the barrel. Lead and plating residue is then pressed/forced in the crack when shooting jacketed bullets without proper cleaning in between. The residues form a "wedge" in the crack over time and the crack can then become larger AND turn 90 degrees, parallell with the thread. Threads are natural breaking points due to their sharp V-form in the bottom of the groove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I don't buy that theory, Roger. Everything I've seen indicates that jacketed bullets simply push the residue out the front of the barrel, at least under reasonably normal conditions. Now if we're talking about tremendous, ridiculous amounts of leading, I suppose that might be a different thing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 (edited) Mike, as I said, it's a theory.... I have no experience of it myself, it just happens that I read an article about it in my gun magazine and the quoted gunsmith in the article gave that explanation, "unusual, but not unheard of" was the caption of the article. It happens more to those who experiment with hot magnum loads and might just be that, overstressing of the barrel and not related to barrel maintenance or lead versus jacketed bullets at all. Edited August 15, 2009 by RogerT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogged Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Gun mites! Tiny bugs belonging to the order "Acari", genus Trombiculidae, species smithandwessoni. They will infest a gun and with their tiny but very powerful biting mouthparts attack the metal of the gun causing it to bleed power and accuracy (hence the declining power factor and low shot into the chrono). I suspect that they infested the barrel/frame threads because there they were shielded from their natural enemies sunlight and gun oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Sierpina Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Gregg, To say that bites is an understatement! Glad you're okay. Smith & Wesson will likely treat you correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg K Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Going to be a interesting piece of work to get the barrel stub out of the frame. Let us know how that goes.Boats It was no problem to get the stub out. All the torque is on the face of the barrel and frame, without the face of the barrel the stub just turned out by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezco Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Hope you have things back together before Nationals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg K Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Gregg, To say that bites is an understatement! Glad you're okay. Smith & Wesson will likely treat you correctly. Thanks Dan I'll call S&W on Monday and see what I can get done. I doubt that I can get it back in time for the Texas State match but maybe by the Nationals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&WIowegan Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Gregg, I have no doubt S&W will replace the barrel for you, especially if you avoid discussing your 'handloads' and instead refer to a steady diet of .38 Specials. I recommend you stop your home gunsmithing and ship it to them as is. I shot a Chrony many years ago and the factory will replace the ruined parts pretty reasonably. BTW congrats on having a really weird and interesting "event" Bob A16841 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prreed10 Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I would not trash the Chrony. I would think it would be cheaper to send in for repair than replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom E Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I would not trash the Chrony. I would think it would be cheaper to send in for repair than replacement. They don't get repaired, they get replaced at a very discounted price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boats Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Gregg Come to think about it that makes sense without the barrel shoulder pressing on the frame it would screw out easy. What model is that Revolver ? 686 or K frame ? As a point of interest will Smith replace 66's under the warranty like a newer gun ? Boats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 It's happened before. ..and here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broom Rider Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I'm glad no one was injured and hope you get it back in running order in time for your shooting event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg K Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 GreggCome to think about it that makes sense without the barrel shoulder pressing on the frame it would screw out easy. What model is that Revolver ? 686 or K frame ? As a point of interest will Smith replace 66's under the warranty like a newer gun ? Boats It's a model 66-5 K frame. They are suposed to have a lifetime warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg K Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 It's happened before...and here... Thanks for the links. I'll see how S&W responds tomorrow. I think that they will most likely make good on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
open17 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Did the first round appear on the target? I have a Chrony that is your Chrony's twin. I've got a green one and an older red one that have similar ventilation. Always thought about mounting them up to give as "prizes". High Chrono? Most total match misses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I just think it's a good thing Gregg wasn't trying to shoot an apple off somebody's head when the barrel broke!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmax Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 One of our Wheel Burner shooters had the same thing happen to his 7 shot L Frame. Smith put a used barrel on the frame as that was all they had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Talk about bad KARMA! Maybe you haven't been appeasing the Revo Gods enough, eh? Or have you been praying for Cliff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregg K Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) Well I just got off the phone with S&W. They said no warranty unless I had bought the gun new and had proof. So bottom line is I don't have squat from S&W. I keep wanting to post something positive about S&W's customer service but they have never given me a reason to do so. Edited August 17, 2009 by Gregg K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Well I just got off the phone with S&W. They said no warranty unless I had bought the gun new and had proof. So bottom line is I don't have squat from S&W. I keep wanting to post something positive about S&W's customer service but they have never given me a reason to do so. That is truely disappionting. If they are aware of catastrophic failures with some of their guns, why aren't they recalling them? This is a big no-no on S&W's part. I'll remember.... Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granderojo Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 (edited) Some warranty!! Who keeps proof of a purchase years after the sale. They just shot themselves in the foot as far as keeping the prices and sales up on the used guns. I'd pay more for a good used gun if I thought that they would stand behind it, espically after a MAJOR failure like this. From the posts on this thread, this is not the first time that this has happened. Oh well, not my sales that are going to suffer. They must be making lots of money. Just my 2ctw Edited August 18, 2009 by granderojo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 one would figure that they would look at it prior to saying no warranty... that way they can at least say they looked at it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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