Took my 686 out today. Wanted to see how the new sights were regulated I had previously installed a gold bead front sight from SDM and added a fixed rear from a night guard. That went well here’s 10yds
Attached File


However decided while I was there to do more shooting then just a few to check sights. I had some factory ammo from Remington, Federal, and Speer.

When I switched from shooting factory ammo to reloads with Winchester primers I saw quite a few FTF, most on the second strike fired. Anyone else have similar problems and short of simply having a bad lot of primers any thoughts?

The smith had been previously tuned prior to me getting it so I had swapped out the springs for a Wolfe full power mainspring and a 14# return. I also for added insurance installed a Apex extended length firing pin old was .490 new is .508.

Attached File

All the light strikes I’ve seen in revolvers were usually because the strain screw on the S&W main spring was not tight.  Pull the grips, the strain screw is on the front strap just above the bottom of the grip frame.  Ensure the strain screw is tight.  All the other light strikes were usually on revolvers with a lot of rounds and were out of time or to much cylinder play.   The impacts on the primers look centered so I’d suspect loose strain screw or bad primers.  High primers can cause issues in revolvers.  High primers can impede cylinder rotation and zap hammer energy if not seated properly.

Strain screw was tightened prior to grip install. I checked it after your recommendation and it is still tight.

None seem excessively deep all are seated below flush. Maybe I didn’t get them all seated completely though that would be the first I’ve had that issue. I seated them using my 550. I did nothing new in that regard during the loading process. I might take these out and run them through a different revolver to eliminate that issue. Take more from the same batch and try them as well.

Thank you for the recommendations and possible insight into the issue.

Probably bad primers that were contaminated.

Looks like you are striking those primers really hard.  Maybe too hard.  Make sure you aren't piercing them.

Is your new Wolff full power main spring a "power rib" spring by chance? If it is your factory strain screw is too short. Give Wolff a call and tell them what model Smith you have and that you are getting light strikes with the full power mainspring. I forget the part # of the strain screw they stock but it is longer than the round butt own screws and should fix you up.

One way to check if you are seating the primers deep enough is to re-seat the primer on a single stage press (assuming you are loading on a progressive machine) and see if they go any deeper. I had this issue when loading 357 and 38 on a hornady lnl ap. Primers were seated but not completely. Took the rounds and re-seated the primers on a single stage press and no more light strikes. You could tell the primers went deeper on the single stage re-seat attempt.

No piercing of the primers I can see.

I’ll check both it is a Type 1 standard weight power rib. I’ll also break out the rock chucker and the ram prime. I intend to also check using a couple other guns to see if I have issues with them. I believe it’s possibly a contamination issue of some kind but I want to eliminate all possibilities I can

Unless you submerged the primers in some chemicals i doubt they are contaminated. My guess is the new strain screw and / or single stage primer seating will fix you up.

I recently had a 627 PC 8 shot 357 mag with similar issues. Had to tighten the strain screw, every few hundred rounds it would start doing it again.

I purchased them new in December and they’ve been stored in a climate controlled environment. I’ll try both your suggestions see if that works.

After the recommendation which mentioned the standard strain screw and power rib spring being non-compatible I picked up a factory spring and threw it in. Made it to the range this morning and all worked as it should with zero light strikes. Including refiring the previous that didn’t work. When I pulled it apart to swap the strain screw was in fact positioned inside the rib.

Good to hear. If you still want to use the power rib mainspring, call Wolff and get the proper strain screw. I noticed the trigger pull was a good deal smoother with the power rib standard power compared to the oem mainspring.

I fully intend to call them monday I'll post back what they say