This is a first for me. I have never broken a S&W wheel gun before. Well I did not break it, the person I got it from did. Must be the reason I got it cheap, real cheap. I pickup a used 1980's model 60 in 38 special several months ago. The gun looked new and was not shot much. But,,, the gun was missing the thumbpiece nut and the thumbpiece. The action on the gun was hard, not like my other j-frames. Just a heavy trigger pull. It took three months to get the parts in and I found a bobbed hammer for it.

So today I was going to change out the hammer to the bobbed hammer. But before I started to work I did some dry firing to see why it had a heavy trigger pull. Man it was a hard pull. Three or four pulls then I notice that the cylinder was not turning. The hammer/trigger was binding some too. So off with the side plate and everything looks good, just dirty. Then I see it on the work bench, a small piece of the end of a spring.

I go tearing down the insides to find the broken spring. It was the hand torsion spring that broke. The end broke so the hand was not turning the cylinder. The only place I can find the spring is at Brownells and I order two. Shipping cost more than the springs. But where can you get small parts these days.

Well there it goes. Waiting on parts. Think I will do a trigger job on the j-frame while I wait.

I will have an opportunity to check out Jack First's place in Rapid City SD. not going to Rapid under the best of circumstances but what I understand is that they stock small parts and have machinists on site to manufacture obsolete and really hard to find parts. Is slow to get parts out of SW a bit faster with Brownells. Will see about this place. They have a website.

So, I stopped into Jack First in Rapid City SD. An interesting place that ships old obsolete and manufactured there parts all over. They sold me the last yoke screw they had. Said they haven't had parts from SW for over a year. No Thompson Center parts since SW bought them either. they did have a bunch of odd caliber die sets, barrels, and the 3 books of exploded drawings that I bought. yes I can get online but these will always be available electricity or not. I guess they used to have a retail gun shop some years ago. So not a good supplier of SW parts but that is not their doing.

They are nice folks and mister Frost was still going strong the last time I talked to them. But, all that aside, if they do have a part you need you REALLY pay for it.

As for the broken M60....sounds a lot like Bubba has been into that gun trying to solve a problem that may not have been in there. Anytime you find a gun with missing parts that has little to do with the reason it's broken....beware. I've had folks bring me guns in a cardboard box and I buy them as parts lots......real cheap.

I had a guy bring a 649 Airlight to may table last year that was missing the front latching bolt, pin and spring. I have no idea why somebody would remove that. Could not have been to remove a backed-out ejector-rod. You can't get those parts out with the rod in the gun. That is a pretty rare piece and I got it for a real good price.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard that one!

There seem to be a lot of broken J frames lately, I've seen at least one other post.