The nut for the thumb release on my recently acquired 66-2 is stripped out; I ordered a replacement from midway but it appears the current production thumb release is sized differently and so is the nut. It is a little too long and when screed in tightens the thumb release completely to the frame. Additionally, the slot is solid as opposed to having a hole like the original where you can see the screw post.

Does anyone know when I can source an original part in new or good uses condition?

Sounds like your problem is not the nut. The thumb piece should bottom out and be tight before contacting the frame regardless of what nut you are using.

I have bought several of the nuts from Midway and used on older revolvers and they have all worked fine. The slotted version is not produced anymore.

Fitting the thumb piece back on can be tricky. If you don't get it just so, it can cause the binding you describe.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Like the 2 posted above me, you aren't getting the thumbpiece installed into the slot correctly if you are binding up. The thumbpiece should be bottomed out to the bolt (the piece inside the frame that slides back and forth). All the nut does is to mount the thumbpiece tightly to the bolt. Like the Kernel said, it can be a bit tricky getting the thumbpiece to drop correctly into the slot on the frame. Before installing the nut, try working the thumbpiece back and forth a bit and see if you can get it to drop into the frame slot correctly, then install the nut.

The problem is not the thumbpiece, it is the nut. If I back out the nut, it functions fine. There is a pretty good height difference in the 2 nuts. I can us the original nut, but as I said the threads are stripped bare; the only engagement is the inner most 2 threads and that will probably go at the worst possible time.

If the lug on the back of the thumb-piece has not been modified by someone the thumb-piece will not bottom out against the frame but be held slightly above the frame. The lug should have a notch across it, if it doesn't then someone has filed the lug down! It the thumb-piece is correct the nut cannot cause it to bottom out on the frame.

Call S&W, 800-331-0852, and order a new thumb-piece, they are all the same for K, L and N frames except for color. Only the new style is available from S&W.

Think about this! You came to the forum asking a question of people who you believe can furnish the answer, then you argue with the answer! Does this seem wrong to you?

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Gunsmithing since 1961

This certainly seems wrong:

-there is no bind with no nut installed
-there is no bind with original nut installed(but it only has what looks to be about 2 threads of engagement with the rest stripped down)
-there is no bind with new nut installed if you back out 3/4 of a turn
- there IS bind with new nut fully installed
- new nut is 0.59 mm longer in length and 0.57 longer in depth of the screw pocket.

It SEEMS to me, the nut is too long, perhaps I received the wrong piece, but as it stands it doesn't work, and the shorter one does even if it presents a reliability concern.

FWIW I stopped by a friends house that has model 19 of the same vintage. Popped on his thumb piece and nut, functions perfectly. His nut measures the same as my shorter one, and also binds with the longer nut.

Gmbackus,

Do you have a camera in your phone? Or a digital camera? I would like to see what you're seeing. Otherwise it's like playing a game of 20 questions.

Posting pictures on this forum is super easy. You don't need to host the pictures on another website. You can upload them from your computer, phone, or camera directly to this forum.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

No need for pictures, I have confirmed the nut was not the correct piece. We're not sure exactly what model it was for or if I just got an out of spec part, but magnaport happens to be just down the round from me and they have NIW s&me service parts. Same packaging as my part, smaller nut, everything works perfect