I felt it was time to change out the rebound slide spring, mainspring and maybe do a little polishing. Nothing I haven't done before, quite a few times on other S&W's.
Whacking the frame took quite an effort to pop the side plate loose. Everything went smooth until it came to replacing the side plate. I have no idea how they ever got it on in the first place.
Does anyone know if they're pressed on? This is the newest revolver I've ever worked on.
Some of them are VERY tightly fitted.
Of course, the little teat at the top has to be in place as does hammer block.
A couple of mine needed a smack with a plastic hammer to get things started.
Beware of trying to draw it into place with those little screws!
To my knowledge, no.
I've seen some pretty tight ones before but IMO, if it came off it will go back if the tab and block are in place.
Don't force it beyond a slight tap once everything is lined up.
Something that has happened to me a few times is the hammer block barely snagging on the groove on the side plate. Goes without saying the plate fit is tight. A couple times I have taken plain old automotive rubbing compound or Flitz and carefully worked the edge of the plate and I mean carefully.... it's amazing what an almost immeasurable amount of material will block.
Oh yes for gods sake DON'T try to pull it into place with the plate screws.
Put the side plate in the freezer for 1/2 hour and I bet it falls right in place.
Great answer I did the same thing when putting king pins in a solid vehicle axle, sometimes we left the pins in the freezer overnight. That and way back in the day we used to use Freon before they discovered we were killing the Ozone layer.
Model 625-8 Side Plate
Linear Mode
