Local Gunsmiths

[65mustang]

Are there any recomendations for a decent gunsmith to work on a S&W revolver? I would like to stay local and not have to ship it. I bought this model 28 (357 Highway patrolman) which had a 45 acp model 25 conversion done to it(different barrel and cylinder). Originally the barrel was a little cocked to the left so Cabelas took it back and had it repaired. I got it back and shot it a couple of times and it worked great. Yesterday as I was shooting it the action just got real tight. I had originally thought I had a bent moon clip but it was tight without a loaded cylinder. I do not see anything that moved so I am kind of baffled.

[mauser]

I've taken several repair jobs to Richland Shooter's supply, Jim does good work for a good price but he usually has a backlog of a few months or more.
Another guy that I've used but not recently is John Null on E. Weidman St. His number is in the phone book. He did good work for a good price too and his backlog didn't seem to be as long Richland. I don't know if he's still working on guns or not, he looked to be about old enough to retire and that was a few years ago.
I've been told by tdyoung58 that the guy with the new gun shop in Campbelltown, Horseshoe Pike Gun Shop, has been doing gunsmith work for quite a while. There was a thread about him back in August:

http://forum.pafoa.org/lebanon-96/68...-gun-shop.html

Bob Enck in Newmanstown/Kleinfeltersville does nice work too but he made a comment to me one time that kind of turned me off to him. Something to the effect of being displeased when someone buys a gun somewhere else then takes it to him to fix. I can see his point but he just struck me the wrong way that day and I haven't taken any work back to him. I will say that when he worked on a few guns for me several years ago that he did really good work for a fair price and got it done pretty quickly. On top of that, he's a cowboy action shooter and he knows revolvers really well. He may be your best bet for this job.

This might be a bad time of year to expect any gun work to be done quickly though, just before hunting season. So many people store their guns all year and get them out when the weather starts to remind them of hunting then find a problem or decide they want a new scope or something.
Maybe nijwnfi will chime in here with good words about Bob.
Maybe his attitude has changed since then or maybe I caught him on a bad day, call him and see how it goes.

Good luck.

[65mustang]

I've taken several repair jobs to Richland Shooter's supply, Jim does good work for a good price but he usually has a backlog of a few months or more.
Another guy that I've used but not recently is John Null on E. Weidman St. His number is in the phone book. He did good work for a good price too and his backlog didn't seem to be as long Richland. I don't know if he's still working on guns or not, he looked to be about old enough to retire and that was a few years ago.
I've been told by tdyoung58 that the guy with the new gun shop in Campbelltown, Horseshoe Pike Gun Shop, has been doing gunsmith work for quite a while. There was a thread about him back in August:

http://forum.pafoa.org/lebanon-96/68...-gun-shop.html

Bob Enck in Newmanstown/Kleinfeltersville does nice work too but he made a comment to me one time that kind of turned me off to him. Something to the effect of being displeased when someone buys a gun somewhere else then takes it to him to fix. I can see his point but he just struck me the wrong way that day and I haven't taken any work back to him. I will say that when he worked on a few guns for me several years ago that he did really good work for a fair price and got it done pretty quickly. On top of that, he's a cowboy action shooter and he knows revolvers really well. He may be your best bet for this job.

This might be a bad time of year to expect any gun work to be done quickly though, just before hunting season. So many people store their guns all year and get them out when the weather starts to remind them of hunting then find a problem or decide they want a new scope or something.
Maybe nijwnfi will chime in here with good words about Bob.
Maybe his attitude has changed since then or maybe I caught him on a bad day, call him and see how it goes.

Good luck.

I have dealt with Bob in the past and had similar results. I have bought a couple of guns and some ammo in the past there. I have been meaning to visit the new shop maybe I will talk to him and see what he thinks.

thanks for the info

[brian]

is it the cylinder that is tight or the lock works?

[65mustang]

is it the cylinder that is tight or the lock works?

It is definitely the cylinder. I just do not see how anything could have moved. I did notice it had a tight cylinder gap but it functioned fine until this happened.

[mauser]

It is definitely the cylinder. I just do not see how anything could have moved. I did notice it had a tight cylinder gap but it functioned fine until this happened.

Check the pin that holds the cylinder. If it starts to unscrew it'll jam up the cylinder. It's happened to me before with a Ruger. I don't remember if it's left or right hand thread but you need to turn it back in a few turns to free things up. If I remember correctly I was able to get mine to turn with mt fingernail but it was a pain in the ass.



Hope this helps.

[brian]

assuming the cylinder opens, and it's not what mauser has suggested, dismount the cylinder from the frame.

to do so, on the right hand side of the gun. completely remove the screw that is above the trigger. swing open the cylinder. it may take a little wiggling, but grasp the crane(the part that swings in the frame and carries the cylinder) and pull it out of the frame. keeping in mind the only that holds the cylinder on it, is that little knob on the frame in between the trigger and the release button.
once clear of the frame the cylinder is free to fall off.
the ejecter rod should pass through the crane, though if it's an older model you'll need to undo the ejector assemble first(left hand threads as mentioned), mind the spring when undoing.

the reason for all this is to clean the crud out of there. it can come on rather suddenly, as your's appears to have, and i've had one of mine(the one pic actually) do it with no warning.
opened and cleaned/oil good as new now.

[mauser]

I'm surprised brian, a post by you in the Lebanon forum and you're actually serious.
Congratulations, I didn't think you could do it.

[brian]

do not expect it often.
besides, it's a s&w anybody with a small screw driver can work on them. why do you think i like them.......

[jack76590]

I think the threads are reverse threads. A little loctite, blue probably best carefully applied may solve problem from happening again. But don't get loctite where you don't want it. Also when you tighten up put in some fired cases to protect extractor star from getting twisted. Also put in some cases if you ever need to screw out and break loctite seal. Good luck.