New 686 Mainspring Issue

[Jimk686]

I finally got my 686. I was about to clean it, took off the grips and noticed that the mainspring is not aligned (see pics). This is my first gun but I'm pretty sure this is not right.

I was planning to loosen the strain screw and align the bottom of the mainspring evenly, but before I do that I wanted to check with this forum. Is the strain screw tightened to any specific tension, or is it just tightened all the way enough to secure the mainspring? Also, anything else I should be aware of for this?

Thanks,
Jim K.

 

[ken158]

You can fix that quicker than you can type the question! Just loosen, straighten and tighten back. This is not an adjustment screw and is suppose to be tight.

 

[Jimk686]

You can fix that quicker than you can type the question! Just loosen, straighten and tighten back. This is not an adjustment screw and is suppose to be tight.

Great, I was hoping that was the case but wanted to err on the side of caution. Thanks for the quick response!

Jim K.

 

[Macinaw]

Are you serious! How does this even leave the "mother ship"???

I guess they need more coffee.

 

[Jimk686]

Are you serious! How does this even leave the "mother ship"???

I guess they need more coffee.

I was thinking the same thing, except I would say less coffee. My concern is that the volume of output that they are working against may be creating shortcuts. I was disappointed to see the problem, but I'm still really happy to finally get my hands on it at least. Can't wait to get it to the range.

 

[rbert0005]

I wish I had a dime for everytime I read "it should never have left the factory like that"

The last time I checked, guns are assembled by people. And we all know what people are capable of.

I, for one, do not claim to have never made a boo-boo at work. **** happens. Another reason to inspect a gun when you buy it.

Bob

 

[OLDSTER]

686 main spring

I wish I had a dime for everytime I read "it should never have left the factory like that"

The last time I checked, guns are assembled by people. And we all know what people are capable of.

I, for one, do not claim to have never made a boo-boo at work. **** happens. Another reason to inspect a gun when you buy it.

Bob

+1 That's a compliment to S&W revolvers. They are, actually, assembled by people instead of robots. And there's only a few of us out there that have never screwed up

 

[Alk8944]

This has to be a joke!

To the OP, you did this taking the stocks off! The base of the mainspring cannot extend past the side of the frame when the stocks are on the gun. The strain screw has already been loosened, the mainspring has almost no arch to it. Just push the spring to the center and tighten the strain screw that you loosened.

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[shawn mccarver]

I finally got my 686. I was about to clean it, took off the grips and noticed that the mainspring is not aligned (see pics). This is my first gun but I'm pretty sure this is not right.

I was planning to loosen the strain screw and align the bottom of the mainspring evenly, but before I do that I wanted to check with this forum. Is the strain screw tightened to any specific tension, or is it just tightened all the way enough to secure the mainspring? Also, anything else I should be aware of for this?

Thanks,
Jim K.

Using a hollow ground, properly fitting screwdriver, loosen the strain screw, pinch the frame between your thumb and first finger where the spring sits and it will center. Hold it there and re-tighten the strain screw ALL THE WAY DOWN.

 

[notsofast]

Humans make mistakes, less experienced/trained humans are more likely to make mistakes. Quality control has lowered the bar a bit.

 

[Jimk686]

This has to be a joke!

To the OP, you did this taking the stocks off! The base of the mainspring cannot extend past the side of the frame when the stocks are on the gun. The strain screw has already been loosened, the mainspring has almost no arch to it. Just push the spring to the center and tighten the strain screw that you loosened.

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, nothing evil going on here. I simply removed the stock rubber grips which came off pretty easy and noticed it right away. The fix was pretty simple. The strain screw was already tight when I went to loosen it and it was just barely gripping the mainspring. I realigned it, tightened the screw back up, dry fired it a few times, and put the grips back on.

I'll check it out again next cleaning to make sure the screw hasn't loosened any, although I didn't come across any mentions of that happening.

 

[Alk8944]

Jimk,

If this is correct then you need a new strain screw, yours has been cut.

 

[Jimk686]

+1 That's a compliment to S&W revolvers. They are, actually, assembled by people instead of robots. And there's only a few of us out there that have never screwed up

Unfortunately I'm not among the few who have never screwed up...

For me this particular issue fell under the category of **** happens. No big deal since it was an easy fix as I found out. Like I said, just happy to have a Smith and Wesson revolver in my hands.

 

[Jimk686]

Jimk,

If this is correct then you need a new strain screw, yours has been cut.

Just asking because I don't know, but what makes you come to that conclusion? In a previous post you mentioned something about there not being enough arch in the mainspring, is this why? After realigning the mainspring and tightening the strain screw all the way it seemed okay (to me) based on some related images I found, but this is not my area of expertise which is why I came to this forum.

Thanks to everyone who has offered suggestions and help.

Jim K.

 

[Mine are K's]

Jim...for a definitive conclusion...post a picture with the spring aligned and the screw all the way in for comparison to the first ones. If there is not enough arch the spring can't do its job correctly.

 

[Jimk686]

Given the discussions here I decided to take another look at the mainspring because I want to get everything right. Also I had been doing a bit of dry firing and thought if there was an issue with the strain screw the mainspring might be misaligned again. I took the grips off and did the following:

[Pic. 1] I first took a photo of the mainspring as I had left it from when I realigned it.

[Pic. 2] The mainspring was still aligned and the strain screw was still tight but I tried to tighten it further and was actually able to move it some more. I'm guessing it was less than a full turn but I'm not sure. It seems to me that the difference in the mainspring arch was significant though.

[Pic. 3] I played around with the before and after photos to see if I could align them and overlay images to show the difference. Seems fairly significant to me.

[Pic. 4] This shot is just to show the strain screw from the outside and how far it's in. I don't know if it's by design or not, but now with the screw tightened all the way in the slot is aligned north and south (it's the little things that are a nice touch...)

[Pic. 5] There was "some question" earlier as to whether or not the grips could actually even be fitted on the gun given how far the mainspring was shifted outward. With the right side of the grip tightly secured to the frame there is just slightly under 1/4" of space between the mainspring and the inside of the grip. This would leave enough room for the misalignment I found.


I'm glad I took a second look since I was able to tighten it a little more. I don't think it loosened up, I think I just didn't get that right when I did the realignment. So, does the arch look correct?

Again, thanks for the help. I'm learning some new things here. Maybe the photos will help others out as well.

Thanks,

Jim K.