6906 slide stop

[swjim]

Hello everyone... I'm new to the forum and I have a question about removing the slide stop on my 6906 to field strip it for cleaning. With the slide pulled rearward to to the notch, I cannot push the slide stop out with my finger...i'ts so snug I have to try and push it out with some type of tool which can be very tricky while holding the slide back. Can it be modified so I can push it out with my finger.....I don't want it to "fall out" but just enough to remove it with my finger. I'ts quite an ordeal removing it. Thanks

 

[PH-2]

jim,

On mine, I pull the slide back until the ejection port is, roughly, half open. The slide stop then pushes out of the frame, but it still takes a bit of strong pushing. Same for reassembly.

Mike

 

[swjim]

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. I guess if your's is the same I'll just have to practice getting that thing out of there.

 

[wlp624]

Hi Jim,

I just picked up a cheap 5906 as a restoration project, and the slide release was so dirty I had to knock it out with a punch and hammer. I held the slide back while my wife did the punch out. After I broke the gun down completely into single pieces and thoroughly cleaned and oiled it, the release slid back in as easy as you please. Now I can push it out by hand very easily.

While I had the gun apart I polished the sides of the drawbar assembly with very fine sandpaper, oiling that area before reassembly, and the trigger action is much smoother now.

Bill

 

[handgunner356]

Be sure the slide stop notch is lined up with the crosspin and not the stop, different than a 1911 style.

 

[Dot_mdb]

When you take the slide stop out look at the notch on the pin. If it is a little elongated that is what can make it difficult to remove. I have one like that. It was a replacement slide stop to replace a broken one. Apparently S&W is getting down to the dregs on some of the old parts and they are using whatever they have.

The solution is to learn to hold the slide in the correct spot with one hand and use the tool with the other. This is done by putting the gun in your right hand and hooking four fingers over the slide just in front of the rear sight with the web of the thumb under the beaver tail and the thumb lies parallel to the decocker when in the up position. You may need to get the slide moving backward by pushing from the front with your left hand, but your right hand will be able to use a squeezing motion to hold the slide in any position.

When the slide is in the correct position you twist your wrist to turn the gun over and use your tool in your left hand to press out the slide stop. Make sure the magazine is out before you try this.

Bill

 

[swjim]

Thanks Bill......that grip works a lot better

 

[USArmyDoc]

I've owned one for about 25 years and never had this problem. There is a manual available online for the 5906/6906. In fact I just ordered a new slide stop assembly from Smith & Wesson for $35. $40 with shipping. Because somehow while field stripping it, the part became lost. It's beyond me what happened to it. I just hope the new part works as well as the old one.

 

[oink]

There is a tool for pressing out the stop far enough to grab with your fingers. It's called a 9mm hardball cartridge. A fully jacketed HP will work, as will the end of the old toothbrush that's in my cleaning kit. I've got to think if you had to hammer it out with a hammer and punch you don't have it in the correct spot.

 

[stansdds]

My 6946 can be a bear to disassemble when dirty. The slide stop pin can be stubborn and yes, pushing on it with something like a hardball round can be quite helpful.

 

[linde]

There is a tool for pressing out the stop far enough to grab with your fingers. It's called a 9mm hardball cartridge. A fully jacketed HP will work, as will the end of the old toothbrush that's in my cleaning kit. I've got to think if you had to hammer it out with a hammer and punch you don't have it in the correct spot.

I sometimes use a small diameter wooden dowel to push out the slide stop but my tool of choice is the tapered end of a broken chopstick.

I agree, needing a hammer and punch to remove sounds like it wasn't in the correct spot.

Russ

 

[oink]

The solution is to learn to hold the slide in the correct spot with one hand and use the tool with the other. This is done by putting the gun in your right hand and hooking four fingers over the slide just in front of the rear sight with the web of the thumb under the beaver tail and the thumb lies parallel to the decocker when in the up position. You may need to get the slide moving backward by pushing from the front with your left hand, but your right hand will be able to use a squeezing motion to hold the slide in any position.

When the slide is in the correct position you twist your wrist to turn the gun over and use your tool in your left hand to press out the slide stop. Make sure the magazine is out before you try this.

Bill

That might be the best and safest.

After clearing the gun and double checking I hook my left thumb in the trigger guard and pull the slide back to the correct spot with my right hand, while hooking my first two fingers of my left hand over the muzzle end of the slide holding it in the correct spot by pinching my fingers and thumb together. Then poke the stop out with a hardball cartridge or whatever. As soon as it's punched by the hardball bullet release a little of the tension with your left hand to hold the stop where it now is while you move your right hand over to the left side of the gun. Then grab the slide stop with your right hand while reapplying the tension with your left hand and pull the slide stop out. The hammer drop should be engaged while you do this but then disengage it to pull the slide off. I use essentially the same method for reassembly and installing the stop. Obviously no bullet needed for reassembly.