5906: Replacing the Barrel Bushing

[Krendax]

Hello, short-time lurker first-time poster,

Recently I discovered the shop I work at has a mostly complete 5906 sitting around. According to our gunsmith it's just missing the barrel bushing as far as he can tell, which are plentiful on numerich. But it's press-fit and I've never dealt with a bushing like that. Considering just how slowly things move around here (and the fact that I might pick it up myself) I wanted to see if I could take care of it.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can you point me in the right direction? Or is this a "send it to S&W" kind of problem (if that's even possible)?

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[armorer951]

The barrel bushings are pressed in. I would be more concerned with closely examining the slide and frame to determine exactly why the barrel bushing is missing.

IMO, there would be no reason to remove the bushing unless something catastrophic had occurred.



Carter

 

[stansdds]

Yeah, those barrel bushing are press fit and not intended to ever be removed. Questions would be why was it removed and how was it removed?

 

[Krendax]

I did some digging and it turns out the pistol was a police trade-in. According to a coworker it was issued to a detective who installed a microphone that replaced the barrel, barrel bushing, and slide catch. We ordered factory new parts from numerich but they sent the wrong bushing. It was sent back but no one followed up on ordering another one.

Any advice on installing a new one?

 

[jjrr]

I don’t have any first hand knowledge of this particular bushing and slide but based on y experience with such things I would put the bushing in the freezer or even better get some dry ice and heat the slide with a hairdryer good and warm and put them together. You can do some measurements and see how much interference the fit is and also be prepared to use some force quickly if it stops before it is completely seated in place. Might be a fun project if the price is right..

 

[smoothshooter]

I did some digging and it turns out the pistol was a police trade-in. According to a coworker it was issued to a detective who installed a microphone that replaced the barrel, barrel bushing, and slide catch. We ordered factory new parts from numerich but they sent the wrong bushing. It was sent back but no one followed up on ordering another one.

Any advice on installing a new one?

Microphone ????
What would be the purpose of that?

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I did some digging and it turns out the pistol was a police trade-in.

Any advice on installing a new one?

Well I think it is just junk now.

My Police Department went to the S&W in the 1980s. My favorite was the 5906 but all generations of them had problems especially if they were high round count pistols.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Microphone ????
What would be the purpose of that?

That is quite a story. So I got to call B.$. on it.

 

[stansdds]

I did some digging and it turns out the pistol was a police trade-in. According to a coworker it was issued to a detective who installed a microphone that replaced the barrel, barrel bushing, and slide catch. We ordered factory new parts from numerich but they sent the wrong bushing. It was sent back but no one followed up on ordering another one.

Any advice on installing a new one?

I've never heard of doing such a thing to a pistol. Makes no sense whatsoever. I can say that 5906 slides turn up on eBay fairly frequently, sometimes as complete uppers, sometimes as bare slides or missing a few parts. You might also consider a 5904 slide, then you can have a two-tone 3rd gen S&W.

 

[robertrwalsh]

He probably installed the microphone in order to record something without being obvious about it. Just a thought. Seems like a lot of work and expense but I suppose if you thought you would be searched very carefully but nobody would care about a weapon ......... I have heard stranger things. Some of them were even true.