ltwguns.com

hey their. got a 642 on the way. just wondering if their is anything that is recomended. i.e. smooth the action, ect. ect.

i know theres not much to do to em. just checkin though..

the only thing that comes to mind is dry fire with snap caps a bunch o' times to smooth it out??

thanks for any suggestions.

My personal opinion, shared by a lot but not everyone, is that the J frames have terrible trigger pull and should be smithed. I used to use Teddy Jacobsen before he retired but I understand that Don Williams does a great job on wheelguns ~ I havent had a chance to try him yet with all my 1911 work going on at present. Otherwise you are right, not a lot to do with them might consider chamfering the cylinders if you are going to carry it

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I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. - John Bernard Books

I know for a fact than Don does GREAT S&W work, if you should decide you want a tune-up.

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Sic Semper Tyrannis

Any gunsmith, worthy of the name, should be able to clean up the double action (D/A) trigger pull on your J-Frame. I own and shoot a M37 that I had the trigger face polished and a trigger job done to. This work made all the difference in the world. In my case, I used Wessels in Warren, Mi because it was close. Their gunsmith was/is excellent. After you have the trigger done spend a lot of time mastering the trigger. Learn to pull the trigger straight through and avoid staging the trigger. Once you master this you will be amazed how well you can shoot. Good luck and enjoy your new toy. Regards, Richard

yeah, i love this thing. i went shooting with it the other day and cannot believe the accuracy for the short barrel, heavy trigger pull....

I don't have one of those (yet), but keep hearing good things about them. These little things are nice, congrats!

My 640-1 is another accurate little J frame- it makes me look better than I am- which I appreciate. And for what it's worth, I had a mild action job with the trigger face beveled & polished, the cylinder front beveled, and a bead blast type refinish.

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John
Northern CA: blue skies, live oak trees, green hills, and wild trout...

Wayne Novak built a 640-1 for me a few years back that I'm sorry I had to let go. He did a
very smooth action job and everything else that Novaks' does, such as the carry-bevel package
and beveled the charge holes. He also radiused and polished the trigger face and gace the
gun a nice soft bead blast. Add a set of Craig Spegels presentation grade cocobolo boot grips
and an Alessi ankle rig, and you've got the best of everything.

Good Morning,

Several years ago, while he was at Gunsite, the "Yost man" worked a Model 38 Bodyguard for a write up in Combat Handguns. Great little pistol that I carried for a lot of years before retiring it for a 642.

Ted knocked off the edges, opened up the slot in the hammer for a better sight picture, re-cut the front sight, and did a great action job. Topped it off with Black T and the "Raven" on the side plate.

Rob

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We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. George Orwell

Hello:
I have several of the S&W-J-frames and you can do the job yourself and it is not that tough. Get the book " THE S&W REVOLVER" A Shop Manuel by Jerry Kuhnhausen and it show's clearly with nice pictures step by step of how to improve them. Good luck, Kurt.

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"Yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, ... I shall Fear no Evil, as I carry with me My Trusty Loaded S&W"..

i was actually planning on that...

i already have the 1911 manuals 1 and 2

A nice new set of springs, a little polish on some contact points and my 36 and 60 both smoothed out nicely.

Tony

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Tony T
The only guns I like are those with triggers..

Hey Tony:
Funny you should mention that. I have tried Wolf Brand and other's as far as spring's go and had "LITTLE" sucess over the factory one. What I have done is cut some off the factory one like suggested in Gerry's book. The polishing is key also and really smooth's the cruddy factory-J-frame trigger, and action out. This is the only revolver S&W will not perform a trigger or action job on and I have alway's wondered why. I have also noticed that most carbon framed revolver's are very rough where the rebound slide comes in contact with the frame. I have developed a great way to over come this. I trim Sand paper to fit the narrow area. I then apply "DUCT" tape to the outside frame of the revolver to avoid any possibility of scratches. I then start with 320 grit and then use 400 then 600 then 1000 and finish up with 1500 carefully sanding the frame where this rebound slide lay's. I also do the rebound part itself with sand paper and then the trigger areas as Jerry explain's how to do. It is best to get his book as one could ruin a revolver by polishing the wrong areas as well. Regards, Hammerdown

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"Yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, ... I shall Fear no Evil, as I carry with me My Trusty Loaded S&W"..

I've found that the biggest problem with the 'J' frames as far as strength of trigger pull is not the mainspring, but the trigger return spring. Wolff sells a 'J' frame mainspring, but it's only 1/2 lb. lighter than the stock one. You can lighten the action considerably though by either buying a lighter trigger spring or trimming the original. Be careful though, if you go too light on the trigger spring then the hammer won't reset.
Kurt, The original (pre MIM) internals on S&W's were, for the most part, case hardened. On the stainless models, they were flash chromed (after the case hardening was done I'd guess). The case hardening typically runs from about .003 - .007 deep, so don't remove too much material. Also, if you take too much off the bottom of the rebound slide in trying to smooth it out, you can lower it in the frame so much that, once again, the hammer won't reset.

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

Hello Don:
I should have been more specifific. I simply polish the part's and frame "REMOVING" the machineing mark's left by the factory which in turn.. allow's less drag and also there will be no high spot's like I have seen in the past on used rebound spring housing's. I achieve this using a "FLAT" surface while polishing with the different grades of sand paper. I do not polish any areas that are case hardened and am aware of the thin wall that has been produced by the process of case Hardening being slim and it would allow extra wear to the part if gone through. Jerry's Revoler S&W shop manuel show's me to the best route to take on this process of smoothing up and action. If you know of a better source please share it as one can never learn to much in this area. Thank's for the response. Regards, Kurt.

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"Yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, ... I shall Fear no Evil, as I carry with me My Trusty Loaded S&W"..

Kurt, While there are different ways of doing the smoothing, it sounds as though you're on the right track. Also, if your rebound hasn't been done at the factory, you can bevel the inside lower corner of the rebound slide a bit to eliminate drag in the corner itself. I imagine Kuhnhausen addresses this as well.

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

is it safe to polish/work on m.i.m parts?? i generally thought this was a bad idea? and while we are at it. what kind of weight trigger pull are we talking about here? 6lbs? 8lbs? what ?

thanks.

Hello C Rod:
I would not attempt to polish any part's inside "WITHOUT" first getting and reading the book by Jerrry Kuhnhausen " THE S&W REVOLVER" A Shop Manuel..for 22.95 it is not worth messing up a good revolver and it is well wort it for other great tip's as well. I have also purchased spring kit's and they generally give three different spring weight's. This all depend's on usage and what revolver they are placed in.. Too weak a spring will cause stacking or not hit the primer hard enough to go off and can be dangerous if attention is not paid closely. This is a trial and error deal and it takes patience. Hope this help's. Regards, Kurt.

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"Yeah, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, ... I shall Fear no Evil, as I carry with me My Trusty Loaded S&W"..

yeah, ive been meaning to order the revolver book, just been busy/forgetfull.

i have both 1911 books and do "certain" tweaking on those now. (machinist background).

c.rod, As far as I know, the MIM parts are the same hardness throughout, as it's easy for them to make the parts, which pretty much come out of the mold ready to use. As a result, there's no concern about machineability and no need to use a softer steel with the case hardened outer. I polish these parts on a regular basis and have never seen a reason not to. In some cases, it may be unnecessary, as the MIM parts are well finished as is, and perhaps that's the reason someone has said not to polish them.

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

thanks for the reply don...

you know what, it might have been some of the m.i.m parts in kimbers specifically that i have heard that about...