Posted: 8/10/2026 12:53:33 PM EDT
| I got one where the timing is a little slow. The cylinder isn't locking on a couple chambers in DA. I have two oversized hands on the way. Any advice for me? |
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Originally Posted By Andyd: Since you already ordered two oversized hands you should get the Kuhnhausen manual. There is a little more involved than just installing them, but it is not a really challenging task. Everything is easy, given the know-how. Quoted for truth. Remember you can take more material off but cannot put it back on. Go slow and test fit repeatedly until it is right. At least you have one to practice on since you ordered two. |
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I actually already have the book. I think I am going to initially ignore the book however where it directs to file on the frame. I am going to see if I can do it by modifying only the replacement hand first, and then go from there. My logic of course is that I will file down the cheapest part. If I open the window too much then I'm screwed. Nelson Ford does it by bending the hand. He's a good man but I don't want to spend $270 because this is a fairly beat-up police surplus K-frame.  44 Magnum S&W Heat and Bend In The Shop #thegunsmith #work #revolver #44mag #model29 #guns #s&w |
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Bending the hand is requiring some extension experience with metal work and is more of an art, than a trade-skill. There are some artisans that supposedly peen the worn ratchet to advance timing and Colt had the "babbit" man that adjusted the barrels on fixed sight revolvers. If you have the book, then I would not overthink it at this point. I would, however, not recommend making the oversized hand thinner because it would defeat the purpose of the oversized hand to make up for wear. |
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How thick are the oversized hands compared to the original? You may only need a slightly thicker hand, maybe .005" - .010", to correct your timing. I've tuned up the timing on a 686+ by peaning the ratchet pads and I've fixed a completely whopped out Taurus 82 by bending the hand. All you're trying to do is increase the distance from the far side of the window to the near side of the hand so that the cylinder stop notch is presented to the cylinder stop bolt a liiiiiittle bit sooner. |
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Well I got it done. It took about 4.5 hours non-stop. I think I must have assembled and disassembled the K-frame about 20 times. The timing and function seem 100%...I just have to see how it does under live fire. Carry-up is now 100% consistent on all chambers and I have it advanced basically as far as it can go, which is not very much on an S&W. I started by opening up the window toward the center, but also had to clear out the channel below the window toward the rear a little so the hand could ride up and down in there properly. Then I spent a lot of time stoning the hand itself. The top requires being formed into a V. The right side of it is critical for starting the spinning of the cylinder and the left side governs where it stops. I also had to shorten the nose of it so it wasn't protruding out the front of the window and getting caught on the ratchet, and on the middle front of it to keep it from getting stuck on the frame. I also narrowed it slightly on the side just because I got sick of filing on the frame. I understand why the gunsmiths are just heating and bending. It wouldn't be economical to sit there stoning an oversized part for hours. The fact that you can just heat it and bend it without having to reshape the nose is a huge advantage. You should see the hand after I got done stoning it, it looks like a work of art just like the factory one.  It's not like it can kind of roughly be similar to the factory shape, it needs to be exactly perfect. Overall I do recommend the Power Custom oversized hand. Excellent size for fitting. |
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I'm a little late to the party here but... If it's only a couple chambers that the cylinder doesn't lock at and it's the same 2 chambers each time your issue is likely the ejector lugs that engage the hand for those 2 chambers. The hand may have been worn and a new one has fixed the issue, you don't have consistent timing yet. |
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Originally Posted By RiverSwine45: I'm a little late to the party here but... If it's only a couple chambers that the cylinder doesn't lock at and it's the same 2 chambers each time your issue is likely the ejector lugs that engage the hand for those 2 chambers. The hand may have been worn and a new one has fixed the issue, you don't have consistent timing yet. I don't think I explained how much of a mess this gun is. It's a pretty stratched up police trade-in. One thing I didn't mention was that those two chambers appeared to have some pretty bad damage to their corresponding cylinder stop notches. I actually had to peen and deburr those as well. I think someone was slamming the cylinder shut hard. The weird thing about this gun is that it's a 64-3 but has the gas rings on the yoke instead of the cylinder. I'm not sure if it was changed or what the deal is with it. I need to check the serials but I have Pachs on it. The other things I noticed were that the hand window was curved outward at the top on the right to the side. The firing pin hole is also off-center from the axis of the bore. Since replacing the hand it's now working. The chambers all line up with the bore so there is no lead spitting. I took it out shooting on two occasions with no issues, testing single and double action with Speer 125 gr +P JHPs and Winchester 130 gr FMJs. The cylinder stop locks in on all six chambers every time. You could argue the hand is pushing the cylinder a little too far on the four chambers that were working fine but at the moment of firing the cylinder stop is in each notch securely and the hand retracts back into the frame before the hammer drops. I'd be worried about it but it's not spitting lead, looks lined up fine, not seeing any streaking around the forcing cone, etc. |
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Originally Posted By Ameshawki: Call Smith and see how backed up they are. I leave timing issues to the pros. You want your gun even worse than it already is? Send it back to Smith and Wesson. The simpletons of the gun world. Time to learn to time. |
"Such predicaments! I must forge ahead!"
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Originally Posted By Andrewsky: I was able to do some live fire testing. Everything 100%.  Awesome. Before I had understood that my treasured Smith and Wesson of the 70s, 80s and 90s was gone, I ended up having them ruin one of my treasured guns about eight years ago. Had to learn to time a 29-2 on my own. It was satisfying to get it done by myself. Power Custom and Jerry Kuhnhausen and some good tools were my saviors. Well...and I am a metrologist...that kinda helped. (NO! I said "METROLOGIST" not "meteorologist". I am not a weatherman. I am a measurement technician.) I will NEVER send a gun to those mouth breathing imbeciles at S&W ever again. |
"Such predicaments! I must forge ahead!"