Hey guys,

I have a Smith & Wesson .44 mag model 629 classic. I've shot it about 1000 times with various loads with no problems. Starting last week, about 1 out of every cylinder full does not fire. The primer of the "dud" shows a very slight dent and then fires the second time.

Does anybody know what's wrong?

Double action /single action, did you change primers?

If you are shooting handloads or commercial reloads I suspect the cause is primers that are not fully seated. The second whack frequently sets them off. You don't mention having made any modifications, trigger tuning, swapping springs, or backing off the mainspring strain screw but these can have a negative impact on reliability as well.

Must be the primer not being seated good. I will admit to not cleaning out the primer pockets.

quote:

Originally posted by P. Steve Morgan:
Must be the primer not being seated good. I will admit to not cleaning out the primer pockets.

I have loaded hundreds of thousands of pistol ammo without cleaning the primer pockets and have not had any problems with them firing. I would tend to believe that either the primer is not set deep enough like said in an earlier post.

Do you use carbide dies if not you may be getting case lube in the primer pocket causing problems.

I learned while cleaning my Dillon 550 press is not to use Hoppes to clean the primer feed system. Dillon said that Hoppes has a small amount of lubricant and will cause the primer system to collect primer residue. I now use denatured alcohol.

Check the strain screw in front of the grip. It puts tension on the mainspring and most likely came loose. It should be tight.
You have lost mainspring tension. If the screw is tight, change the spring.