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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 01-08-2015, 11:13 PM
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Default 642 Springs Getting Weak?

1) Bought gun new about 3 years ago.
2) Installed Apex Spring Kit.
3) Have fired approximately 2200 live rounds thru it and dry fired it about 5800 times using home made snap caps.
4) It now misfires about 1 round in 12. A light hammer strike on primer can be seen on "misfired" cartridges.
5) I have determined primers are properly seated in all my ammo.
6) Am going to re-install factory springs.
7) Have not smoothed or lubricated any internal parts.

Anyone else had this problem? If so, what was your remedy?

Thanks............
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Old 01-09-2015, 06:22 AM
Hapworth Hapworth is offline
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Best first check is to swap in the originals and start shooting. It's not unheard of for aftermarket springs to lose their kick; it's your likeliest culprit and first to remove from the list of suspects.

If it continues, try and determine if it's a particular charge hole.
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Old 01-09-2015, 11:55 AM
kaaskop49 kaaskop49 is offline
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Default attn skrazo

This 642 seems to be your EDC. Put the original springs back in and leave them. You've already fired and dry-fired the gun enough to work in the action. Suppose the SHHTF and you had a weak-spring misfire?

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Old 01-09-2015, 12:46 PM
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You've never lubricated it? Well there's your problem.
Before taking it apart again, put a drop of a good quality gun oil down the backside of the trigger and another in the hand opening.
Dry fire it a few times to get the oil spread around the inner workings and see if that helps.
If the problem persists then put the factory mainspring back in.
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Old 01-09-2015, 01:18 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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I'm not sure I buy into Snubbyfan's approach. A gun that maybe isn't working well and isn't cleaned often may not need gum added to the equation. The very first thing a gun owner should do at a sign of misfires is to clean the gun. That doesn't mean a casual wipedown with an oily rag, or worst still, a quick addition of some oil to gum things up worse. The thing the owner should do is either a full strip cleaning. If you don't feel confident on doing that yourself, find a buddy who will sit with you. No, not a beer drinking buddy, a genuine gun guy who's done it before.

Take the gun apart. Every single part out and on a table with a clean cloth to guard it. And find a bottle of solvent. Not a CLP that cleans, lubes, a protects. Start with a can of the nasty smelling nitro powder solvent. Each part dunked and wiped until its not giving off any blackness. Then put it back together. With just a smear of lube. Call it oil if you want, but don't use "drops", if you put a drop on, wipe most of it back off. Leave nothing liquid to catch and absorb the grit.

So back to basics. The first thing to do is clean the darn gun, as distasteful as it is to many people. Yes, even the springs can get a wipe off. Frame mounted firing pins can capture and hold grit. The only way I know of to clean those is with a spray can. Be careful, S&W didn't make all the painted finish on some guns chemical-safe. On a stainless gun, you can probably use carburetor cleaner. Just understand that it takes away any oil that might have been there. Some namby/pamby greenie folks might quiver in fear of harsh chemicals, but they work.
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Old 01-09-2015, 01:43 PM
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Yep! I had a similar experience. Clean that puppy.

My first used J-frame had a 14 pound trigger pull and also had one of the short firing pins that S&W installed at the time it was built. So, it received the full Apex duty spring kit, which includes a lighter firing pin return spring and a longer firing pin. Then I foolishly allowed some lubricant to gum up the firing pin channel. Can you say, "occasional light strikes"!

After cleaning the firing pin area, all is well and the revolver has remained reliable in the hundreds of rounds fired since that experience. The lighter springs are still in place. The trigger is sweet.

Subsequently, I did install an S&W firing pin return spring and S&W firing pin, just in case. The Apex return spring was just too delicate looking for me and I found some longer S&W stock titanium firing pins at MidWay. Life is good.
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Old 01-29-2015, 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by TucsonMTB View Post
The Apex return spring was just too delicate looking for me and I found some longer S&W stock titanium firing pins at MidWay.
...and cylinders...

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Old 01-30-2015, 10:07 AM
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Default Follow Up

I removed the side cover and lubricated the internals. There were strong indications of "metal to metal" contact between the trigger assembly (don't know the proper term) and the side plate. Some other contact areas were also completely dry. I have fired about 75 rounds thru the gun since then with no misfires. Will continue to shoot it to satisfy myself all is well before using it for EDC. Sorry for not reporting back sooner.

P.S. The inside of the gun looked clean to me, so I did not try to clean anything.
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Old 01-30-2015, 03:45 PM
David Sinko David Sinko is offline
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I don't get it. What does "metal to metal contact" have to do with misfires?

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Old 01-30-2015, 04:12 PM
shawn mccarver shawn mccarver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skrazo View Post
1) Bought gun new about 3 years ago.
2) Installed Apex Spring Kit.
3) Have fired approximately 2200 live rounds thru it and dry fired it about 5800 times using home made snap caps.
4) It now misfires about 1 round in 12. A light hammer strike on primer can be seen on "misfired" cartridges.
5) I have determined primers are properly seated in all my ammo.
6) Am going to re-install factory springs.
7) Have not smoothed or lubricated any internal parts.

Anyone else had this problem? If so, what was your remedy?

Thanks............
When I saw the title of this thread, I was all prepared to talk about how S&W factory springs just don't "get weak" over time to cause misfires.

Then I saw that factory parts had been replaced. Lesson: Don't replace perfectly good factory parts in a defense weapon, especially where the "improvement" is truly marginal. Personally, I would rather have reliable ignition and a one inch bigger group than a reliability issue. Good reason to leave defense weapons stock.

Nothing to see here. . . moving along.
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