Buying a used revolver

Cerberus Group · Mar 4, 2026

This thread is based on the last few months of people asking me about what to look for when buying a used revolver.

For frame of reference, I'm not a gunsmith. I've been through the S&W one week armorer course back in the early 90s
I was the dept armorer when we were still carrying revolvers, and switched to Sig 229s, then the HK USP, then a free for all of whatever was approved for carry. Which meant I went to every armorer school chasing all the makes allowed for carry.

I now pick and choose what I want to work on, but am still partial to S&W revolvers...no, I won't work on anything else, please don't ask.

I will go over what I look for and check, others may have different views and thoughts, and that's ok...feel free to chime in with anything I missed.

I carry some feeler gauges .004, .005, and .006 to check cylinder to barrel clearance, and a .010" to check headspace (clearance from cylinder to recoil shield)
Cylinder clearance less than .004" is a no go, greater than 006" no go. Less than .004", it won't take much for carbon and other grime on the face of the cylinder to cause problems...make it turn rough and gritty, and will be felt with each trigger pull. Too much gap, and you lose pressure which translates into loss of velocity.

Headspace...greater than .010" no go, less than that, use spent cases and place in cylinder and make sure none drag against the recoil shield when the cylinder is turned. The taught standard is .012" max, but with S&W using short firing pins, the possibility of light primer strikes increases dramatically. .012" isn't a problem if you have a standard sized firing pin...just make you know what you have.

End shake, movement of cylinder back and forth, this should be minimal to nothing. Open cylinder and close slowly...see if the front of cylinder contacts barrel. Should not contact the barrel upon closing. If it does, this can be adjusted, but make sure you figure for that repair cost into the purchase price of the revolver.

Cylinder should rotate freely. It should spin without resistance.

Ejector rod straight, no marks anywhere. Push ejector rod, should operate freely. Check star, no damage...straight and fit flush into cylinder.

Timing...pull trigger DA...cylinder should lock before full pull. Pull DA til the cylinder locks, stop the pull and thumb hammer the rest of the way back til it locks into SA notch...this is proper timing. In other words, the cylinder should lock before the hammer reaches full draw back. I also carry alignments rods to check proper cylinder lock up etc.

Cylinder throats, the part of the cylinder where the bullets exit the cylinder. You'll need pin gauges for this. You won't need a full set, but a few for each caliber.
For example, a 44 caliber is .429" diameter. I like to to see the throats no more than .0025" larger than the diameter of the bullet. So that would mean no larger than .4315" Again, any larger and you lose pressure which relates to velocity loss. I've seen each cylinder with a different measurement on some revolvers. If they're too large, nothing you can do but replace the cylinder. Too small, which I've also seen...and they;ll need to be reamed to a proper size. That being either the same size as the bullet diameter, or again no more than .0025" larger...I prefer .002" max

A side note for S&W collectors. A pinned barrel seems all the rage, I understand the draw to them...but have seen plenty of them where the pin did nothing. Some even fell out of the frame and weren't holding anything. So really, pinned barrels aren't all that.

That's about it...other than obvious use wear etc.
If you have questions I'll answer them, and if you have answers I'll question them.

1775usmc · Mar 4, 2026

Thank you!!

Tlock · Mar 4, 2026

Great info! Thanks

Stomper · Mar 4, 2026

Cerberus Group said:
This thread is based on the last few months of people asking me about what to look for when buying a used revolver.

For frame of reference, I'm not a gunsmith. I've been through the S&W one week armorer course back in the early 90s
I was the dept armorer when we were still carrying revolvers, and switched to Sig 229s, then the HK USP, then a free for all of whatever was approved for carry. Which meant I went to every armorer school chasing all the makes allowed for carry.

I now pick and choose what I want to work on, but am still partial to S&W revolvers...no, I won't work on anything else, please don't ask.

I will go over what I look for and check, others may have different views and thoughts, and that's ok...feel free to chime in with anything I missed.

I carry some feeler gauges .004, .005, and .006 to check cylinder to barrel clearance, and a .010" to check headspace (clearance from cylinder to recoil shield)
Cylinder clearance less than .004" is a no go, greater than 006" no go. Less than .004", it won't take much for carbon and other grime on the face of the cylinder to cause problems...make it turn rough and gritty, and will be felt with each trigger pull. Too much gap, and you lose pressure which translates into loss of velocity.

Headspace...greater than .010" no go, less than that, use spent cases and place in cylinder and make sure none drag against the recoil shield when the cylinder is turned. The taught standard is .012" max, but with S&W using short firing pins, the possibility of light primer strikes increases dramatically. .012" isn't a problem if you have a standard sized firing pin...just make you know what you have.

End shake, movement of cylinder back and forth, this should be minimal to nothing. Open cylinder and close slowly...see if the front of cylinder contacts barrel. Should not contact the barrel upon closing. If it does, this can be adjusted, but make sure you figure for that repair cost into the purchase price of the revolver.

Cylinder should rotate freely. It should spin without resistance.

Ejector rod straight, no marks anywhere. Push ejector rod, should operate freely. Check star, no damage...straight and fit flush into cylinder.

Timing...pull trigger DA...cylinder should lock before full pull. Pull DA til the cylinder locks, stop the pull and thumb hammer the rest of the way back til it locks into SA notch...this is proper timing. In other words, the cylinder should lock before the hammer reaches full draw back. I also carry alignments rods to check proper cylinder lock up etc.

Cylinder throats, the part of the cylinder where the bullets exit the cylinder. You'll need pin gauges for this. You won't need a full set, but a few for each caliber.
For example, a 44 caliber is .429" diameter. I like to to see the throats no more than .0025" larger than the diameter of the bullet. So that would mean no larger than .4315" Again, any larger and you lose pressure which relates to velocity loss. I've seen each cylinder with a different measurement on some revolvers. If they're too large, nothing you can do but replace the cylinder. Too small, which I've also seen...and they;ll need to be reamed to a proper size. That being either the same size as the bullet diameter, or again no more than .0025" larger...I prefer .002" max

A side note for S&W collectors. A pinned barrel seems all the rage, I understand the draw to them...but have seen plenty of them where the pin did nothing. Some even fell out of the frame and weren't holding anything. So really, pinned barrels aren't all that.

That's about it...other than obvious use wear etc.
If you have questions I'll answer them, and if you have answers I'll question them.

Would you have some time available to make some tweaks on my GP100 and SP101?

Just kidding!

Tlock · Mar 4, 2026

Stomper said:
Would you have some time available to make some tweaks on my GP100 and SP101?

Just kidding!

Everyone knows your a taurus man!

64MercurysRule · Mar 4, 2026

Tlock said:
Everyone knows your a taurus man!

Bobbygun · Mar 4, 2026

Great info. Thank you.

However, I'll bet most folks on here use my method. Buy it and pray everything is fine.

Stomper · Mar 4, 2026

Tlock said:
Everyone knows your a taurus man!

thorborg · Mar 4, 2026

The first revolver I bought was an old 45 colt new service from a dealer in Hillsboro on the main street in town. Not new to rifles but I knew nothing about revolvers at the time. It was really old but looked good and seemed to this green horn functional, the guy who sold it to me said it was a good gun. Playing with it the next couple of days and before I had shot it things just seemed to loose and wore out so made me suspicious, especially that one position didn't seem to lock up reliably so I took it to shooters service center in downtown St Johns. He said not to shoot it, it was in not just bad condition but nearly scary shape as a working gun and that it would cost much more to fix than it was worth. He charged me nothing for the evaluation.
I took it back to Hillsboro and said I wanted my money back, when he refused, said there was nothing wrong with it, i didn't know what I was talking about. The guy at shooters service center must be well known because as soon as I mention their name he immediately went to the till, and gave me my money back saying "I don't agree" then saying "We dont want any dissatisfied customers".
Timing is everything! On a revolver

Cerberus Group · Mar 4, 2026

Stomper said:
Would you have some time available to make some tweaks on my GP100 and SP101?

Just kidding!

For you, yes...yes I would. Just won't guarantee in what condition it would be when returned.

Most likely a bag of parts, and again no guarantee that all parts would be there or belong to the gun.

64MercurysRule · Mar 5, 2026

" Thank You ....... Come again . "

edzz · Mar 6, 2026

Amazing how many Smith revolvers have gotten out of the factory with improperly clocked barrels.

SquatchCrotch · May 22, 2026

Cerberus Group said:
This thread is based on the last few months of people asking me about what to look for when buying a used revolver.

For frame of reference, I'm not a gunsmith. I've been through the S&W one week armorer course back in the early 90s
I was the dept armorer when we were still carrying revolvers, and switched to Sig 229s, then the HK USP, then a free for all of whatever was approved for carry. Which meant I went to every armorer school chasing all the makes allowed for carry.

I now pick and choose what I want to work on, but am still partial to S&W revolvers...no, I won't work on anything else, please don't ask.

I will go over what I look for and check, others may have different views and thoughts, and that's ok...feel free to chime in with anything I missed.

I carry some feeler gauges .004, .005, and .006 to check cylinder to barrel clearance, and a .010" to check headspace (clearance from cylinder to recoil shield)
Cylinder clearance less than .004" is a no go, greater than 006" no go. Less than .004", it won't take much for carbon and other grime on the face of the cylinder to cause problems...make it turn rough and gritty, and will be felt with each trigger pull. Too much gap, and you lose pressure which translates into loss of velocity.

Headspace...greater than .010" no go, less than that, use spent cases and place in cylinder and make sure none drag against the recoil shield when the cylinder is turned. The taught standard is .012" max, but with S&W using short firing pins, the possibility of light primer strikes increases dramatically. .012" isn't a problem if you have a standard sized firing pin...just make you know what you have.

End shake, movement of cylinder back and forth, this should be minimal to nothing. Open cylinder and close slowly...see if the front of cylinder contacts barrel. Should not contact the barrel upon closing. If it does, this can be adjusted, but make sure you figure for that repair cost into the purchase price of the revolver.

Cylinder should rotate freely. It should spin without resistance.

Ejector rod straight, no marks anywhere. Push ejector rod, should operate freely. Check star, no damage...straight and fit flush into cylinder.

Timing...pull trigger DA...cylinder should lock before full pull. Pull DA til the cylinder locks, stop the pull and thumb hammer the rest of the way back til it locks into SA notch...this is proper timing. In other words, the cylinder should lock before the hammer reaches full draw back. I also carry alignments rods to check proper cylinder lock up etc.

Cylinder throats, the part of the cylinder where the bullets exit the cylinder. You'll need pin gauges for this. You won't need a full set, but a few for each caliber.
For example, a 44 caliber is .429" diameter. I like to to see the throats no more than .0025" larger than the diameter of the bullet. So that would mean no larger than .4315" Again, any larger and you lose pressure which relates to velocity loss. I've seen each cylinder with a different measurement on some revolvers. If they're too large, nothing you can do but replace the cylinder. Too small, which I've also seen...and they;ll need to be reamed to a proper size. That being either the same size as the bullet diameter, or again no more than .0025" larger...I prefer .002" max

A side note for S&W collectors. A pinned barrel seems all the rage, I understand the draw to them...but have seen plenty of them where the pin did nothing. Some even fell out of the frame and weren't holding anything. So really, pinned barrels aren't all that.

That's about it...other than obvious use wear etc.
If you have questions I'll answer them, and if you have answers I'll question them.

Good stuff. Thank you for posting.