Long story short is that I got a replacement slide for a 5904 that had serious finish wear. The slide was completely stripped but looks brand new.

I ordered a replacement barrel bushing but two things are going on.

1) The barrel bushing is ever so slightly too large to fit into the slide. It probably would press in with a lot of force but I don't want to go that direction.

2) My barrel seems every so slightly too large to fit into said barrel bushing.

The replacement bushing is NIB stainless. I am perplexed. The slide in question is not one with a removable bushing cutout.

Welcome to the S&W Forums. I'm a bit confused, the third generation pistols all had press fit bushings and I have not seen a slide that did not already have the bushing installed.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA

I know. It would seem this particular slide was completely stripped. The press fit barrel bushing was not installed in the slide.

Would any competent gunsmith be able to get that bushing correctly installed and fit for my barrel?

You may have a slide that wasn't completely finished at the factory. Same is true for the bushing, which, if factory finished should accept any barrel. The stripped slide should have the bushing installed already and yes, it's a press fit. You just might have an oversize bushing intended for accurizing.

As to the phrase "any competent gunsmith".........no clue what tooling S&W used to install the bushing. The bushing will be somewhat larger on the OD than the hole in the slide. The press fit/shrink fit tolerances would have been dictated by standard machining practices. Without special tooling, I'd shrink fit it.

Personally, I'd try to get another bushing and then contact Alex Hamilton at Ten Ring Precision down in Texas. Up in your neck of the woods you might give Mag-n-Port a call, they might not do the work but might be able to advise you. You'll probably need to send both slides, the bushings and your barrel to give them something to work with on dimensions.

I dunno about that. Maybe a skilled gunsmith who is familiar with the 3rd gen pistols and knows how S&W fitted those bushings. Beyond that, you could have the original slide reblued.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA

Refinish would probably be cheaper.

Maybe you could try putting the barrel bushing in the freezer.

You may have to warm the slide and then see if you can press fit the bushing.

It's an old trick worth trying as no material has to be removed.

Bruce

The bushings are press fit into the slide when installed. Sufficient clearance will have to be created on the bushing collar (skirt) to obtain a "press fit" tight enough to keep the bushing in place in the slide during use. Thread locker could be used if needed. The slide should not be altered.

The interior clearance of the bushing will also need to be fit/cut to accommodate the barrel and it's movement. Keep in mind that the barrel cams down when the slide opens immediately after firing, and returns upward about 1° - 1.5° when the slide fully closes and goes into battery.

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Thanks for all of the feedback. I really appreciate it!

I am confident Liab's in Spicer MN can do the work for me. I will give them a call on Monday morning and ask for a ball-park cost on having that work completed.

If the shipping the slide plus work costs exceeds having the nasty slide refinished, or close to those costs, I will just send the slide to CCR.

One of the reasons I did not like the beat up slide in the first place was the import marking. Plus the original importers messed up the stamping and made a partial stamp of one letter on a different part of the slide and then tried to buff it out only to take away all of the finish. Water under the bridge perhaps. Perhaps CCR can remove the mistake import marking and minimize the other. There is no serial number information on the slide.

My intuition suggests I will end up having the original slide refinished unless the gunsmith can get that barrel and bushing in for under a $100 bucks.

I checked with the gunsmith I trust about my project. They were confident about doing the work. About $45 to get it done so likely a way for me to move forward. We shall see.

Let us know how it works out. Pics would be nice too as some of us enjoy a little gun p0rn.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA