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Old 05-03-2010, 05:30 PM
wamalo wamalo is offline
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Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring  
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Default Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring

I'm working on an "S" serial numbered M&P in .38 Special made around 1948. At minimum, it need a new hand, since it has slow timing, but the question I wanted to pose is if anyone is familiar with the way the hand is spring loaded in this particular revolver?

Instead of using a torsion spring to load the hand, it uses a coil spring housed in a pocket in the finger portion of the trigger which contacts a hand lever that's pinned to the trigger. The other end of the hand lever engages the loading pin on the hand. The portion of the hand lever that engages the spring in the trigger has a nipple that goes inside the spring's end.

My question is that you can hear the nipple on the hand lever engage and slip off the first coil of the spring as you pull the trigger. Prior to disassembling the revolver, you could feel this as well as hear this. After cleaning these internal parts, and trying to remove a very slight bend in the spring, you can no longer feel it, but you certainly can hear it.

Does anyone have experience with this type of hand loading design, and is the noise typical operation?
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Old 07-23-2017, 03:35 PM
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Nesmith Nesmith is online now
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Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring  
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Default Old thread, same problem.

I realize that this thread is quite old, but no one answered the OP's question. I have just acquired a high-end shooter grade M&P (SN S848876) from the early post-war years (long-action, pressed-in hammer stud, LERK, one-line address).

The trigger return on mine was hesitant the last few fractions of an inch. After removing the main spring and side plate, the action would not cycle at all. Inspection revealed that the working end of the hand lever spring was not captured by the nub on the end of the hand lever, letting the spring get in the way of trigger motion. The end of the spring is slightly bent and distorted, leading me to think that this intermittent problem is why I was able to strike what I considered a good deal.

Any experience and knowledge that anyone is willing to share on this aspect of the long-action revolvers would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Yes, I will (attempt to) post pictures soon!
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Old 07-24-2017, 03:33 PM
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Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring Late 40s M&P Hand, Hand Lever, & Spring  
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Default Much ado about (almost) nothing.

Someone had been inside this M&P sometime in the past. No buggered screws or marred side plate edges as evidence, but all of the working parts were covered on all sides in a light coating of Lubriplate or similar-looking lubricant. A few coils had also been clipped from the rebound spring. The problem with the hand lever spring must have come about during re-assembly.

I straightened the distorted end of the hand lever spring as best I could and inserted that end into the blind hole in the trigger. I used a proper-diameter punch as a temporary shaft for the hand lever during installation of the hand itself. This kept the spring properly positioned on the nub of the hand lever. After installing the hand, the entire assembly is held in tension and this keeps everything in its proper place during trigger installation.

A small detail, but one that requires some attention for these older actions. Perhaps the change to the hair-pin spring was actually an improvement, in addition to reducing production costs.
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