Reader Forum

Doubling Revolver? I have a Smith & Wesson Model 29 infor repair (it was a gallery gun at a local shooting range) that multiple people have witnessed doubling! So, besides being sure that the cylinder stop is properly fit, what should I be looking for?

What about the depth on the cylinder notches; is there a minimum number on that? (The notches do seem worn, and the hammer will push off easily) Could the cylinder stop be bouncing out under recoil, then the cylinder indexing from torque, and then the hammer bouncing enough from a primer to fire? It’s important to me for a number of reasons to solve this problem and get the gun back in service. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Among many others, we consulted at length with three members of the Pistolsmiths Guild as well as a high-level technician at the S&W Performance Center. Their reactions to your query ranged from "you’ve got to be kidding" to "I’ve seen it happen" and "I’ve had it happen." The consensus is that, under certain conditions, recoil action can cause the revolver to recock when maximum loads and heavy bullets are being used.

The "certain conditions" are: if the cylinder stop cams away from the cylinder; if the revolver lacks the "Magnum package" (an S&W modification that includes a slight lengthening of the cylinder notches; and if the gun is loosely held. To expand on the latter: At the moment of ignition (in single action), the revolver is driven back, runs away from the trigger finger, and can reset.

The shooter might then pull the trigger either unconsciously or involuntarily. (This has been witnessed by S&W personnel.) A firm, two-handed hold with the weak hand thumb hanging onto the strong-hand wrist should resolve this particular problem. Assuming, however, that the revolver has doubled with more than one range visitor and the shooter is able to control it, then we suggest installing the heaviest stop spring offered for the gun.

Advise the range owner to use lighter bullets in the revolver, say, 200 rather than 240 grain. Also check the mainspring to see whether it has been excessively thinned or cut down by someone who thought they knew how to do a "trigger job." If possible, inspect the spent cases that have doubled. The primer hit will be centered on one and offset 30 to 40 thousandths on the second. Compare the cylinder-stop notches on a brand new Model 29 with those on the range gun.

If the range gun’s slots are badly worn and not as long as those on the new gun, the cylinder should be replaced. Unfortunately Smith & Wesson will not sell you a cylinder, restricting its replacement to factory service. Mismatched M1911 I have a customer that wants me to use a Series-80 slide with a 1911 Government frame. I can see the difference in the slides. Isn’t that enough to prevent it from working properly? If the frame and slide are both Series- 80, meeting Colt specifications, you’ll have no problem.

If the frame is a Series-70, and the wish is to marry it to a Series-80 slide, you’ll have to remove the firing-pin lock and lock plunger from the slide, leaving your customer without these additional safety components’and leaving you fully responsible for any accidental discharge and/or injury resulting therefrom. In other words, don’t do it. Taurus 66 & Marlin 57 I have been looking for a sideplate for a Taurus Model 66 and a receiver for a Marlin M57. I’ve looked at Numrich every day for the past year.

I’ve tried Jack First and someone whose name I’ve forgotten in Missouri. I contacted Taurus and sent my pistol to them, and they sent it back telling me they could not (I took that as a "would not") replace the sideplate. I would appreciate any help you can give me, even if it is to tell me there is no way I will ever get these parts unless I make them myself, so I can stop looking for them. If you can tell me something helpful in the area of making the parts myself I would appreciate that as well.

Your Marlin was last made in 1965. A receiver for it would be classified as a firearm by the BATF. Your best approach would be to attend some gun shows, and try to find a used Model 57 in decent shape and purchase it for the receiver. We called Taurus They have sideplates for the Model 66 in either blued or stainless. If you call and ask for extension 242, they’ll be willing to sell you one. Interchangeable Gas Rings? I have a question on the Weatherby SAS Shotgun.

Is this the same autoregulating gas-system shotgun manufactured by SKB for Ithaca? And, if it is, are the gas rings interchangeable? Thank you for your time and assistance. Weatherby did not link up with SKB for anything resembling an extended period of time. However, the technician we spoke with tells us that, if your Weatherby shotgun carries a serial number prefixed with the letters SA, it’s the SKB design briefly marketed by Weatherby and the gas rings would be interchangeable. Otherwise, no.

Winchester Model 06 Info Where could I find detailed disassembly info and a breakdown on the Winchester Model 06, .22-caliber pumpaction, exposed-hammer, slidingbreach-bolt rifle? I’ve tried Gun Digest, Part III; NRA Firearms Assembly; Gun Digest Exploded Firearm Drawings, 3rd edi-

tion; and the Numrich catalog without success. I’m planning to reline the barrel for a friend. I don’t have this rifle in my hands as yet, but do want to know how the barrel is attached to the receiver. Threaded? RH? Pressed? Pinned? Thanks, in advance, for your help. The Model 1906 is a modification of the Model 1890 that allowed interchangeable use of Short, Long, and Long Rifle cartridges. A schematic of the gun in the Jack First, Inc. catalog, Vol.

II shows a threaded barrel and our historical source informs that removal is traditional "lefty loosey, righty tighty." Takedown details are provided in Gun Digest’s book dedicated to rimfire rifles (see the Winchester Model 90). Ross 1905 Rifle Assembly I need assembly and disassembly info and any special tips or warnings related to a Ross 1905 Canadian military rifle. The one I’m working on has been converted to a sporter by parties unknown.

The Ross has a history of blowing the bolt out of the receiver and into the shooter’s head if the bolt is not assembled correctly. Since a few of these Canadian rifles reached the American military, information on the correct disassembly and reassembly of the quite complicated bolt may be available from the U. S. Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen, Maryland. If it isn’t, the museum may be able to provide a Canadian source for you to contact.

On the positive side, it’s likely that the bolt of this modified rifle hasn’t been touched. (The fact that it hasn’t killed someone should provide some assurance.) If all that it needs is a cleaning, it doesn’t have to be disassembled. Submerge the bolt in mineral spirits overnight, then use a squeeze bulb to force the fluid through and flush out any loosened residue. Repeat until no grittiness is felt when the bolt is cocked. Then blow it dry with compressed air and lubricate lightly.

Savage Parts I do volunteer work with the San Diego-Imperial Boy Scout Council. We own eight older Savage Mark I .22 rifles’s o old that the new Savage Company won’t work on them. What I need is a source of parts, particularly the main spring in the bolt. Neither Numrich nor Brownells has them. Do you have any suggestions, either for a source of parts, or a suitable replacement spring? Thanks.

Any time we’ve called Savage in search of out-of-production gun parts we’ve always been referred to The Small Arms Shop, Inverness, Florida Malfunctioning S&W 459 I’ve been a subscriber to AG for quite awhile and have derived much good information from its pages. I now have a problem that perhaps you can assist me with. I took in an S&W 459 to sell for a customer. On checking it out, I found that if the trigger is pulled straight back every time, the gun functions as it should in double-action mode.

However, if there is any sideways pressure applied with the tip of the trigger finger while stroking through, the hammer falls only partway, catching on the safety notch. Single-action is okay. I would not want to sell this gun in its present state. I have it apart and don’t see any excessive wear on the engagement surfaces, except on the safety notch itself. I never cared much for 459s, and have no experience with them.

Having no illusions about my Technical Assistance Hotline To access AGA’s Technical-Assistance Hotline, call between 1 and 3 p.m. ET, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only. For assistance at all capabilities, I fix guns that I can and send them to others if I can’t. Do you have any clues to what’s going on here? Thanks. Not having the gun in hand to examine, we have to assume the problem lies with the side-to-side trigger movement.

Try taking up the slop with endshake washers (Brownells) by installing on one or both sides of the trigger. Also see if there is similar movement with the hammer; it may have to be replaced because of the wear you mentioned. Remington 7400 Feeding Do you have any tips to offer on solving feeding problems with the Remington 7400like getting the correct combination of mag-latch length and mag-lip angles? Thanks. Mike Haliburton, Ontario "Feeding problems" covers abroad area.

The most common cause is related to poor extraction or ejection. Since you don’t mention them specifically, we’ll delve into other areas. Bolt override happens because the magazine is riding too low in the gun. It’s corrected by replacing the mag latch with one higher in number. A magazine riding too high in the gun will block the bolt and is not a cause of override. An action that fails to blow back far enough is, however.

This can be traced to a binding action, a defective gas orifice, a defective gas nozzle, a rough barrel chamber, or a gas nozzle hole in the action sleeve that has broken through into the receiver’s spring hole. A binding action may be attributed to a misaligned ejection-port cover, the magazine, the action spring dan email to Chick Blood, Technical Editor, at

(continued from previous page) jamming the action-bar sleeve, the extractor or the ejector spring binding in the breech bolt, the action-bar sleeve binding the forend, the bolt dragging on its receiver guide rails, or a bent action tube. Solutions to the above include replacing the port cover, action spring, action tube, and cleaning the ejector spring hole and/or replacing the spring along with the magazine.

Beyond those simple fixes, the operating-handle retaining pin must assemble flush with the bottom surface of the bolt carrier, the action bar must fit closely to the receiver wall, the disconnector must assemble correctly to the end of the action bar and hug the receiver wall, and you may need to clean up "rivet head" on the action-bar assembly.

If the bolt is dragging its receiver rails and you are unable to smooth up the trouble spots, the rails may have to be overhauled. (There used to be a factory fix for this problem. Performed by Remington, it involved welding up the rails and recutting them, but they no longer offer this service.) A fresh bolt can be found, however, in the parts aftermarket. Any breakthrough of the gas nozzle hole into the receiver spring hole will require replacement of the action sleeve and spring.

As for the correct gas orifice/nozzle diameters, they differ from caliber to caliber, so they depend on the chambering of the M 7400 on which you’re working. .22 to .17 Conversion I have a Marlin Model 80 .22 rimfire that I am thinking about converting to the 17 Mach 2 cartridge, utilizing one of the Redman rimfire barrel liners offered by Brownells. Do you have any thoughts or advice on this project? g The Model 30 is a 30-year-old rifle. It probably has the structural integrity to accept the Mach 2.

The problem could lie with the magazine. Being intended for .22 caliber, and having been designed with no thought of the .17 caliber that came along years later, the magazine might have some trouble feeding the bottleneck case. You can check this out by filling the magazine with .17-caliber rounds, installing it in the rifle, and cycling the bolt. Don’t fire it! And keep your finger off the trigger!

The last thing you want to have happen is a .17 Mach 2 cartridge blowing itself apart in a .22-caliber chamber. (We’d insist you use dummy rounds for the feeding test, but the .17 is in such high demand as alive load we don’t believe there are any duds to be had. We haven’t seen any at any rate.) Taurus PT 24/7 Trigger Job? A customer recently brought in a Taurus PT 24/7 pistol in .45 ACP to see if I could smooth up the trigger pull. Apparently, no one else in this area will touch it.

He purchased it for concealed carry and IDPA competition, and is very happy with everything but the trigger pull. Before I started on it, it broke at 8.5-9.5 pounds. To reduce friction, I’ve polished all the trigger-bar contact surfaces, the firing-pin sear surface, the ramp surface, and reshaped the trigger bar where it contacts the firing-pin sear surface. This has made the pull somewhat lighter (about 6.5-7 pounds), but there is still some stacking at the end of the pull before it breaks.

Since this was the customer’s initial complaint, is there anything else I should be looking at (perhaps a slight reshaping of the trigger-bar ramp)? I checked the firing-pin spring assembly, but since it’s molded on a plastic guide rod, there doesn’t appear to be anything I can do with it without destroying it. Does anyone manufacture a slightly lighter spring/rod assembly?

The construction and performance of this pistol impressed me so much that I’m bringing one in for myself to play with, and to show to other customers in the shop. Any suggestions would be appreciated. No reshaping, please. If you’ve polished all trigger-bar contact surfaces as you say, are quite certain friction has been eliminated even on such things as the trigger pin, and there is no drag between the trigger and tail of the striker, send the trigger spring and striker assembly to Wolff Spring Co.

Newtown Square, PA 19073). They don’t make replacement assemblies (and neither does anyone else we know of), but the folks at Wolff may be able to provide some lighter springs that could be substituted. Also see the 24/7 article in the October 04 issue. While it doesn’t address triggerwork specifically, it does provide some reassembly tips you’ll find very useful, and reminds all concerned that this pistol was designed for self-defense rather than target shooting.

Using it frequently and keeping it clean will smooth the pull to a point that feels lighter.