I saw 50 count boxes of the 158 gr. totally enclosed metal jacket version of this load at a local police supply store for $23 OTD. Not bad for a clean shooting practice round. I went to the range today for practice and would have had an otherwise pleasing session were it not for the fact some of my strings went a little like this:

*Bang* *Bang* *Click* *Click* *Bang*

Now, as far as I knew, my Chief's Special was box stock and had no modifications, so it must be the ammo right? Given that I was already upset from the unexpected FTFs which were unnerving to say the least, I cursed the ammo and asked myself who was the "genius" that came up with a less sensitive primer mixture to replace old reliable lead styphnate.

Needless to say, I was wrong. I'm cleaning my Model 36, just as I always do after a range session, and decided on a whim to check the mainspring just in case. It's easily removed, so it's a quick and simple check, right?

SON OF A...!

Lo and behold, I discover my cherished M36 was the recipient of a "Bubba trigger job" courtesy of the previous owner. One or two of the coils were clearly cut off of the bottom of the mainspring. It was easy to miss because the cut end was sitting in the "cup" that rests in the frame slot.

Super... So now I have to order a new mainspring from Wolff, possibly an extra power one because now I'm paranoid, and go back to carrying the DS I gave to my wife years ago until the wee Chief is back to 110% reliability. Not the worst thing in the world, but a pain in the rear nonetheless.

Anyway, the moral of this long winded story is this:

Be prepared to handle FTFs in your revolver. While they are extremely rare, they're not impossible by any means. Yes, correcting the "problem" is as easy as pulling the trigger again, but I'm sure a lot of us are mentally conditioned to continue pointing the handgun downrange for safety reasons in the event of a misfire. Having the ability to switch off "range mode" in a SD situation is paramount.

And...

Speer Lawman Cleanfire ammo is, IMO, still one of the best benchmarks for testing your EDC firearm for reliability. If your handgun doesn't set off cleanfire primers, it's more likely than not that something's wrong.

Why not get a factory spring from S&W????

I once bought a spring for a model 10 off ebay for near nothing. It came in a few days and worked great. The guy I bought the model 10 thought he cheated me I imagine, but a quick and inexpensive spring change meant I got a really good deal.

You mean... See if they'd mail me one for free as a courtesy? Hm... I suppose I could give them a call on Monday, but I'm not too cheap to spend $5 plus S&H if they say no either.

If you meant why Wolfe instead of getting the part from S&W direct, I've had plenty of good experiences with Wolfe in the past and trust the quality of their parts. Plus they ship fast considering we're both in the same state.

Good deal, indeed. Sometimes that one little part swap is all that's necessary to fix an otherwise perfectly servicable revolver.