# 29-3 Cylinder Barrel Gap



## ricklee4570 (Nov 13, 2014)

I just bought a used S&W 29-3 with an 8 3/8 barrel. The end shake was pretty bad. When measuring, I held the Cylinder to the rear and measured. I got from 0.010 to 0.012 gap. When holding the cylinder forward I got about 0.002. This is consistent with all cylinders but one. On one cylinder, when holding the cylinder tight towards the barrel, the lower portion is 0.002 but the upper part is actually touching the barrel. I guess the cylinder is not completely flat??

I ordered end shake bearings to eliminate the end shake. This will still leave me with a barrel/cylinder gap of about 0.010 to 0.012. Is this too far out of spec to be safe? The forcing cone looks okay, and there is no excessive flame cutting on the top strap. 

Thanks for any advice!


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

No, in my opinion that would be okay. Not ideal, but safe to shoot. Tight B/C gaps are nice, until you shoot a bunch of lead bullet loads and the cylinder starts draggin' on the forcing cone.

On that one tight chamber, check for lead buildup on the one side; could be causing the problem.


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

As I recall, factory specs for the Ruger Superblawk was .006". I don't know what it would be for the Model 29 but I would think that .010 and over would be too much. I have a mid-80's Ruger Redhawk 5 1/2" that comes in at .003" and a 1976 Ruger Security Six that measures .0015".

If your cylinder has chambers that vary in their barrel/cylinder gap measurement then it is probably due to a cylinder that is out of round (not perfectly flat) or maybe an out of alignment crane. Have you considered availing yourself of the services of a competent gunsmith by chance?


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