I've acknowledged being new to handgunning, and told about my mishap with a squib load in a S&W 642. BTW, it was not a total loss, and is getting a new barrel installed at the factory. I was lucky.

Meanwhile, I picked up another 642, this one with a 2.5" barrel that I posted about in a thread about POI. That one was exchanged for a new one, because the forcing cone was rough with tool marks. The replacement is much better, but not perfect. Pic of the rough one below. Not impressed with the quality control.

While I was the gun show, I also looked at a Taurus snubby. What I noticed was that the forcing cone on the Taurus was much shallower, and also highly polished vs. either Smith.

So this leads to a question. How important is the forcing cone on a revolver, and does the angle make any practical difference?

Paul

A short answer;

Think of the forcing cone as a "transition zone" for the bullet as it makes its "jump" from the cylinder to the barrel. If it's off center or abrupt in its bevel angle, it deforms and/or upsets the bullet and can cause bullet shaving, leading and inaccuracy in extreme cases.

All things being equal, the forcing cone should be shallow (11 degrees or so) and smooth for good transition of flight for the bullet.

Well Said!

Brownells carries a tool that will cut the marks out and chamfer to 11 degrees , easy to use , if you want to tackle it. Usually a larger problem in production revolvers is the difference in cylinder gap between each cylinder. This is hard to correct and the cylinder must be faced off and the barrel reset. gunsmith stuff and costly usually done on target guns. But slight irregularities to the barrel can be cleaned up using Brownells 90 degree facing tool, or have a gunsmith do it.

FWIW, I have Ahlman's in Morristown, MN, tune and recut the forcing cone in all of my CF DA revolvers.

$70 - Smooth action and tune DA revolver
$30 - Ream revolver forcing cone

www.ahlmans.com

I think that pistolsmiths at Ahlman's are better than those at Smith & Wesson in MA. I will never send another revolver to S&W to non-warrenty repair as long as Ahlman's is offering the services that I'm looking to buy.

JEff

Thanks for the info. I once had Ahlman's do some checkering for me.

Has anybody had experience with this guy? He is in state, within driving distance for me. He offers various tuning services on handguns.

www.heffronfirearmclassics.com

Paul

I haven't had personal experience, but I do shoot classic High Standard pistols, and I can tell you he is VERY well respected by any High Standard shooters who have mentioned using him in various High Standard forums I frequent.

Many trust him with the collector classics made in Hamden CT, not just the later E. Hartford or TX guns, so that's quite a recommendation.

I'd use them in a heartbeat based on recommendations.

Paul,

If you're thinking about having more than a polish done on the forcing cone the barrel will likely need to be set back a thread. There's not enough barrel material to increase the angle and keep the same forcing cone length.

The only proof is firing the revolver, but there's nothing wrong with the forcing cone in the photo. If the revolver spits or leads, or seems to have accuracy problems then maybe something should be done. We'd all like glossy forcing cones, but the truth is it doesn't matter much - especially in a snubby.

Also, Ahlman's is first rate and I've always had great work done by S&W.

JOG, I respect your knowledge and appreciate your point of view, but other knowledgable handgunners and 'smiths have seen that gun or the pic, and agreed that it isn't up to snuff. That includes the dealer who took it back and exchanged it, after it had been fired. It may not be a practical issue, although it did pick up a fair amount of lead from HBWCs.

It's moot anyhow, now that I'm starting over with the replacement.

Thanks to all for your responses.

Paul

No bent feelers here.

I agree that it's not up to snuff, but more along the lines of a scratch on the cylinder. I'd definitely have a 'dammit moment' if that was the forcing cone that showed up after ordering the revolver or on a Gunbroker deal. I hate ordering sight-unseen. It's a bonus your dealer is backing you.

BUT, if the revolver was leading excessively that a whole 'nother thing.