I bought the gun used, in about 1996. Several years ago, I had a bad experience with some primers that caused pock marks on the recoil shield....that is, the bushing that is staked into the frame that has the hole in it for the firing pin to protrude when the gun is fired. (I am not sure about the part name either....I'm assuming it is either the recoil shield or the firing pin bushing). It is staked in place in the frame.
Note: I've since gotten rid of all those bad primers after I'd traced it to a certain lot that I had purchased.
Besides the pock marks (which are actually small holes that were burned out of the metal from the hot gases from the bad primers as the gun was fired), the hole that the firing pin protrudes from is oversized; there's far too much space between the firing pin and the bushing when the hammer is all the way down.
In summary, I'd like to get this bushing or whatever it's called, replaced. I approached a well known pistol smith in my area several years ago about this and he said he couldn't even get the part from Smith and Wesson. Further, that I should just write the gun off and forget about replacing this part as neither he nor the factory could replace it.
Mr. Jim Stroh of Alpha Precision, replaced a bushing/recoil shield for me that had also gone bad in a Model 27-2 about 7 years ago. Of course, he has since retired.
Does anyone know if/how/who can fix this for me?