Anyone know how S&W gets their revolver side plates so precisely fitted. On some revolvers you can't even tell that there is a seam. I'd like to know how they do it. Thanks!

Hand fitting. I've taken the S&W factory tour a few times and it amazes me to watch them build a revolver from a bunch of parts. I know some hand work has been eliminated in the last decade or so,but there still is a lot of hands on work done.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

Can you still go on tours? My 12 year old son would love that! I would too!

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Possum—The other white meat!

Sadly..I do not believe they have the tours any longer. It was a very thorough tour and we went through every aspect of the building of a gun from the raw material to the finished product.They even had a range,museum and gift shop. I don't think the current owners really care about the S&W heritage,unfortunately.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

I don't know about tours, but I understand they still have the museum and retail store.

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Always Stay Strong!

The S&W tour took most of a day.I would bring a revolver in for a tune-up in the morning, take the tour,and then pick up my gun after. It was a great day trip. I took their defensive handgun course in their modern range facility. State of the art at the time.
If there was any time left after a tour,we would go to the Springfield Armory museum located right down the street. Pretty impressive place in its self.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

Yes, I'm amazed on how tight the side plate fits especially on my older revolvers, where they were hand fit. That took some talent. What is equally amazing is the fit of the current manufacture, look at this 431PD made last Apr. it is almost invisible. I doubt if any hand fitting was used, just the CNC machining.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have two model 29-2 revolvers. One is a "showpiece" and one is a "Shooter". On both these guns the side plate seam is.....as one would expect....perfect! Yes, it IS amazing.

I have not nor will I EVER remove the side plate from any Smith revolver I own because I know that no matter how correct my procedure in doing so the seam would never look the same again.

In years past I considered a trigger job on the shooter......but changed my mind because I doubt even a top shelf qualified gun smith could retain the perfect seam when finished.

As some have stated, the plates on these older guns were hand fitted. Also, my opinion is that once the plate is hand fitted the seam itself is probably polished down before bluing......as I don't see how the plate could be fitted without even a tiny step or burr.

Russ

I have noted the same and I would add that the most consistent and most difficult to see (seam) is on the "Highway Patrolman" model 28..... Don't know why but that seems, to me at least, the case. Beautiful!