Concealed Hammer Maintenance

Just wondering.
Should the side plate of a concealed hammer revolver "642" be removed for cleaning/oil now and then? Mine is over 20 years old but lightly used and never opened. No sign of any problems.

Depending on method of carry I will remove the sideplate at least once a year to clean the fuzzies out of it. Even Centennial types collect lint inside the lockwork. I absolutely will not use any form of ankle holster! This is for several reasons.

I’ve carried a J Frame since my 1968 rookie year, have never removed a sideplate (my Model 60 dates to the ‘80s) & never had a problem.

I’ve opened the sideplate on every used revolver I have bought in the last 20 years and seen some nasty stuff. With the right screwdriver it is easy. No need to fully disassemble it all looks good but a blast with compressed air and a wipe and a proper lube can’t hurt.

kbm6893 said:

I’ve opened the sideplate on every used revolver I have bought in the last 20 years and seen some nasty stuff. With the right screwdriver it is easy. No need to fully disassemble it all looks good but a blast with compressed air and a wipe and a proper lube can’t hurt.

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I use a Chapman screwdriver set for removing the sideplate. These are really great sets, made in the USA, for working on guns, scopes, etc. I am not a gunsmith and I've only completely disassembled a Model 65 that needed some work. All my revolvers are DA/SA so getting the transfer bar in place always gives me a bit of problem. Is there a simple way to do it?

There is an easy way. Ruger has a transfer bar, S&W has a hammer block. They operate in opposite ways.

When you put the hammer block in, it needs to stay all the way in the up position on the pin of the rebound slide. The way to keep it there till you get the sideplate on is to roll the gun CCW with the grip about 30 degrees up in the air, barrel on the bench. Gravity will then help hold it in place until the sideplate is seated enough to keep it there. The gun can then be rolled back down on the bench and finished off as normal.

Here is my opinion......

If you are familiar with how a S&W revolver works, comes apart and gets reassembled, I would say that it should be disassembled every few years or so (depending on how much it has been shot and or carried) for a cleaning and re-lubrication. I would also say that if you are not at all familiar with the details and workings, you would be better off leaving it to a professional GS which is not a big job, doesn't take long and should not be too expensive.

S&W revolvers are stout and relatively forgiving and I know plenty who own them for decades and have never had them opened up. While they may be a bit less than "slick" they do still function.

Protocall_Design said:

There is an easy way. Ruger has a transfer bar, S&W has a hammer block. They operate in opposite ways.

When you put the hammer block in, it needs to stay all the way in the up position on the pin of the rebound slide. The way to keep it there till you get the sideplate on is to roll the gun CCW with the grip about 30 degrees up in the air, barrel on the bench. Gravity will then help hold it in place until the sideplate is seated enough to keep it there. The gun can then be rolled back down on the bench and finished off as normal.

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Thanks for the information and the correction. I was using the wrong nomenclature for the part. Hammer block is one of the internal safeties that doesn't allow firing pin contact unless the trigger is pulled.

I recently purchased a 649-1 and sold my M&P 340.I owned the 340 for many years but never opened it up myself. I would think that the shrouded hammer models would collect more crud than the others and should be taken apart every so often for cleaning.

Remove side plate. Spray out the insides with Gun Scrubber (or similar) Spray it out with a can of compressed air, Apply a few drops of lube to critical parts. Close it up. Test function. Done

I've disassembled and reassembled semi auto rifles and handguns, pump shotguns, bolt action bolts and repaired/refinished several single shot rifles and shotguns. But, I've never been inside any revolver, S&W or no.
There is little bug in me that keeps saying "Go in there and do something. If not a trigger job, at least clean and oil ". I'm not sure if I want to do a trigger job so clean and oil.
Not a gunsmith but a fairly good "Tinkerra". I think so anyway.

I usually just remove the grips, cock the hammer, and spray gun scrubber into the hammer area until it runs out the trigger slot. I dont remove a side plate unless something really needs attention. In my opinion, a periodic cleaning seldom requires it.


Robert

I usually just remove the grips, cock the hammer, and spray gun scrubber into the hammer area until it runs out the trigger slot. I dont remove a side plate unless something really needs attention. In my opinion, a periodic cleaning seldom requires it.


Robert

raljr1 said:

I usually just remove the grips, cock the hammer, and spray gun scrubber into the hammer area until it runs out the trigger slot. I dont remove a side plate unless something really needs attention. In my opinion, a periodic cleaning seldom requires it.


Robert

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Right before Covid hit, I bought a LNIB 15-2 from my gun shop. Looked unfired. Beautiful on the outside. But the cylinder was sluggish to open and it didn't spin freely. Cocking the hammer was a bit sluggish, too. I was hesitant to open up such a pristine example so I cocked the hammer and blasted non chlorinated brake cleaner in there, then followed by compressed air. No improvement. So I opened the gun up. There was concealed goo in there, probably from the original owner squirting oil or solvent into the action over 5 decades. Looked like ear wax. But the break cleaner left a white film over everything. Took it all apart and properly cleaned and lubed. It's working the way it was designed to, now.

I was not impressed with the "cock the hammer and spray stuff into the action followed by compressed air" technique. I never advise it anymore. It is not even close to a substitute for a real cleaning.

But most of the ones I have opened up just needed a quick wipe and then a lube, and further disassembly wasn't required.

kbm6893 said:

Right before Covid hit, I bought a LNIB 15-2 from my gun shop. Looked unfired. Beautiful on the outside. But the cylinder was sluggish to open and it didn't spin freely. Cocking the hammer was a bit sluggish, too. I was hesitant to open up such a pristine example so I cocked the hammer and blasted non chlorinated brake cleaner in there, then followed by compressed air. No improvement. So I opened the gun up. There was concealed goo in there, probably from the original owner squirting oil or solvent into the action over 5 decades. Looked like ear wax. .

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This is exactly the scenario where removing the sideplate is warranted.

Robert

raljr1 said:

This is exactly the scenario where removing the sideplate is warranted.

Robert

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Of course. That’s why I did it. But sometimes it’s not quite so bad in there and the symptoms don’t show as easily. And spraying brake cleaner into the action followed by compressed air only made a bad situation worse.

Support your local gunsmith.
(His/Her children need shoes, too.)

Let me suggest "cleaning" a S&W revolver (or any other gun) with anything that comes out of a spray can simply moves the crud from one place inside the gun to another place inside the gun---no matter how much of the contents you let run out of the gun.

And that brings up the topic of fishing tackle, which most folks will tell you is made to catch fish. I will tell you it's made to sell to fishermen.

Ralph Tremaine

rct269 said:

Let me suggest "cleaning" a S&W revolver (or any other gun) with anything that comes out of a spray can simply moves the crud from one place inside the gun to another place inside the gun---no matter how much of the contents you let run out of the gun.

And that brings up the topic of fishing tackle, which most folks will tell you is made to catch fish. I will tell you it's made to sell to fishermen.

Ralph Tremaine

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I don't think I can agree with you about anything that comes out of a spray can. I picked up a 1960s Winchester 94 from the pawn shop some years ago that was pretty nasty. I sprayed the innards with gun scrubber then flushed it out with wd40. Later when I learned how to take it apart "and put it back together" I was really surprised at how clean it was.
But, I agree with you on the fishing tackle. Same with dog food.

WD4O?!!!!!!!!!!!

GOD FORBID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WD40 is, and I quote, "a water displacement formula"----and it works GREAT---at that. It ain't much of a lubricant, doesn't protect much of anything, never mind anything you might have read elsewhere, and it gets really nasty when it gets old----if/when you are so unfortunate as to let it get old. "Let the buyer beware!"

There was a time---a looooooooooong time ago----in a land far, far away---when "the sewers backed up" (!!!!!!!!!!!). We lived in Chicagoland at the time---in what I have come to call "a hot-shot insurance executive's tri-level, split-level house". There was a pretty much still brand new Browning Auto 5 in a fancy leather case sitting on the floor---in the LOWER level. Now this fancy house was in a fancy suburb with sewers built by the lowest bidder--------and they leaked. This was well known by the folks who'd lived there for a while, but we were "the new kids on the block"---from Philadelphia-----where pretty much NOTHING is new------and pretty much none of the streets run in a straight line-----and pretty much ALL of the streets change names as they go-----with no notification whatsoever. Good luck getting around!!! (Snarky comments from one who was deliriously happy to leave Philadelphia after only three years.)

So---the sewers leaked. You might very well never have thought of it, but anything that leaks can, and does, leak in both directions----out---and IN!! So here's this FLAT land sitting next to this small ocean--and what they call the "water table" is high----which means you don't have to dig down very far before you hit----ah---moisture. Add to this a toad strangling, gulley washing rain storm helped along by the proximity to this small ocean, and there was A BUNCH of-----ah---moisture, leaking INTO the sewers----and they couldn't help it. There's stuff coming out of the floor drain in the laundry room, the toilet next door, the cracks in the concrete, and every place else that had a place---into my shotgun case!!!!----and everywhere else in the lower level!!! This is not nice!

So, they leaked. Needless to say, "panic reigned supreme"!!!! I hosed down that shotgun with copious quantities of WD40---and it saved the day----until I could take it apart----ALL APART----never mind I'd never done it before.

Now---how do I get this WD40 stuff the hell out of there?!! This is a concern, because WD40 undergoes a mysterious transformation as it ages---turns into what one might call SLUDGE!!

And as an aside, I got that shotgun back together---and it actually worked!!!

Stranger things have happened!

Ralph Tremaine

OH!!---and by the way, if you want something that actually does what you might think WD40 does, it's called CorrosionX----and it ain't cheap----it's GOOD!!