Highway Partolman Issues

[s3dcor]

I bought this old pre-28 (1954) Highway Patrolman a few months back. It has some issues that I have been working on. Previous owners have messed with it including cutting the rebound spring in half, the cylinder stop spring was cut down and stretched and the hammer had been replaced with a different one that is jeweled. The main issue I had was occasional binding in DA. I worked on it a bit and determined that the cylinder stop was not returning with the trigger. A new spring and a little touch of the file has fixed that.

I was unable to get a new hammer to work as it did not drop in and work properly and I don't know how or where to file on it and at the cost of the parts I don't want to take a chance on ruining it so I will some day take it to a good smith.

Some other issues are that the new parts ordered from S&W are different such as the trigger lever which is the correct part number but must be a MIM part as the shaft is square instead of round and does not look right. The stirrup also was a new style with out an arch and will not work. The cylinder stop is the right shape but the new ones have a hole for the spring whereas the old ones used a seperate screw with a spring and plunger.

My question for you all is: did these old models have the hammer block like the new ones have? If they did mine is missing.

Should the main spring be perfectly flat? Mine has two curves in it which don't look right.

Look forward to your replies. Thanks

 

[snw19_357]

did these old models have the hammer block like the new ones have? If they did mine is missing.

Yes, one from 1954 should have the hammer block safety.

 

[VM]

s3dcor - I grabbed this first six main springs out of my parts tray and as you can see they all have approx same shape.
I have a hammer block for you too.
Send me a PM and I'll put a Main spring (if you need it) and the hammer block in the mail...............we'll just say it's an early Christmas present

 

[OLDFED]

VM...That's one fine thing for you to do! I applaud your generosity! Bless you and yours! David

 

[s3dcor]

I purchased this 1954 pre-28 in June and didn't notice the problems it had at the time or I might have had second thoughts. It would bind up in double action and the smith I took it too told me it needed a new trigger, hammer and cylinder stop and charged me $20 to look at it. This gun has been carried a lot, not fired much but has been tinkered with plenty.

Here is what I did to return it to satisfactory condition. Replaced with new parts, standard case hardened trigger & case hardened target hammer. I bought a new cylinder stop but what was wrong all along was that someone had cut the cylinder stop spring too short then stretched it out so it worked properly with a new spring. The rebound spring had been cut in half so I replaced it with a new one. The hammer spring was bent in two places and the hammer block was missing.

I received the hammer block and hammer spring that VM so graciously sent to me and then got to thinking about what bgrafsr told me about the hammer replacement being pretty straight forward and usually without modification. I then reused the old sear and sear spring and put it all back together with great success.

Thanks again to VM for the two parts and a little insight from bgrafsr, I learned a lot about S&W's and didn't have to take it to a smith. I also learned that it does not pay to buy a gun that needs work so I will be checking them out a little better next time.

Here is a picture of my Highway Patrolman

 

[Tin]

VM,, that was a damn fine gesture you did.. you are to be applauded....Tin

 

[bgrafsr]

S3dcor:
Glad to her that your gun is now working correctly. I'm glad I could help.
VM: You are the man....

Bill

 

[smitholdtimer]

Pre. Mod. 28

VM, you have restored the Santa in Santa Clause, this is truly a fine gesture on your part, Christmas or not. I applaud you sir, you are a generous soul!

 

[Raider]

VM, that was a fine thing to do.

Charlie

 

[delta-419]

VM it was a pleasure to meet and talk with you at the gun show on Sat. That was a nice Christmas present, super thing to do in keeping with the Christmas spirit.