Looking For Someone To Finish Ream S&W .22 Revolver Chambers

[yanici]

I live in the greater Lowell area. Does anyone know of a smith that is fairly local that can finish ream the cylinder chambers on my S&W revolver. S&W is notorious for having way to tight chambers on their .22 revolvers.

 

[aeromarine]

You might just get by polishing out each of the chambers using a fine polishing compound on a patch then finishing up with Flitz. I'm not sure it should ever be necessary to ream out the chambers on a Smith. Are you sure the problem isn't simply lead build up at the far end of each chamber that's making it difficult to insert cartridges? A good cleaning with a bronze brush and lead-away wipes can cure that.

The main problem I have had with the tight tolerances found on those beautiful and well-made S&W .22 revolvers has been with unburnt powder, carbon and crud rapidly building up under the star extractor to the point where the cylinder becomes extremely difficult, near impossible, to open. Most .22 ammo is notoriously dirty. So, to avoid problems, I always take extra care to carefully clean out under the star extractors of my models 63, 617 and 48.

 

[yanici]

You might just get by polishing out each of the chambers using a fine polishing compound on a patch then finishing up with Flitz. I'm not sure it should ever be necessary to ream out the chambers on a Smith. Are you sure the problem isn't simply lead build up at the far end of each chamber that's making it difficult to insert cartridges? A good cleaning with a bronze brush and lead-away wipes can cure that.

The main problem I have had with the tight tolerances found on those beautiful and well-made S&W .22 revolvers has been with unburnt powder, carbon and crud rapidly building up under the star extractor to the point where the cylinder becomes extremely difficult, near impossible, to open. Most .22 ammo is notoriously dirty. So, to avoid problems, I always take extra care to carefully clean out under the star extractors of my models 63, 617 and 48.

It's the extraction that is the problem not insertion. I've followed many posts on the S&W forum that exactly describe the problem and hoe it generally is caused by the tight revolver chambers in the cylinders.

 

[Skeeter]

Not exactly local but Karl Sokol (Chestnut Mountain Sports) in VT knows what he’s doing.

 

[aeromarine]

Is your revolver a six or ten shot model? You might try loading one round at a time and shooting it, then do the same to each chamber in turn. The culprit might be just one of the chambers not all of them. I had a similar problem with a Colt HBAR AR many years ago. It would fail to eject and double feed. When I took it back to Hartford for repairs they "diagnosed" the issue as a bolt and extractor problem. So, they rebuilt the whole carrier and bolt, test fired it with 20 rounds and said the problem was fixed. But when I got it home and took it to the range I had the same problem as before. I concluded the problem might actually roughness in the chamber that was making the empty cartridges stick and unable to extact. So, I gently polished the chamber using a drill on slow speed with a cleaning rod and a shotgun swab and ultra fine value grinding compound. That ended the problem.

I believe Smith & Wesson still offers very good customer service. If you don't want to use a DIY approach,I would suggest sending the revolver back to them as a first step. They should fix it for free. Good luck!!

 

[tinhorn]

It's the extraction that is the problem not insertion.

I've had this problem on a few .22 revolvers, from Heritage to Rugers to a Kirst conversion cylinder. It was usually just one or two chambers that were tighter than the rest. I spent a little time with a mop, some Flitz, a cordless drill, and a handful of different brands of ammo. Problem solved. (I discovered that if an Aquila round would slip in and out easily, ANYthing would.) Good luck.

 

[whacko]

I've had this problem on a few .22 revolvers, from Heritage to Rugers to a Kirst conversion cylinder. It was usually just one or two chambers that were tighter than the rest. I spent a little time with a mop, some Flitz, a cordless drill, and a handful of different brands of ammo. Problem solved. (I discovered that if an Aquila round would slip in and out easily, ANYthing would.) Good luck.

I've found some ammo to be the culprit on my ruger single 10. Winchester 22lr is tight as hell going in the chambers and about 1 in 20 won't go in at all. CCI standard, federal, and Aguila fit no problem.

 

[yanici]

Thanks for all the input, so far. I sent an email off to Karl Sokol in VT. to see if he'll do the job even though he's not local. I'd prefer someplace I could drop it off though. I believe the cylinder needs to be finish reamed and polished. The gun is a S&W Model 34, .22 cal. made in 1954 so no warranty work at S&W is possible. Brownell's sells the reamer but it's out of stock and I'm not that confident in my skill to do the job.

 

[DW357]

Thanks for all the input, so far. I sent an email off to Karl Sokol in VT. to see if he'll do the job even though he's not local. I'd prefer someplace I could drop it off though. I believe the cylinder needs to be finish reamed and polished. The gun is a S&W Model 34, .22 cal. made in 1954 so no warranty work at S&W is possible. Brownell's sells the reamer but it's out of stock and I'm not that confident in my skill to do the job.

I’d have to imagine @Greg Derr can do it? Though he might be busy building world class 1911’s

 

[yanici]

I’d have to imagine @Greg Derr can do it? Though he might be busy building world class 1911’s

Yeah, I know what you mean. He may not even own the reamer cutter or hasn't used it for so long that he'd never find it.

 

[MAGA99]

Thanks for all the input, so far. I sent an email off to Karl Sokol in VT. to see if he'll do the job even though he's not local. I'd prefer someplace I could drop it off though. I believe the cylinder needs to be finish reamed and polished. The gun is a S&W Model 34, .22 cal. made in 1954 so no warranty work at S&W is possible. Brownell's sells the reamer but it's out of stock and I'm not that confident in my skill to do the job.

You’re smarter than you look!

 

[yanici]

Decided to go with Greg Derr on the ream job. Karl Sokol responded too but I've seen Derr's work and he's an NESer so he gets first dibs.