cylinder play

[RK]

ON 357 REVOLVER MOD 15

How much rotational cylinder play is "OK" with trigger fully drawn and
hammer fully forward -- I assume this is the fully locked up position --
I'm asking because I want to buy a DW 357 Mag and have looked at
several -- Also looked a many revolvers (used) and see that the
colts in good shape lock up real tight -- The smith & wesson revolvers
in good shape seem to have some play -- Same for most rugers --
Those DW's I've looked at have varied amount of play -- I don't have
the exposure to make a real sound judgment -- Can you all offer some\
ball park advise  ??

                          Thanks  --  RK

[unspellable]

A Webley or the older Colt double action should have zero rotational play with the trigger held back.  Newer Colts, S&W's, and most other revolvers should have some slight rotational play with the trigger held back.  It's a little difficult to describe how much is right in text.  I've never actually measured this so I can't say how many thousandths of play it should have.  I just know when handling one if it's right or wrong.  It's not a common problem.

The real question for the Dan Wesson cylinder is how much fore and aft play or endshake is tolerable.  I've yet to hear an authoritative answer to that question.

[RK]

Thanks for your input -- Every bit HELPS

                       RHK

[DWTim]

I've even seen different amounts between different specimens of DW products. I have a Mod. 12 that has almost none when cocked. I also note that the W12 quickly attained a pronounced drag mark. I see newer style DWs that have more, but also have a rather different style cylinder stop. All the S&Ws I've seen are relatively loose.

I don't profess to know everything there is to know about revolvers, but I'm a bit more alarmed by excessive fore-aft play in the cylinder. I have a S&W 686 that needs to go back to the shop to be fixed, because the amount of movement allows the gap to go beyond .006 inch. It spits a lot, and has poor accuracy. In this case, there's a part of the yoke (IIRC) that stretched over the years, and needs to be reformed so that it's the proper dimensions.

I know, it's one of the things I check for when I'm looking at a potential buy. I really wonder how important it is, unless it's so loose that the cylinder goes out of line just by shaking the gun a little.

[unspellable]

Most cases of excessiver end shake in a S&W are due to poor fitting at the factory.  In those cases where it is due to wear, a lot of people will say the frame stretched.  Ain't gonna happen folks.  What does happen is the yoke tail gets peened down and wears a groove in the bottom of the cylinder well.  This is a weakness in the S&W deisgn as there is a rather small bearing surface on the yoke tail.  The factory fix is to "stretch" the yoke by using a devie like a dull tube cutter to indent the tube.  otherwise one adds shims, which many, myself included, will say is a better fix.

The S&W is more sensitive to end shake than some other revolvers, in part because the more end shake, the faster it increases. 0.003 is the maximum acceptable end shake in a S&W.  0.001 is the optimum.