Rebuilding the “Battered” Revolver

Over the years, I’ve sparked a few debates with my opinion of Smith & Wesson’s K-Frame Magnums’t hat opinion being that they’re not built for extensive use of full-power Magnum loads. But it’s not hard to find shooters who disagree with me. Some tell me they’ve been using "Elmer Keith Memorial loads" or factory Magnums for 30 years or more without ill effects.

While I suppose this is possible, I think most gunsmiths would agree that the lightweight K-Frame Magnums are subject to more rapid wear than the heavier N-Frame Magnums. I suspect that, in many cases, the fact that the typical shooter doesn’t know what "ill effects" to look for has a lot to do with why he doesn’t seem to find them. In this article, we’ll look at what some of those effects can be, and discuss some ways they can be corrected.

While my discussion will center on the K-Frame S&Ws, the basics apply to any Magnum revolver. To start off, I think we can agree that the K-Frames are basically ".38 frame" firearms, while the N-Frames are ".44 frame" firearms, and firing a lot of full-power Magnums will batter even these larger revolvers. They don’t blow up very often, of course, but they can become rattling wrecks. The recommended procedure for a .357 magnum revolver is to fire it for practice with a ratio of about ten .38s for every Magnum.

By the time you see the handgun in the shop, it is too late for this advice to be of any assistance, but They should be examined closely. if it’s not badly damaged you may be able to fix it. That said, the process of rebuilding a Magnum revolver is relatively simple’especially if the wear is not excessive. In much the same way that a small hole in adam can become a major breach in a hurry, once wear on a revolver reaches a certain point, it accrues rapidly.

The first and most obvious sign of wear is a battered and mushroomed cylinder center pin. As a result of this, the center pin may stick in the extractor rod. In order to address this wear, I’ve removed and reshaped the center pin, but a reshaped pin never seems to hold up for very long. Once a center pin becomes worn, the wear accelerates quickly. Anew center pin is the answer. On numerous occasions, I’ve seen forcing cones that have cracked due to a heavy lead buildup.

The culprit seems to be lead bullets that are too soft, and heavy loads pushing those soft bullets at velocities well over

This is often an indication of heavy wear. 1,000 fps. The lead builds up overtime, eventually resulting in excessive pressure. If you catch the problem in time and the customer is willing to pay for corrective gunsmithing, a bit of reaming of the forcing cone is a great aid to the Magnum revolver.

The breech can be opened to about .15-20 over bore diameter in both .357 and .44 caliber revolvers. (Interestingly, I can’t recall seeing a problem with the .41.) By relieving the breech, much of the concern for overpressure is relieved as well. If the forcing cone has already cracked, the barrel must be replaced. There have been numerous design improvements in Magnum revolvers over the years’which is a tipoff that the manufacturers have seen problems with their products.

But there are an untold number of older revolvers around and even the newer ones are subject to wear (depending a great deal on the habits of the shooter). One problem I’ve seen with some Magnum revolvers was the failure of the bolt to properly hold the cylinder. As a result, the revolver would fire, the hand would turn, and the hammer would fall again on the same cylinder. Older revolvers can be fitted with an oversize bolt stop from Brownells.

This part is still available and would prove to be a life saver for many wellworn revolvers. Magnums absorb a lot of inertia, and this explains the next problem I’ll cover. For various reasons, the sideplate screws of Magnum revolvers often work loose. The front plate yoke screw is usually the first to go. Tightening and thread-locker work’up to a point’but replacement of the screw may be necessary to prevent wallowing out the sideplate.

And don’t assume when you’re handed a revolver that the screws are in the correct tunnel. When it comes to cylinder and crane malfunctions, the cardinal rule is to completely and carefully clean the revolver first. Besides the lead buildup problem, Magnums also use a relatively slow-burning powder that flakes and builds up to a varnish-like finish. A common problem in the K- Frame Magnums, including Models

13, 19, 65, and 66, is "endshake." Endshake is simply the cylinder exhibiting excessive back-and-forth motion on the crane. Once endshake develops, it becomes progressively worse. Misfires may even occur due to the forward movement of the cylinder when the primer of the chambered cartridge is struck.

When I am checking for ignition reliability, I don’t use live ammunition but prefer to use Nevertheless, these are lightweight revolvers and the pounding from Magnum loads is sure to take its toll. empty cases primed with CCI Magnum primers. These are hard primers because they’re designed to contain Magnum pressure, and thus they’re the standard you should use. If the revolver cracks these primers, you’re in good shape. This test is also helpful when performing a trigger job.

The simplest solution to endshake problems is to fit bushings to the cylinder. Once the cylinder has been checked for endplay, you will need to disassemble the cylinder, crane, and center pin. I get my bushings from Power Custom. These bushings are dropped into the front of the cylinder’s center hole and then checked for a perfect fit. Sometimes a number of bushings are required. The ejector rod should slide over the bushings but should not bear against them.

The standard procedure is to fill the cylinder with bushings until it no longer revolves, and then remove one of the bushings. These little bushings area great product and will easily I give you a tight barrel/cylinder gap. Another common problem is a forcing cone that has become worn and actually rubs against the cylinder. I have seen this occur in sub-Magnum calibers, but the Magnums take more battering. The forcing cone could be uneven. When this occurs, the forcing cone can be carefully filed.

This must be done evenly in order for the cylinder to rotate properly. Unlike my aforementioned experience with reshaping of a center pin, when a forcing cone is reshaped, the revolver seems to function well for many hundreds of rounds. Although I have more experience with Smith & Wesson revolvers, I’ve worked with many of Taurus’ smallframe revolvers chambered for the .357 Magnum.

It seems that the additional lock on the crane of some of the six-shot variations goes along way in fighting wear (and possibly in increasing accuracy as well). The mid-frame Taurus revolvers use a lockwork like the Smith & Wesson, and some seem to display wear on the ratchet rather quickly. This is similar to the wear seen on S&W J-Frame "Chief’s Special" revolvers that have been fired a lot. If the .38-caliber version shows early wear, it’s only reasonable to assume the Magnums will wear more quickly.

All of this taken together means that the gunsmith who is prepared to work on Magnum revolvers will probably not run out of work anytime in the near future.