I picked up this 686-3 it was pretty dirty inside and had a lot of tar looking grease/ dirt in it. So I pulled it apart and found a very strange looking hand inside. So first thing I did was a good clean up.



All the hands I have seen have two pins but, this one only has one in the hand and the other is inserted in the trigger it can rotate but, does not want to come out. The hand fits on it with a huge amount of pay in it.

The pin in the trigger is spindle shaped with a head on it. The shaft is .930 and the head on it is .1095 the hole in the hand is .1105 so needless to say with .8195 clearance it is a very loose sloppy fit with a lot of end play too.



The cyld. lock up is a little loose but, not as bad as I would expect. I am thinking of fitting a new trigger and a new hand and then tighten up the lock up if it is still loose. Then I can finish doing the action work.




My background: In the mid 80's I was doing a lot of gunsmith and pistolsmith work mostly S&W revolvers up to 20 a week my training came from a factory S&W armorer instructor and also my boss Reed Knight.

Attached Images

	20180930_100032.jpg (56.5 KB, 187 views)
	686HAND LIFTED.jpg (47.9 KB, 184 views)

It's a floating hand. In the early '90s, S&W used them.

The play in the hand is deliberate; in theory it extends the hand's longevity. For reasons unknown, S&W dropped the design.

If yours is functioning well, no reason to change it. If for whatever reason you decide to, you can swap out for a standard hand -- you don't need a new trigger.

__________________
Pickpocket

+1

Just drive out the pin in the trigger and a standard hand will install as usual.

Thank you for the input I was wondering why I have only seen it in this gun..
It will be interesting to see how well I can tighten the lock up with that hand..