How often should side plate be removed?

[Muley Gil]

The majority of the revolvers that I have worked on were carried by peace officers. The dirtiest ones were those that belonged to motor scouts, naturally. Cops tend to look at their sidearms as tools, something that they have to have with them. Some will wipe them down after every shift. Others never unholster unless the absolutely have to.

I once worked on a former Birmingham AL issued heavy barrel Model 10 that had enough dirt under the side plate to grow tomatoes.

 

[Buff52]

I enjoyed this thread.Learned a lot thanks.
I opened my 686-1 purchased in 88-89 new for the first time after buying the proper screwdriver set mentioned in this thread.
Was amazed how normal it looked.
I have since removed the side plate from my M69 and replaced the two springs and what a world of difference.
May consider learning how to polish the components consistant with a trigger job. Time will tell.
I won’t consider any modifications to my 686 or Hand Ejector 32 20 but EDC revolvers will get new

Buff

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I lean toward the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” school of thought. However, do you guys open the side plate when you buy a revolver that’s 30+ years old even if it seems to function OK?

No........My 38/44 HD that I bought years ago. Functioned fine then through now.....Why should I open it?

Repeated SP removal can cause things to get bent-lost and warped......SP screws can be lost or installed in the wrong holes.

 

[jkingrph]

I spotted a nice little 18-4 a couple of weeks ago at a gunshop, called back about it made a deal and brought it home. It had a few spots of very light freckling that rubbing with a brass rod and some oil took care of. I took the side plate off to look inside and discovered it totally dry with some rust spots, especially on the block that holds the trigger return spring. Took that out, cleaned and stoned the rust off looked everything over and a few drops of mobil 1 5w30. I suspect it will probably be good for another 20-30 years now. A few years ago I bought a hand ejector in 32-20 as a companion handgu to a little Marlin 1894 rifle. With it being close to 100 years old, the internals looked better than that of that 18-4, figure. Never hurts to take a look, just tap on the side of the frame opposite the sideplate, after removing the screws, never pry on it.