About 6 weeks ago tried out a new bear load, 49th State Cartridge Company 250gr XTreme Penetrators in .44 Magnum. They were 100% reliable in my Smith 329, but only 50% reliable in my 629 Mountain Gun. Even with a second strike the primers failed to ignite, but they would ignite on a 3rd strike from my 329. Frustrating in that my Mountain Gun was my woods carry revolver for years before getting my 329 and I never had an issue with it. Does not inspire confidence when your bear gun goes click instead of BOOM!

Friend of mine suggested checking the strain screw. So I pulled the grips and put 2 full turns on it. Out at the range today with a second batch of the same ammo and the gun was 100%. Wish I could say the same for my hand…

Definitely worth checking, loss of tension on the mainspring when you need it isn't great! I tend to apply a drop of purple Loctite 222 to all of my strain screws for a little extra insurance while still being easy to remove when needed.

I have also had an extractor rod back out, despite its being left-hand thread to prevent this. This will bind the cylinder up.

Been there done that got the t-shirt for both. . I didn’t even know what the hell the strain screw was when it happened to me many moons again

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I have also had an extractor rod back out, despite its being left-hand thread to prevent this. This will bind the cylinder up.

I had that happen on my 66-1 K-frame a while back.

OK, let's see the strain screw.

quote:

Originally posted by ACP1:
OK, let's see the strain screw.

It is the screw on the lower front of the grip frame ( typically. Concealed under the grip) that tensions the mainspring- present on K L N frames
It should be fully tightened down. People erroneously think it is an adjustment ( looser screw lightens trigger ) but that is not the case.

quote:

Originally posted by ACP1:
OK, let's see the strain screw.

It's the screw at the bottom of the grip frame to keep tension on the leaf main spring. This is on my 610 Mountain Gun that I had issues with at the range today.