Explanation of factory tool mark

[Jay Frame]

I see this grind mark on a couple of my early 1980s stainless revolvers and in photos on the forum. From forum photos I've reviewed it seems to disappear from the ejector shroud in the mid-eighties or so. I assume it is related to the pin on the shroud, but would love to know the story of the process and how it evolved. Thanks in advance for any info. JF

 

[Alk8944]

Nothing to do with the pin. That contour on the extractor housing has gone through several steps in its' evolution, with the last to simply do nothing and leave the ridge round. Jut before that the end of the ridge was simply ground to the radius you see, which was polished to match the rest of the barrel finish prior to bluing. This is just one that this area was missed on the final polish. Not considered a sufficient defect to cause rejection at final inspection. Minor cosmetic issues usually are not!

 

[Engine49guy]

Like Alk9844 said its normal,
Often times S&W guys refer to that as "Melting" the ejector rod shroud end, BTW Mine seem to disappear in the early 80's as it is there on my 70's era 29-2 but gone on my early 80's era 29-3.

 

[chief38]

I suppose you could polish it up to match the rest of the guns finish without too much difficulty. Mask off the rest of the barrel & lug with masking tape to avoid unwanted scratches and in a short amount of time you should be good to go.

 

[Jay Frame]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Do you think the elimination of this normal "melting" was a cost saving step since it didn't have a mechanical purpose? Or was it possibly linked to an engineering or production change given that it disappeared around a general date? JF

 

[Alk8944]

My money is on it was a small cost-saving change that was easy to justify as the cut served absolutely no purpose except aesthetic.