Basic revolver repair

[CLT65]

I would never call myself an actual "gunsmith", but sometimes it is nice to have some basic knowledge and parts lying around.

Sometime back I bought a couple of old police trade-in S&W Model 10-5 revolvers, made in the '70s and re-imported from Europe after decades of use. They were cheap and not pretty. The one is great mechanically, but the second one has has a couple of minor issues pop up.

Barrels look perfect, timing is excellent, cylinder gap on both is well withing acceptable limits. There was minor end-shake that I easily tightened up with some endshake bearings. Then I noticed that the second revolver would occasionally misfire. I found that the problem was a worn/bent mainspring. I probably could have just re-bent it, but instead bought a pack of 12 new/old stock GI mainsprings off of eBay, came to less than $3 per spring and now I have lots of spares. Easy fix.

Yesterday my son and I were shooting it and I noticed a little hitch in the action. I had noticed it before but it happened infrequently so I hadn't taken the time to really diagnose the problem. It would occasionally catch and stop when cocking or firing double action. Taking the time to look closely, I could see that the cylinder stop was popping up way to soon and stopping the cylinder before it could index. I took it apart and, as expected, found a weak and bent stop spring. I had a couple of those in my little box of parts too! Easy fix, and now it's back to working like a new one.

There's a lot I don't know, and I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but it is fun to be able to make things work properly once in a while.

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[kmk1012]

I would never call myself an actual "gunsmith", but sometimes it is nice to have some basic knowledge and parts lying around.

Sometime back I bought a couple of old police trade-in S&W Model 10-5 revolvers, made in the '70s and re-imported from Europe after decades of use. They were cheap and not pretty. The one is great mechanically, but the second one has has a couple of minor issues pop up.

Barrels look perfect, timing is excellent, cylinder gap on both is well withing acceptable limits. There was minor end-shake that I easily tightened up with some endshake bearings. Then I noticed that the second revolver would occasionally misfire. I found that the problem was a worn/bent mainspring. I probably could have just re-bent it, but instead bought a pack of 12 new/old stock GI mainsprings off of eBay, came to less than $3 per spring and now I have lots of spares. Easy fix.

Yesterday my son and I were shooting it and I noticed a little hitch in the action. I had noticed it before but it happened infrequently so I hadn't taken the time to really diagnose the problem. It would occasionally catch and stop when cocking or firing double action. Taking the time to look closely, I could see that the cylinder stop was popping up way to soon and stopping the cylinder before it could index. I took it apart and, as expected, found a weak and bent stop spring. I had a couple of those in my little box of parts too! Easy fix, and now it's back to working like a new one.

There's a lot I don't know, and I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but it is fun to be able to make things work properly once in a while.

Good story, I always "want" to be prepared but seldom am, LOL. I took the cover plate off my 686, put it back on and said to myself, nope.

 

[Mikej]

Good story, I always "want" to be prepared but seldom am, LOL. I took the cover plate off my 686, put it back on and said to myself, nope.

Yep, I did the same thing once. Nope.

 

[CLT65]

Totally understand. If you don't know what you're doing, and don't have gunsmith tools, it's a major pain! That was me the first time I did it, and it took me hours of frustration and bad language to get it back together again. I'm self-taught on stuff like this, and learned before YouTube was a thing.

I have several older S&W 29s, and have installed extra-power cylinder stop springs in each of them (because of the infamous Model 29 cylinder bounce), and I've replaced the springs in well-worn guns for a couple different friends. For a novice, I've gotten pretty good at it. I still don't have the proper tools, but have learned a couple tricks that make it much easier. Nowadays with YouTube, things like that are so much easier.

 

[41mag]

Once a friend taught me that it was possible to actually ENJOY the process of learning to 'own' the repair steps, rather than fearing the anxiety of failure, there's a surprising number of little issues the humble pilgrim can solve on his journey.

 

[Superglide]

possible to actually ENJOY the process of learning to 'own' the repair steps,

I'm in this camp. The satisfaction of learning and bettering is unique and tantilizing to me.
Everyone has their first day on the job sometime. I took that thought and tore into my Ruger many years ago. Each new job brought new challenges and rewards. I know there's artists and masters with way more skills, and at this point, many more with less.
A man's got to know his limitations....

 

[edzz]

I'm in this camp. The satisfaction of learning and bettering is unique and tantilizing to me.
Everyone has their first day on the job sometime. I took that thought and tore into my Ruger many years ago. Each new job brought new challenges and rewards. I know there's artists and masters with way more skills, and at this point, many more with less.
A man's got to know his limitations....

Um... ya, there was that time I got a Rolex GMT on a trade, it ran a little slow and the date didn't always advance so... having fixed lots of things in the past, guns, watches, carriage clocks, high-end music boxes, etc. so I opens it up and stare at it for a while then I screw the back in place and ponied up the $$$ to have it fixed, figured if I worked on it first it was really going to cost me $$$$...
A man's got to know his limitations....

 

[CLT65]

I've learned my own limitations the hard way, more than once in my life...

 

[Superglide]

it ran a little slow

Haha -I had that issue with a Seiko. It had a transparent back on it and I could see a
+ ~~~ -- surrounding a tiny screw. I popped off the back, took the screwdriver to it and now it is correct twice a day.

It was a $40 w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ lesson, but thankfully not a Rolex. I learned my minimum spring size limitation for sure.

 

[waltermitty]

(for your amusement)
I had a quartz Cartier and I figured I could replace the battery myself for the cost of a Radio Shack battery. Jeweler would have charged probably $20. I prepped the area and put a towel down on my working service and went to work carefully. Dog came by and grabbed the towel thinking it would be a great tug-o-war opportunity. The tiny (really tiny) screw vanished. I spent a couple of days with a headlamp, magnet etc but never found it. I brought the watch to the dealer and they said "Cartier?" and sent a request to Cartier New York. NY responded and said fuggedit, you need to source one of these from Cartier/Paris. For want of $15 dollar saving, I paid $100 to get that screw.


Couple of days ago, I decided to open the S&W J-frame to install a Wilson working spring set (not comp springs). It was my first time opening up a S&W. It went well and I closed it up. Emboldened by my success, the next day I figured I'd like to polish of a couple of contact parts.

When I about to reinstall the hammer spring, it shot out and I heard it ricochet behind me. I found the rubber retainer cap easily but doggone, for the next 4 hrs I spent on hand/knees with a bright flashlight, moving furniture, inspecting the messy workbench etc. No spring. Giving up, I went online to order another Wilson spring kit. My phone dings a couple hours later with a tracking number.

I had lunch and as I was putting tools away...I found the spring. It appears to have shot up, hit the lamp shade, go behind me into a barely opened desk drawer, landing in the middle of my tool organizer.

I oiled the gun insides and secured the sideplate. Test firing revealed a sluggish trigger return. @#$! I opened the revolver up again and inspected everything. Screwed the sideplate back on. Sluggish. This cycle of inspection was repeated about 5x. FINALLY, i figured out what was wrong when I learned that this anomaly only happened when the middle sideplate screw was tightened.

The tolerances were so tight that if you over oil (if you apply but don't wipe off excess) that trigger return spring housing unit will press against the sideplate upon closure. I could have stoned the return spring housing but opted to live with less gun oil for now.

Also, that sideplate can be a pain to refit. I took a can of spray air (used for my PC), turned upside down and sprayed the sideplate which dropped the temp down to -Fº.

My experience has been limited to the Glock which is about 100x easier. At least I have enough knowledge now to replace springs in my brothers' J-frames if needed.

like others have suggested, when working with springs, work inside a big plastic bag. I actually have a jumbo reuseable shopping bag with handles so I now loop one handle behind my head and work inside the white fabric bag (makes a great light box).

 

[Mikej]

For want of $15 dollar saving, I paid $100 to get that screw.

I actually have a jumbo reuseable shopping bag with handles so I now loop one handle behind my head and work inside the white fabric bag (makes a great light box).

These are the two most "Amusing" sentences I've read in some time.

 

[BigDog67]

I limit my firearm repairs to the locks on muzzleloaders. Beyond that, I will call someone.

 

[K-22]

I would never call myself an actual "gunsmith", but sometimes it is nice to have some basic knowledge and parts lying around.

Sometime back I bought a couple of old police trade-in S&W Model 10-5 revolvers, made in the '70s and re-imported from Europe after decades of use. They were cheap and not pretty. The one is great mechanically, but the second one has has a couple of minor issues pop up.

Barrels look perfect, timing is excellent, cylinder gap on both is well withing acceptable limits. There was minor end-shake that I easily tightened up with some endshake bearings. Then I noticed that the second revolver would occasionally misfire. I found that the problem was a worn/bent mainspring. I probably could have just re-bent it, but instead bought a pack of 12 new/old stock GI mainsprings off of eBay, came to less than $3 per spring and now I have lots of spares. Easy fix.

Yesterday my son and I were shooting it and I noticed a little hitch in the action. I had noticed it before but it happened infrequently so I hadn't taken the time to really diagnose the problem. It would occasionally catch and stop when cocking or firing double action. Taking the time to look closely, I could see that the cylinder stop was popping up way to soon and stopping the cylinder before it could index. I took it apart and, as expected, found a weak and bent stop spring. I had a couple of those in my little box of parts too! Easy fix, and now it's back to working like a new one.

There's a lot I don't know, and I don't claim to be any kind of expert, but it is fun to be able to make things work properly once in a while.

Want to work on your S&Ws? Get Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on S&W Revolvers.
Well worth the small investment.
Also, be certain to have the correct screwdrivers to keep the screw heads from getting buggered up.
Best,
Gary

 

[waltermitty]

Want to work on your S&Ws? Get Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on S&W Revolvers...

Thanks, Gary. I actually had a copy of that book, bought new. It sat on the shelf for about 15 yrs untouched because I didn't have an S&W - sold it on ebay for something like $10. About 5 yrs after, I bought my first/only S&W.

p.s. surprise...a lone copy is on the shelf at the covid closed Seattle library. I put a reserve on it and hoping it can be pulled and made available to me.

pps. i was aghast when i saw two major scratches on the left side of the frame just aft of the cylinder. I was extremely bummed out since i generally take great care with my firearms. the next day i happened to see on a YTube video that the scratch marks is actually the symbol associated with the internal lock. pfft

 

[waltermitty]

These are the two most "Amusing" sentences I've read in some time.

You should watch me shoot at the range, cowboy style, as I 'fan' the hammer on my 638 J-frame. :-D