Buying Parts

[ONEKYGUY]

Hi, Mentioned before I have some older Smiths with some older ones purchased soon to be delivered. Is it a good idea to purchase all the parts you might need from Ebay, gun shops etc or just wait. I have a 19-4 coming and noticed the cylinder in the pic looked like it could need some blue work, so I found what I am told is an original cylinder that looks great. The guy has other older parts, just a few but paid I paid a fairly good nickel for this part.
Of course, I am asking, if I am building a collection of older smith's I want to shoot, is buyin up all the parts advisable?

I am always looking for real help, so I am not stuck looking at one!

 

[steelslaver]

Well they are not making those parts anymore, but not making the frames either. Something happens to a frame and the rest of the gun is just parts.
If you take care of them it takes a lot of rounds to wear out much on a revolver and most wear can be taken care of with very few parts.

I got a small parts pile because I like working on them. But, unless you are looking a long ways down the road or plan on running up a high round count I wouldn't try to stock pile parts. Besides if you really had to any K frame part could be pressed into service. Cylinder and barrels of same caliber of course.

 

[H Richard]

Using factory equivalent ammo, and cleaned and lubed properly, a Mod 19 might have some wear to worry about around the 75,000 - 100,000 shots. If you think you are going to exceed those levels in the near future you might want to look into some parts, but a cylinder isn't usually one of the parts that wear out.

 

[OldChief]

Remember one important thing about obtaining parts for Smith and Wesson revolvers. Most parts are not just interchangeable, they must be fit by someone who knows what he or she is doing. I agree that it's a good idea to stock some parts that may not be available through Smith today but if you haven't been trained in fitting those parts to your revolver, when you need to use them, find a competent gunsmith or pistolsmith.

 

[bananaman]

I have no extra Smith parts. Don't feel that I need them. Never broke, or wore anything out. Now, when it comes to stocks, that is a different story. I just like to have extras that catch my eye. Bob

 

[Breakaway500]

I like the wide triggers and hammers and buy them when I find good examples in both case color and flash chrome.J,KL and N frame versions. Grips/stocks...when I find a style that I really like..I buy doubles,triples of them..especially if they are at bargain prices.

 

[StakeOut]

Extra parts I have for revolvers
Main Springs
Rebound springs
Cylinder Stop springs
Bolt Plunger springs
Center Pins
Center Pin springs
Extractor springs
Hammer Noses
Hammer Nose springs
Hammer Nose rivets

A few hammer and trigger assemblies

Lots of nice factory wood

 

[TAROMAN]

Be aware that many parts listed on eBay may be worn out, damaged, or messed with.
And, as already stated, parts like cylinders are seldom "drop in" items.

 

[StakeOut]

All my present revolvers and those I parted company with in the last few years have had previous owners.

I bought 2 really nice revolvers that had the original hammers bobbed.If I didn't have the replacements I might have passed on them.

Many guns have had bad trigger jobs done to them or just made too light.Fixing them requires the right parts.

I changed out many mainsprings any replaced crappy grips with much nicer factory wood.

If the parts you buy are not right quickly send them back.

 

[jack the toad]

I guess if I ran across a deal on certain parts I might buy them but some parts (wear items) are being re-made. Power Custom makes both hands and stops and are decent from what Ive heard.

 

[ONEKYGUY]

Factory wood

Now that is interesting and might like to see. Bought a 27 good deal, and think only because they couldn't get the cylinder out. Business card flipping the lock, screwing in the ejector and couldn't be finer. Clean, beautiful and can't wait to shoot. Grips could be better, but has a lot of class. Might like to see what some originals would do to it that are not so scarred up.

 

[Frank46]

Bunch of years ago I bought a Colt Trooper MKIII in 357 magnum. So one day looking on ebay lo and behold there is an almost complete set of parts for the same revolver. About $45 bucks and a weeks time and they were home. They have been sitting in their storage box well oiled and waiting and waiting. Definitely good to have spare parts on hand as you never know. I've spares for my 1903A3 springfield, M1 Garand, U.S. Model of 1917 (30-06) U.S. made Pattern 14 rifle 303 British, and a few parts for my two 1891 Argentine mausers. Possibly missed a few other firearms but you get the drift. These were aquired over a period of years and at the time they were fairly easy to come by and fairly inexpensive. Not so much today as supplies get used up and in some cases no more parts are being made. Op rods for the M1 Garand are no longer being made and only can be reconditioned, having the bends in the right places,
maybe getting the piston removed and replaced and bead blasted and reparked. Frank

 

[Gunhacker]

Extra parts I have for revolvers
Main Springs
Rebound springs
Cylinder Stop springs
Bolt Plunger springs
Center Pins
Center Pin springs
Extractor springs
Hammer Noses
Hammer Nose springs
Hammer Nose rivets

A few hammer and trigger assemblies

Lots of nice factory wood

Good list... I would add side plate screws, especially the front one that holds the yoke in place, that one is different than the successor part with the spring loaded plunger.

Beyond that, I also buy hard to find barrels and cylinders, such a M57 4" barrel and cylinder, or a 5" M27 barrel, for potential conversion projects.

 

[iPac]

The key is knowing how to fit the parts once you need them. If you can't do that, then they are useless, at least to you. So a smith would be required and any master smith should already be on top of parts acquisition or know where to find them. In that case I wouldn't worry about it.

However, taking some time to learn basic common repairs, and even more moderate ones, will go a long way, save money, and be very self satisfying. If you do that, or are already at that level, then spare parts are handy and almost a must.

I have a large stock of only NOS Colt v spring parts, as that is the majority of my guns. I pick them up on ebay when I find them for dirt cheap. For S&Ws, I only have a mainsprings, rebound springs, and side plate screws. Although I wouldn't mind having a spare flash chromed trigger for my 629 because if the sear ever gets damaged you really can't save them.

The good thing though, is I imagine there are many more older parts available for S&W revolvers than Colts. Not 100% sure, but I believe S&W made many more and made many more guns that are compatible with each other. Not like Colt.

Also as mentioned, people are starting to reproduce parts, and Jack First for instance is reproducing just about any Colt v spring part you could need. The only thing he hasn't conquered is the rebound lever. So I imagine old S&W parts will be the same way. Maybe not authentic hammers and triggers though. It's the same with Colts.

 

[VNK971]

Try finding square butt strain screws or grip/stock screws.

 

[steelslaver]

Stakeouts list is pretty good. Like mentioned a few screws. Springs can get messed up. Hammer noses have broke. Major parts not really

 

[ameridaddy]

Stakeout's list is pretty good. I bought one or more of all the tiny pins and springs that can fly off into never-never-land, a hammer nose (firing pin) and rivet, plus a hammer, trigger, cylinder stop and hand for K and N frames.

 

[StakeOut]

If the cylinder is hard to open on a newly acquired used revolver it could be a short center pin.

I have some spare sideplate and strain screws in blue and SS but no nickle.They are new manufactured parts.

The #1 replacement part for me has been mainsprings.

A nickle 21-4 I recently purchased had a mainspring that looked heated and bent.

I can't believe how many used revolvers I bought that had light springs.

I love nice wood factory grips with black or silver washers.