2nd-3rd model 38SW DA timing quirks

[old top break]

I noticed a phenom on the SW DA's- some guns when pulled back to full cock in SA mode, will have a crisp trigger pull and hammer release like a normal single action pistol would

while others have a not so crisp release- instead what happens is, when at full cock in SA mode and the trigger is pulled, the rear sear releases, but then the hammer instantly catches on the front sear and goes back into DA mode- the hammer surges forward, then back, then drops after the front sear releases it again actually in DA mode

to get it to snap down quick in SA mode, the trigger must be pulled quite hard and quick

there's a couple things I could do to "adjust" this, one being filing the catch on the hammer for the front sear so it clears the front sear sooner- or filing down the rear sear leg where it contacts the trigger/cylinder stop- doing so allows the sear to seat further into the hammer and require harder trigger pull to release the hammer, which also disengages the front sear further so it's not in the way in SA mode

what's your take on this ?

another way to look at this is, when at full cock in SA mode, should the hammer drop at the first touch of the trigger, or can you pull the trigger slightly, catch the action on double action mode using the front sear, then slowly release and drop the hammer without having it fire a shot ?

on my 32DA and one 38DA, the hammer drops instantly from SA full cock if the trigger is pulled even slightly

on my other (2) 38DA's I can catch the action at full cock and slowly release the hammer controlling it with my trigger finger, it doesn't just drop the hammer instantly

I'm thinking it should just drop the hammer instantly

what do your guns do ?

 

[TACC1]

Keeping in mind that I wouldn't make a pimple on a real 'smith's
neck, the thought of filing down anything on something that old just
scares me. Could you check for replacement parts before starting?
I hate to sound like a wuss, but hopefully one of the real 'smiths
can come up with some alternatives. I'm getting ready to venture into
the realm of .38 S&W's myself, so I'd sure like to hear what you decide on. TACC1

 

[old top break]

it's a long, detailed answer to that question. I'm not a gunsmith either, but I've been repairing/rebluing my own guns for 30 years+ on the kitchen table.

when the quirk first presented itself, I noticed it on the 3rd model 6" barrel DA. Then I got the (2) frames for the "put together" guns and noticed it on the short barreled 3rd model too. The 2nd model worked just fine.

after studying the setup closely, it appeared that if I ground the SA full cock hammer notch a bit deeper, it would require more trigger effort to squeeze it off, and that would disengage the front sear out of DA mode- so I tried that, but before doing so, changed the hammer to an early model hammer without fly- as I didn't want to grind on the new NOS late model hammer I was using- it helped but still didn't fix it entirely

then I changed the rear sear spring, again that helped a little more but still had the quirk about half the time

then I noticed, that if I opened the barrel/cylinder, and held down on the cylinder stop bolt, it would full cock and release quite crisply and not go back into DA mode- that told me the rear sear tail that goes up and contacts the cylinder stop, is also involved

so then I ground a tiny bit off the rear sear leg up front, so that at full cock the rear sear would be adjusted slightly, as to not allow the cylinder stop to stick out as soon in the cocking sequence

put it back together, now it holds full cock position, and snap fires just fine without going into DA mode

and yes, if you just put in all new parts, it probably would just fix it, this sear was worn and had to be reground once to sharpen it- but keep in mind, what you spend on a hammer/rear sear/rear sear spring/front sear/cylinder stop, you can buy at least 2 parts guns for the same price.

I've seen complete SW DA's sell for less than I paid for a Baby Russian hand and mainspring. You can get a complete fixer upper for $65-$100 if you look around.

So it becomes not cost effective to replace all the parts, unless the frame and barrel finish is in really good condition and numbers matching- and makes more sense to file/grind/fit the existing parts to work.

If you have a numbers matching valuable gun, it may pay to just put the new parts in. But I always just try to repair or fit the existing parts. If I had a dollar for ever sear, trigger, safety, hand, hammer that had to be filed/welded/ground to fit, I'd be wealthy by now.

so to answer your question, that's what I did, and it fixed it- for now. If the gun is fired or cycled a lot, who knows, it may have problems again and I'll be putting parts in. We'll see.