Question Regarding S&W Model 19 End Shake

[Low Light]

Hello all. New to the forums. Glad to be here. I've inherited some of my father's guns and have been trying to catch up on maintenance. The other day I noticed the S&W Model 19 cylinder has about a 1-2 mm horizontal movement as it sits on the ejector rod. I noticed the cylinder relaese latch has a tiny bit of shake/give to it as well. It got tighter when I tightened down the screw, but it didn't go away completely.This doesn't seem normal.

Two questions: is it normal and can it (should it) be fired this way? Is this what is know as "cylinder end shake"?

Thanks, in advance, to all.

[Asphodel]

Hello, Low Light,

With the revolver 'in battery', meaning hammer cocked, ready to fire, do you feel more than the most miniscule looseness, very nearly none, in the cylinder's locking against rotation?

A Smith should feel 'tight' when ready to fire.....if anything feels really 'shaky', have someone who knows revolvers inspect it.......those can be 'sprung' a bit, if badly abused.

The cylinder must have a tiny bit of 'end play' to revolve freely. Using a feeler gage, what gap do you feel between the cylinder and the barrel, with the revolver in battery?

(S&W revolvers use the American decimal inch system, not metric. Specs are in thousandths of an inch, expressed '.00x' or '.0xx')

(if you aren't familiar with using a feeler gage, you can get one at any automotive tool supplier. They are simply accurately marked strips of steel of varying thicknesses, put up in a convenient handle. Get a 'best quality' one, they are an inexpensive tool.

A common automotive feeler gage set will have gages between .0015 and .035, which will cover the range needed to check a Smith)

You should have min. .005 to .007 cylinder to barrel gap on a Smith, if I remember correctly......maybe someone who has a S&W manual could verify that?

cheers

Carla

[Low Light]

Thanks, Carla. With the gun 'in battery' there is the tiniest bit of play to the cylinder on a horizontal plane (moving back and forth). The "shake" (if that is the correct term) is really evident when the cylinder is open. I should have been clearer.