Recent content by Gearhead Jim

(Mods- feel free to move or delete this post if needed) I have a 66-6 4" with the lock (ok so far) and S&W rubber grips. The gun looks almost new, probably has 500 rds +P and 50 rds Magnum loads. Several years ago I had the S&W Performance Center do a police duty action job on it, feels quite...

For 30 years, some kind of Airweight/Airlite J-frame was my backup/OD gun. Carried in a pocket holster in my right-front pocket. I practiced with it a lot- too much. The web of my hand is now so tenderized that even in a K-frame with good grips, +P is uncomfortable. Now my pocket gun is a...

I carried a Model 38 as a backup/OD gun for about 25 years. Uncle Mike's pocket holster in my right-front pocket. Standard tiny wood grips. Carried +P in it and practiced with hot reloads. So I shot two of them enough they got kinda loose, and my hand has never fully recovered. But no...

Not mentioned was the fact that a JHP bullet needs velocity to expand, and some bullet designs in lower velocity (.38 Special, I'm looking at you) ammo often didn't have enough velocity. Even some early 9mm bullets were marginal at normal velocity. The extra ~100 fps of +P can make more...

When my backup/OD gun was an Airweight J with the tiny wood grips, my practice load was a 110 gr bullet loaded with a light charge of WW231. Unfortunately, I can't recall the exact bullet or charge weight. To my hand, it felt like lighter bullets were more effective in reducing recoil than...

Ivan and I are obviously different people. I carried an Airweight J (Model 38) in my pocket for several years, then switched to a steel J (Model 940) and tried to like it for a full year, finally gave up and went back to the Airweight. Same small grips on both. The 38 felt like, uh, lighter...

Back in the 70's I carried a blued Model 38 as my OD/backup gun. I practiced with it a lot, because they're not easy to shoot well. And I practiced with +P because that's what I carried in the gun. I stayed with the factory "stringbean" grips for pocket carry. The result was that my first 38...

"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, theory and practice are often different." :D

I'll check that out!

The occasional spitting has happened only during DA firing, which is 99% of my shooting with this gun. The gun came with the factory trigger stop installed, I may remove it to see if anything changes. My 19-9 came from the factory with no trigger stop, and I recall that years ago LE agencies...

Are all K-frame screws identical? I don't recall the details, but the screws on my new 19-9 looked different at the tip than others I've seen.

Brownell's Oxpho Blue is a good touch up, and is more rust resistant than bare metal.

I'm not sure I have this in the right section, the serial number of my new-to-me 18-3 is 5Kxxxx. Feel free to move... Two questions- The front sideplate screw is tight, but the crane/cylinder flops in and out freely when the release is pushed forward and the cylinder is out of the window...

The weight difference between the titanium cylinder and steel cylinder, according to S&W, is 2 oz. I owned two otherwise-identical J frames, one of each steel and titanium cylinders. If I picked up one and then the other (loaded), alternating back & forth, I could just barely tell the...

I bought a new 19-9 "Classic" two years ago. Beautiful looking but- Spit dangerously even with jacket bullets. Rear sight would tilt but not move when attempting windage adjustments. Horrendously heavy trigger, more than any factory S&W from any vintage. Flash gap excessive, and uneven. Forcing...