S&W 629, cylinder fails to advance

Tim

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I have a new to me 629-3 Classic, 5". The SN is TJA83xx, which I can't find in the SCSW 3rd Ed. to determine the year. Picked it up via the forum a couple weeks ago, but just got it to the range today.

I took it out for the first time today and ran some factory Remington 180gr loads through it. I only ran 4 cylinders through it because I was immediately having issues.

The gun would fire just fine in D/A and S/A. No issues at all with ignition if the hammer fell on a live round.

However, after each shot the cylinder would fail to advance. Didn't matter if I tried D/A or S/A to advance to the next chamber. The sequence was...

- Shoot
- Cycle the hammer (D/A or S/A)
- Drop hammer on spent cartridge
- Cycle hammer
- Shoot

This does not happen when dry firing. When dry firing the cylinder advances on every pull of the trigger or manual cocking of the hammer.

Where should I begin looking? I'm not afraid of taking it apart, but would like to have a plan other than "poke around". I've spent plenty of time under the side plate of various S&Ws, but the goal was always cleaning and spring changes, not actual repair.
 
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For the Classics, in addition to the lock, did they add second strike capability? :confused:
 
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Sounds like you've got a hand spring problem. It may just be gummed up internally.
 
What happens, when dry firing, if you put a little resistance on the cylinder?
I like that since it kinda replicates trying to rotate a loaded cylinder. My snap caps do not replicate the weight of loaded rounds.
 
Thanks to all for the response so far...I haven't tried any of them yet! I'm still getting back into things after a week off work. I'll update later in the week when I've had a minute to mess with it.
 
I had a 48-2 (.22mag) that wouldn't rotate the cylinder after firing.

My issue was the rim was being deformed to the point that it had wedged against the frame.
 
There is no obvious drag on the cylinder. I've owned enough S&W N frames to be comfortable with 'feeling' something like that and it's just not there.

The fired brass is not deformed in any way.
 
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GREASE!

Usually when you take the side plate off an S&W you see just the finest light film of grease or oil. This thing looks like someone jury-rigged a zerk to it and pumped it full of white lithium.

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When I went through gunsmithing school, I took the S&W armorers class. The factory recommends cleaning thoroughly, reassembling the firearm, and then dropping one drop of light gun oil down in the hammer channel and working it through the action. Too much oil is not your friend in most firearms.
 
When I went through gunsmithing school, I took the S&W armorers class. The factory recommends cleaning thoroughly, reassembling the firearm, and then dropping one drop of light gun oil down in the hammer channel and working it through the action. Too much oil is not your friend in most firearms.


That's what I've always done as well.

This 629 had so much grease it was crazy. I hosed it down with Hoppe's last night to flush it all out. It's drip drying now, I'll wipe all the parts down and reassemble tonight.

What I don't know is if this will actually resolve the problem or not. I'll need another range session to figure that out.
 
I'm late getting in here but I was gonna say it was full of grease.
Some guys a few years back thought you needed to fill the action with grease, not good.
Some grease would turn rock had with age and stop everything from working as it should. There was one grease in particular, I forget the name, but would turn yellow and as hard as a brick.
Clean all that crap out, I've had to use brake cleaner before, give it a drop of oil and it should run fine.
 
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