Recent content by pjstreng

Try doing it yourself Skully, It is very easy to greatly improve the double action trigger pull on an S&W revolver. On any non-j Frame, simply replacing the mainspring with a reduced power spring will accomplish the most noticeable results, is easy to do, and is inexpensive. You can get...

I installed apex kits on the five J frames I have. I had intermittent, albeit infrequent, light primer strikes in three of the five. I reinstalled the factory hammer springs but left in the apex firing pins and rebound springs in all of them. The trigger pull wasn’t as nice as with the full...

Trigger stacking Do the new Python triggers stack like the old ones? I could never get used to that.

The quality of many of the guns built in the 70s and 80s could be hit or miss as well. I have owned many such examples from both Colt and Smith and Wesson. For consistent quality, the true jewels, in my experience, are older than that.

Old vs new 66 I have owned both of the model 66’s. The biggest complaint I have about the new one is the godawful bead blast finish and black hammer, trigger, cylinder release. The gun looks like a cheap toy. The 19’s don’t have that problem, but I’m sure the bluing is not as deep or...

Cases sticking My experience as well. But not with this particular 686. I used every cleaning method found on this terrific forum over the years. Soaking the chambers in solvent for hours, bronze brush, bronze brush wrapped in lead remover cloth, bronze brush chucked in a drill, bore paste...

Cases sticking I have a 686 that I bought new almost 15 years ago. Ejecting fired .357 cases was always a problem. Annoying but I just accepted it because I mostly fired .38s in it. I assumed it was a matter of poor maintenance on my part. Earlier this year, I began to fire a lot more...

Blue dot: I think mine was a different problem. The forward quarter inch of the bad chamber seemed to be over-bored. The front end of the brass would expand just enough in that part of the chamber such that they were too large to be able to be extracted. That’s why I initially though it had...

Ever since I bought my 686+ ten years ago, I had problems with one of the cylinder chambers. Whenever I fired .357 ammo, I needed to use a wood dowel or cleaning rod to knock out the empty case. The other chambers were fine. I didn’t shoot it that often and most of the time when I did I...

Python vs 686 I have one python and several 686s. The python is a beautiful handgun, and I will never sell it. That being said, I really dislike the way the python’s trigger stacks in double action. I’ve never been able to get used to it.

Same experience as Bob C First time out with mine a few weeks back I had binding issues with 158 gr semi-jacketed .357 after firing 100 .38Spl FMJ. Cylinder locked up before I was able to finish the third cylinder. Thoroughly cleaned it and haven't had any issues since then regardless of...

I have one of the new 66s with 2.75 barrrel. I own 15 other S&W revolvers of various models and age and the new 66's fit, finish and accuracy is as good or better than all of them. The lockup out of the box was very tight. First time at the range I had a copper jacket shaving issue with 158...

I did Started with pocket carrying a 442. Kept thinking there was something better so I tried an LCP, LC9, and Shield. I'm back to the 442 and have sold the others.

Thank you Thanks for the reply!

Could someone tell me the date of manufacture for a Smith and Wesson model 36 serial number j430888? Thanks in advance.