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S&W-Smithing Maintenance, Repair, and Enhancement of Smith & Wesson and Other Firearms.


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Old 05-11-2017, 05:37 PM
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bigpappa160 bigpappa160 is offline
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Hello everyone, 1st I'm new to revolvers , but not to hand guns, don't beat me up too bad asking this question because I know there's a lot of stuff out there in you tube land. I came here because I figured there's a lot of people on here with a little bit more knowledge. But, making the trigger on a model 66 or any model Smoother, couldn't you use a non abrasive metal polish like Flitz and polish the areas that you normally use a stone on to smooth up the trigger?
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Old 05-11-2017, 05:47 PM
ronnie gore ronnie gore is offline
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i have seen a lot of botched trigger jobs, even by professionals smiths. i never do anything to mine except clean out the action, especially on new guns. and then just work the action with lubricant but not dryfireing. they will smooth up nicely.most trigger job cause light strikes. just 40 some odd years of experience.
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Old 05-11-2017, 06:57 PM
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Ronnie gore I trust what you are saying, when I get my model 66 I'll just get some lube and snap caps and just pull the trigger as much as I can and then keep doing it until I think it's smooth enough
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Old 05-11-2017, 07:08 PM
ronnie gore ronnie gore is offline
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it would be more fun to find some inexpensive ammo and just shoot it a lot, this is when it pays to reload.
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Old 05-11-2017, 07:39 PM
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NO. Not ever. Worse than the "toothpaste in the action"
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Old 05-11-2017, 07:45 PM
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Revolvers will eventually slick themselves up after thousands of shots. However to speed up the process, GS's use Arkansas Stones to remove burrs, take off rough edges and reduce friction on mating surfaces. Skill is a necessity as you do NOT want to remove any more metal than absolutely necessary. You want a new gun to wear-IN and NOT prematurely wear-OUT.

Lighter springs are often swapped out in place of the heavier Factory ones. Sometimes Strain Screws are slightly shortened to lessen the force of the Main Spring and even on brand new Revolvers there are times that adjustments need to me made to put the Revolver into optimal spec's and fit. One would think that a new out of the box Revolver would be 100%, but that is NOT the case all too many times these days.

There are a few great ways to begin to understand how a Revolver functions and exactly what needs to get done to optimize it. J. Kuhnhausen has an excellent book out "Smithing the S&W Revolver" which is a must have for anyone who wants to learn how to work on their Revolver. Midway USA has a plethora of videos on Gunsmithing Revolvers as well. For the most part, I'd stay away from Youtube amateur gunsmithing videos! MANY of those guys do something for the first time and proceed to make a video right after they did it. they want to look like Pro's and convey that they are experts - they are NOT! Many times they give out poor advise, show wrong methods and if followed you will either ruin or compromise your Revolver.

Working on Revolvers takes time, patience, skill, proper know-how, proper and quality tools and last but not least, mechanical ability. Of course you could also go to a GOOD QUALIFIED GS to do this for you. Either way, don't jump into this before you fully understand what you are doing! Knowledge is key! Plenty of GS's make a descent living off of guys who have botched up their guns and you don't want to become part pf that Club!!
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Old 05-11-2017, 07:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigpappa160 View Post
Hello everyone, 1st I'm new to revolvers , but not to hand guns, don't beat me up too bad asking this question because I know there's a lot of stuff out there in you tube land. I came here because I figured there's a lot of people on here with a little bit more knowledge. But, making the trigger on a model 66 or any model Smoother, couldn't you use a non abrasive metal polish like Flitz and polish the areas that you normally use a stone on to smooth up the trigger?
Clean and oil your revolver.

Take the firearm and make sure it is safe, perhaps filled with Saf-T-Trainers or Snap Caps. Then while you are watching the News or some other TV show, just pull the trigger until the show ends. Do that every night

In 30 days you will have the smoothest action out there and your trigger finger will be stronger

All at no cost.
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Old 05-12-2017, 09:03 AM
lefty_jake lefty_jake is offline
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If you are interested in learning to improve the double action trigger, then I highly recommend Jerry Miculek's "Trigger Job" video. This video gives a good introduction to the function of Smith & Wesson revolver actions and how to work on them. In the video, you may notice that Jerry does not use any power tools, and I think that using only hand tools is good guidance for any beginner.

I have looked at some of the youtube videos on smoothing up S&W revolvers, and I have not found any videos that I could recommend. Of course, I have not watched every video, but some of the ones I have seen contained critical errors. So I do not recommend youtube as a source for this information.

I will also offer a differing opinion about dry firing revolvers to smooth them up, I am not a fan of this method. The double action trigger will smooth up noticeably with use, but this method is not comparable to a quality trigger job. If hardened steel parts have significant rough spots or burrs, those take an indefinite time to smooth out through wear. A gunsmith will find those spots and stone them to be flat, true and smooth in just a few minutes. If you want a good trigger, I recommend letting a qualified gunsmith do it or start putting in the real study on how to do it yourself.
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Old 05-12-2017, 01:05 PM
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Although some good advice has been given, no one has really answered your question about using Flitz to polish the action, so I'll take a stab at it.

There are no curved working surfaces on the inside mechanics of your revolver. That is to say, everything slides, rides or catches on flat surfaces. Stones or hones, when used properly, maintain these flat surfaces. The key word in that last sentence is 'properly'. The intent is to smooth the surface without changing any angles or rounding off anything. Care must be taken to keep the stone flat so all it does is clean up the surface, removing as little material as possible. Rounding on the right part will turn a single action / double action pistol into a double action only. Flitz metal polish is low abrasive, but it does have some abrasiveness, which is why it will remove the bluing from blued surfaces and burn marks from the end of stainless cylinders. It's light abrasiveness is too mild to do machined surfaces, taking far longer than a stone will, plus you can't polish a surface flat using a rag or towel. Trying to remove a machining burr from a frame cut using Flitz would take forever, while using the proper size file and stone would only take a minute or two.
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Old 05-12-2017, 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by lefty_jake View Post
I will also offer a differing opinion about dry firing revolvers to smooth them up, I am not a fan of this method.
Me neither. Dry firing in moderation is OK but doing it thousands of times just wears the hand and ratchets.
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Old 05-12-2017, 09:49 PM
ontargetagain ontargetagain is offline
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Obviously varied opinions will come from this question each and every time
I will agree that internal parts that make contact will 'wear in' over time and develop smoother mating surfaces with less friction that will enhance the smoothness of the action.
I will also state that replacing the trigger return spring and mainspring will do much more for you instantly! Then along with that the natural wearing of mating surfaces will 'self enhance'. Now, combine these both and you have a pretty amazing transformation in no time at all There are other areas of attention that a true gunsmith can address to better the action or simply send you gun in to Smith & Wesson for an action job. I'm pretty sure they will know just what to do to make you happy and keep the gun functioning properly for how you are going to shoot it.

Enjoy your Model 66, no matter what it will get better with time
Karl

Last edited by ontargetagain; 05-12-2017 at 10:05 PM.
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