Fully intended to buy a 2.5" barrel version today-the nicest gun with the ugliest hammer/trigger I have ever seen.

Are the various color shades the result of the mim process and can anything be done to make these parts look like they belong on an otherwise very very nice looking revolver that is selling for just over $1,000 ??

It is what it is.
Nothing to do with MIM.
Frame and barrel are stainless steel.
Cylinder is coated titanium.
Trigger and hammer are flash chromed.
Best to look elsewhere if its appearance is unsuitable.

__________________
-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Just got a 986 (2.5" barrel) from Bud's last week. Great weapon! Looks great IMO. It came with one of the best triggers from a stock Smith I have had to date. I am very happy with my purchase. The price on Bud's website had been $923 for a few months. Last week the price came down to $864 for a few days. That is when I bought one.

I haven't done it but I would think Ron Mahovsky could do his metalife treatment to the hammer and trigger and make them look good.

Appreciate the replies. I did take a look at the Metalife info, from reading I am wondering if the process can be done to mim pieces, IF in fact the trigger and hammer are mim.

There has to be a reason as to why these parts look as they do and I am certain that the hammer and trigger are sound however the appearance presents a convincing argument that Smith is going through dumpsters in an effort to gather enough parts to meet production requirements.

The is a sad sad situation as the revolver is as close to being perfect as possible-taking the :appearance: of these parts out of consideration of course-the look of these two parts is really that bad.

The revolver feels and sounds like a very expensive revolver in which a great deal of care and pride went into- but dang it just don't look like one.

I don't care for the mold parting lines on MIM trigger/hammers.

Looking like the parting lines on any poured/cast part. But they WORK.

PC Magnum Hunter has ugly MIM hammer/trigger. Has gone BANG 10000 times.

No misfires. No KABOOMS either. I don't look @ hammer/trigger while shooting.

Just the SIGHTS and TARGETS

The hammer and trigger are "case color". Case hardening is a metetalurgical technique that S&W has employed for over 100 years.

It was common, years ago, for cosmetic reasons, that Smith's stainless guns had a silver flash chrome finish. A few still do today.

Most stainless Smiths today have the case colored parts. This has been standard for 20 years.

During that time S&W's sales and stock price has soared to atmospheric levels. So I think they're good with it.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Now I'm confused.
S&W's image of the 986 clearly shows flash chromed hammer and trigger.
Maybe they went back to the traditional case colors (kinda sorta)?

Or black paint like the 69?

__________________
-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Sir, I don't believe your pictured gun has "flash chromed hammer and trigger"! The MIM hammer and triggers do not have the traditional case hardened colored parts. IMHO, the color is real close to a piece of oxidized steel! My 2.5" 986 has flash chromed hammer and trigger.
jcelect

First one I referred to, from S&W site, 986 H&T certainly look flash chromed to my eyes.
Close-up:

Not sure what OP was referring to.

__________________
-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I just looked at my 986 to make sure, and the trigger and hammer are flash chromed. It would be nice to have forged parts like older S&W's but this was a cost savings they figured they had to enact to stay competitive. I think some of the rivals have started to use mim parts.

So far I haven't heard of any failures of the mim parts. But I know, when you spend around a Grand for a gun most of us would like to see top quality forged parts.

I think the op was referring to the 986 pro. Being the lesser model to the PC, has the color case hardening. All of my recent PC models have the flash chromed hammer/triggers.



986 pro internals. Color case hardened hammer/trigger

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I couldn't stomach the look of the 986 so I bought a custom 686+ with a 9mm cylinder from a forum member on this site.

Pro is a 5 inch gun. OP specifically mentioned wanting the 2.5" model.

__________________
-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I knew that. But in post #1, the op seemed to be describing the pro. Not the PC. It was confusing to me.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Thanks all, it was the 2.5"-but out of curiosity am I the only one who questions the use of the ugly parts on ANY gun?

Bashing only the appearance of the parts not the maker as Smith is the only revolver I will buy, well the only revolver I will buy so long as what I can see : reflects: quality.

I can deal with the lock but not the lock and butt ugly hammers and triggers.

And, in fairness to Smith I suppose that the gun I looked at could have been something that had been cobbed as I did not ask if it was new....

Ok, let's dispel some myths. This is a simplification of course. Case hardening is a process whereby low carbon steel can be infused with carbon from an external source making a surface hardened steel. In the early days of gunmaking pretty much only 2 kinds of steel were available, low or high carbon. High carbon which was much more expensive was reserved for barrels and cylinders. The remaining parts were low carbon (wrought iron) case hardened steel. The external carbon that was used were materials such as charcoal, leather, hoofs, ground bone, salt, and potty #1 along with heat. I'm not allowed to use the proper term for that last material. I got dinged a few weeks ago for using it. Lets just say it starts with U. Apparently, this process produced an attractive mottled finish folks liked. Later, other materials were added to produce an even more attractive finish with more colors. At this point, the process was renamed color case hardening. Folks liked it even more. But, the additional materials used to make color case hardening were toxic and were eventually banned. Modern color case hardening is not hardening at all, but a chemically induced substitute for the color portion. MIM parts don't need hardening, the material used and the MIM process makes the material hard enough. Once produced the MIM part is colorized and machined.

Flash chroming is another matter altogether. It's just another finish that folks find attractive and matches stainless. For me it's six to one, half dozen to the other, I like them both on stainless guns, I prefer the fake color case hardened look on the hammers & triggers of blued guns.

Trading is alive and well on this forum. One mans junk is another mans treasure. It wouldn't surprise me at all if someone was willing to do an even-up trade with you. Assuming the parts you may have aren't damaged.

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NRA Benefactor

Thank you! This is information that most forum members will appreciate.