Revolver Checkout procedure - How to tell if a particular specimen is any good.

[1JimMarch]

Folks,

At 12 pages worth of PDF file, the "revolver checkout" just got a major update. There's pictures. There's side-notes on everything from special needs for black powder, reloading tool compatibility, make and model-specific data, and at the end a one-page outline of what kind of recoil and ammo performance you should expect with various weight classes of 38Spl and 357 guns.

There's special notes scattered throughout on various gun types, everything from the Colt Walker to breakopens to aluminum-frame snubbies.

There's...a lot . Page 12 is a one-page re-hash of the whole checkout procedure as quick bullet points to take with you to a gun show, gun shop, post-apocalyptic back alley or whatever . Despite this "short form" I recommend reading the whole thing once, to get the various theories and advanced notes down before going shopping.

It's too big for an attachment so I have it at google docs where it can be viewed without a PDF reader if needed:

http://tinyurl.com/revocheck

NOTE: you can download it locally - look for the "file" menu, top-left corner area below the color google logo. This is also where you can print it cleanly.

And yes, I promise, there'll be an update in 2021 . With any luck, there'll be a special section on magazine-fed gas-eject single action revolvers that I got rich off of inventing .

(Or not.)

A quick moment: if you’ve found this guide useful, please consider chipping in $20 or less – not for me, but to fund a really important election-related lawsuit in Arizona that has national implications. See also:
https://www.wepay.com/donate/AZCARE – THANKS!

ADMINS: can we move this post to the top?

[Tanner68]

Was looking at some revolvers at MBR today, and thought I needed to review this post. And now I find that 12 page PDF. Awesome! Thanks Jim.

[samspade77]

Better late than never...for me reading it anyways. I am in the market for a revolver and this has definitely educated me. Thank you very much!

[BayouBullets]

Cool Post! I've always checked gap, but never really thought about the tuning aspect. I always just wanted to know if the gap was less than .006 with judgement favoring the idea of the lower the better until .002 gap. Never gave it a thought other than that. Now that you mention it though, A lot of the really tight gap tolerance guns I've seen also seemed to have well above average slick triggers. i always just attributed it to the factory "luckout" and the trigger being really well broken in.

[1JimMarch]

Yeah, what you sometimes see looking like "just another old gun" on the dealer's shelf is actually somebody's former pride and joy. Maybe a dead somebody, widow sold it not having clue one it was worked over by a top gunsmith. There's way more critters like this floating around than you can imagine.

[PoorMan]

This is excellent. Particularly for a newb in the market for a revolver like myself.

Thanks for sharing!

[PoorMan]

Cylinder gap Still holding the trigger at full lockup, look sideways through the barrel/cylinder gap. If you can get a credit card in there, that ain't good...velocity drops rapidly as the gap increases.

I wanted to check my GP100. I haven't done the full lockup thing yet, but I sure hope that changes things because right now I can get 2 credit cards in the gap!

[1JimMarch]

I wanted to check my GP100. I haven't done the full lockup thing yet, but I sure hope that changes things because right now I can get 2 credit cards in the gap!

It *might* change things. It does on some guns, not on others. Rather than spend pages and weeks of research figuring out which are which, I went with "do the full lockup thing" . Sorry, but it was the practical answer. As best I could, I wanted one procedure that would work on anything from an 1836 Paterson Colt forward (NOT that you'd do it on a genuine antique Paterson(!) but Uberti has made replicas...).

[hummerdad]

Very, very, helpful! The post with the 12 page reference should be at the top. Thanks!

[RJ7]

Well I guess better late than never to the party . Thanks for some great info , My father-in-law has an old service revolver I want to check out and see what kind of shape it's in .....

[CharlesV]

Jim, since youre trying to raise some cash, why not offer a check-out clinic 3-4 times a year? Ive read and enjoyed the "12" but still some things im not familiar with, or lets say have the right experience/feel for to really know if a weapon is Ok or not. Id pay for your on the spot check-out, wouldnt others, too?

[1JimMarch]

Huh. Well one option would be to schedule a mini-class at one of the big AZ gun shows - towards the beginning .

Not a half bad idea, that...

[Flyin Brian]

I'm looking at an early Python right now that has very little cylinder gap, actually there are light rub marks on the front of the cylinder where the forcing cone is making contact or has in the past. All of the other checks come out great... is this a major issue or not?

[ShootinMedic]

Great read! Thanks Jim March for sharing your insight and knowledge. I'm keeping my eyes open for my next revolver and this will be invaluable.


ETA: Thanks QuarterBoreGunner for sharing it too. :-)

[Zorgnot]

Thanks

Thanks a lot for posting this. I just went through your check list with my Python I bought used about 4 years ago. At the time the gun seemed clean and 600 bucks was too good to pass up. Your write up confirmed I got a good deal.