I have a problem with fitting the slide to the frame on my 5946. I stripped the frame down, polished and buffed out all the small scratches. I believed I lost a small spring (One of two) that springs up the ejector lever. I ordered a replacement, It came in the mail and I reassembled the pistol. Now I cant rack the slide fully back to insert the take down pin. It seems the ejector is hitting up against the small firing pin button on the slide. (Pictures will show what I'm referring to). The only way to rack the slide back is to depress the small button through the magwell and then move the slide back enough to put the take down pin back in. Obviously something isn't correct if I cannot field strip and reassembly without depressing that button. I have not tried to fire since reassembling. I have manually cycle some dummy rounds through and they all eject and feed properly. Any Ideas, suggestions, advice would be greatly apperciated. Here are some detailed pictures with notes. Hopefully someone can diagnose the problem and I can get it fixed. Thanks Matt

Here are some additional pictures, I'm unsure if the sear is seated in the correct location , and I'm also concerned about the placement of the two levers. The lever on the right will depress for the slide to move over the top, But as soon as the hammer starts to cock itself from racking the slide back during re-assemble the lever on the right pops up and hit the small button on the firing pin. I've tried taking it down and re-positioning the levers around. Nothing seems to work. Could really use some expert advise. Thanks Matt.

Matt in your pictures the hammer appears to be cocked in the first notch.
I suggest you start with the hammer fully forward as the lever raises when the hammer starts to travel to the rear.

If you need to check a schematic go to Numrich and check out the parts layout there. You can also learn the correct names for the parts that you have questions about in your photos.
The fireing pin safety lever is on the right and the ejector is on the left.

Bruce

I've tried the fully uncocked hammer, that would usually work but as stated before, as soon as I start to rack the slide back no matter what position the hammer is in, the right hand side lever pushes up and jams on the small button that controls the firing pin position. I'm at a loss, I've tried numerous different ways to reassemble the parts and the closest I get is the way it's set up now... I'm just going to test fire it, since it loads, ejects, and cycles dummy rounds as it should.

Matt it appears that the lever is too short.It should be as long as the slot. The only way that it could fall behind the plunger on the slide is if it is the wrong part or the end is broken off.
Take another look by holding the slide upside down next to the frame.
The lever has to be long enough to stay under the plunger.

Bruce

Also why does the lever appear longer in the first photo and shorter in the next? It seems to be laying on the spring. I don't think you can shoot it in that condition. The firing pin will not be unblocked.

That's A really good point, This is just a theory, but when I first got the pistol a few days ago, when I disassembled the trigger/sear pins I thought I had lost the small spring that propped up the firing pin safety lever, now I'm starting to think it was never there. Because I could field strip all day and not run into this issue. Now that you mentioned it, it the firing pin safety lever doesn't seem long enough in length, or maybe I have it reassembled incorrectly. The lever is resting on the spring, when I remove the spring and just let the lever sit in the slot, it works fine.

I think we have determined where the problem lays. I don't believe this part can be installed incorrectly yet it is obviously not filling the frame slot and staying under the plunger. Now you can see if a solution can be found by examining schematics and the parts on hand.
Good luck.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce Lee, much appreciated helpful information there. It's nice to have a second opinion

It looks like you are missing a part. The sear release lever. It should go next to the firing pin safety lever.

Egads I forgot about that one. Where is the part?

63 331570 Sear Release Lever $3.80 Numrich

This is exactly why a schematic needs to be checked.

Paul, Thank you for posting.

Bruce

No Third lever was ever present, Neither was the spring. I just ordered that Sear release lever from Numrich. Thanks for the help.

There's something called a "Spring Rule" when working with S&W 3rd gen DAO pistols. It has to do with the firing pin safety lever and it's machined slot to the right side of the hammer.

Basically:
Left Side of frame - Ejector lever must always have a spring in the spring hole.

Right Side of frame - If the frame has space for 2 levers, a spring must be used. If the frame has space for only 1 lever, a spring must not be used.

The second lever involved on the right side of the frame in DAO pistols is what's called a DAO spacer lever. In the TDA guns it's a sear release lever. Since the DAO guns don't require decocking, the bottom leg of the sear release lever is "missing", and it only acts as a spacer.

Why?

Because at some point the S&W engineers figured out they wouldn't have to shut down the older production line to change how they cut the DAO frames to only have space for a single lever, but could instead make the same "double lever" cut in the DAO frames and use a modified sear release "spacer" lever to fill the space of the second lever required in the TDA frames.

FatMatt, I'm sending you a PM with a picture in it that might be of interest (to avoid potential CR concerns in an open forum).

However, this is what a TDA frame that has room for 2 levers on the right side of the hammer looks like ...





If your older DAO frame only has room for ONE lever on the right side, it didn't have a spring under the firing pin safety lever in the first place (it's not "missing"), and there shouldn't be one there now.

Just my thoughts ...

__________________
Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

BTW, I'm guessing you discovered that the disconnector is installed in the DAO guns in different order than in the TDA guns, right?

In the DAO guns the disconnector must be installed in the frame before the drawbar is installed.

In the TDA guns it's installed after the drawbar is installed, and the disconnector tail is slipped around the drawbar's disconnector tab. That can't be done the way the drawbar sits in the DAO frames.

__________________
Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Yes I did discover this after a few trial and error attempts. Thanks for the information. Problem is fixed, and I'm satisfied.

Picture of my frame and your frame. I obviously have the older DAO model with room for one lever right of hammer. Made since the whole time just was to believe I needed the spring. Thanks for clearing this problem up.


My Frame:


Other Frame:

Got your PM reply. De nada. Glad it worked out for you.

Bet your 'original' DAO style 5946 worked just fine once you removed the second spring, huh?

BTW, something to also keep in mind, if you're collecting parts for different 3rd gen DAO's, is that you CANNOT mix the original machined & MIM DAO parts. They're different from each other and are NOT compatible.

I really liked the quality of your pictures, too.

__________________
Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Yes sir, Works great. Just needed a little friendly advise from someone who has the right experience. Now its time to take it to the range and put some rounds through it for the first time.

Enjoy.

If it were me, I'd replace the recoil & mag springs, just because you never know how long they've been in any particular used gun (and LE may sometimes try to run them longer than may be prudent).

Factory springs run just fine.

Every 5K rounds fired or every 5 years (mags left loaded) is the current recommendation for replacement in duty guns.

The other thing that some owners/users (like LE users) can do that causes them some unnecessary grief is to over-lubricate the 3rd gen guns. Using excessive solvent/CLP/oils that can run up under & into the extractor recess, and into the firing pin channel, may eventually create issues (light-strikes if the FP channel becomes saturated and full of semi-congealed sludge at some point).

Pretty heavy-duty "work horse" pistols when maintained reasonably, though.

__________________
Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

Great pictures and good advice. Very interesting post. I felt like I was there watching. Man I love this forum. Thanks to all who participated.

I wish I had found this thread before! I just went through the exact same process of "replacing the missing spring" on my new to me police trade in 5946. The Numrich web site only shows the newer style 5946 that does require the missing spring.