Hi all - first post here. I ended-up on the S&W forum in a roundabout way. "SHE" and I used to shoot a lot, she has a S&W Model 41 and I a Dan Wesson (first cousin 
) in .357. Got out of it for several years, then recently got back in courtesy of (of all things) a 1918ish Mk. VI Webley.
Our Club shoots practical pistol on Friday nights and I wanted to join that, but the Webley is too hard to operate in PP; I can shoot it, but can't reload it fast and there's a time limit. So I decided I needed an auto-loader; and as the Webley uses .452 bullets, I was halfway to reloading for .45 ACP already. I promptly fell in love with a used STI Legend (1/3 off its new price, only one box of ammo through it, and still over $2,000
) and she went out looking for something more suitable (read: cheaper) for me. So we bought a S&W 4506 (first model - square trigger guard), and it arrived today.
I have 80 rounds of .45 ACP loaded and would've gone STRAIGHT to the range, but it had a problem - it would not shoot single-action (SA). It shoots double-action (DA) just fine, and when I work the slide the hammer cocks-back normally, but it would not release when I pull the trigger; I heard a light 'click' and nothing else happened.
Unsat - completely unsat! I mean, here I am with a new toy, one that goes "BANG!", and it won't. I suppose I could shoot it DA but I'd have to decock it after every shot and pull the DA trigger all the way back again - yecch! And can you imagine how much nervous energy I've expended waiting for it to arrive, only to find out when it got here that it didn't work? I mean, yesterday evening I nailed shingles on a roof rather than going to the range - didn't want to shoot the other guns, wanted to shoot the 4506 - and now this. OY VEY!!!
So being the inveterate tinkerer I am, I took it apart to find out why not. And I found out the following vital truths:
1) It's been used - a lot. Filthy dirty, scummy and gummy inside;
2) I really don't know how those things work, and I really shouldn't be taking things apart when I don't know how they work; and mostly,
3) Like so many other things I tinker with, it came apart pretty easily - and what's that you say now, you want to put it back together? - ah well, that's a different matter entirely! Those three little flat tin levers on either side of the hammer are REAL NUISANCES - I'm being as politically-correct as I can here, and I may have muttered a rude sailor word or two trying to get the holes in them to line-up so I could get the pin back through the frame. I took the disassembled intestines of the beast out onto the driveway - gravel driveway - and used parts cleaner and compressed air to thoroughly wash umpty years' worth of black carbonised greasy crud off everything, and the true miracle is that I didn't twist an ankle, go face-first and spread all those tiny irreplaceable little parts all over my and the neighbour's lawn.
But I got it cleaned and - three tries later - back together. And it still wouldn't work. So I messed around and messed around, and by-and-by I discovered that now it wouldn't work in DA either - how nice! That at least was an easy fix; I put a magazine in, and I even used the 4506's vaunted ability to feed empty casings to chamber an empty .45 ACP case to pad the firing pin when I dry-fired it; it would fire again in DA, but still no luck in SA.
Then it fired in SA - once. I found if I jerked back on the hammer multiple times, and then quickly pulled the trigger while pushing it over to the right, it would fire in SA every once in awhile; still no good, but at least it meant all the parts were there and put back together right.
Then I began to wonder; "it fires in SA every now 'n then; why doesn't it fire all the time? Is something real badly worn? Or maybe, was it held back by all that grease and crud before? Well if it was, it's all nice and clean now, it should work - or at least it should work unless the clean, dry parts are binding against each other. Maybe I should oil it..."
So I oiled it - and now it works just fine in both SA and DA. Looking forward to tomorrow - it's goin' TO THE RANGE!!!
Question - its trigger is long, hard to pull and sloppy (there's gotta be a sleazy double-entendre in there somewhere...) Are there aftermarket trigger parts available for the 4506's, or who could give it a clean-up trigger job? I don't have a lot of money in it so I'm happy to spend some extra on its trigger. And it'll be shooting cast lead SWC's in 200 and 230-grains from now on; does anybody know any good Trail Boss loads for .45 ACP?
Thanks all - great meeting you!
) in .357. Got out of it for several years, then recently got back in courtesy of (of all things) a 1918ish Mk. VI Webley.Our Club shoots practical pistol on Friday nights and I wanted to join that, but the Webley is too hard to operate in PP; I can shoot it, but can't reload it fast and there's a time limit. So I decided I needed an auto-loader; and as the Webley uses .452 bullets, I was halfway to reloading for .45 ACP already. I promptly fell in love with a used STI Legend (1/3 off its new price, only one box of ammo through it, and still over $2,000
) and she went out looking for something more suitable (read: cheaper) for me. So we bought a S&W 4506 (first model - square trigger guard), and it arrived today. I have 80 rounds of .45 ACP loaded and would've gone STRAIGHT to the range, but it had a problem - it would not shoot single-action (SA). It shoots double-action (DA) just fine, and when I work the slide the hammer cocks-back normally, but it would not release when I pull the trigger; I heard a light 'click' and nothing else happened.
Unsat - completely unsat! I mean, here I am with a new toy, one that goes "BANG!", and it won't. I suppose I could shoot it DA but I'd have to decock it after every shot and pull the DA trigger all the way back again - yecch! And can you imagine how much nervous energy I've expended waiting for it to arrive, only to find out when it got here that it didn't work? I mean, yesterday evening I nailed shingles on a roof rather than going to the range - didn't want to shoot the other guns, wanted to shoot the 4506 - and now this. OY VEY!!!
So being the inveterate tinkerer I am, I took it apart to find out why not. And I found out the following vital truths:
1) It's been used - a lot. Filthy dirty, scummy and gummy inside;
2) I really don't know how those things work, and I really shouldn't be taking things apart when I don't know how they work; and mostly,
3) Like so many other things I tinker with, it came apart pretty easily - and what's that you say now, you want to put it back together? - ah well, that's a different matter entirely! Those three little flat tin levers on either side of the hammer are REAL NUISANCES - I'm being as politically-correct as I can here, and I may have muttered a rude sailor word or two trying to get the holes in them to line-up so I could get the pin back through the frame. I took the disassembled intestines of the beast out onto the driveway - gravel driveway - and used parts cleaner and compressed air to thoroughly wash umpty years' worth of black carbonised greasy crud off everything, and the true miracle is that I didn't twist an ankle, go face-first and spread all those tiny irreplaceable little parts all over my and the neighbour's lawn.
But I got it cleaned and - three tries later - back together. And it still wouldn't work. So I messed around and messed around, and by-and-by I discovered that now it wouldn't work in DA either - how nice! That at least was an easy fix; I put a magazine in, and I even used the 4506's vaunted ability to feed empty casings to chamber an empty .45 ACP case to pad the firing pin when I dry-fired it; it would fire again in DA, but still no luck in SA.
Then it fired in SA - once. I found if I jerked back on the hammer multiple times, and then quickly pulled the trigger while pushing it over to the right, it would fire in SA every once in awhile; still no good, but at least it meant all the parts were there and put back together right.
Then I began to wonder; "it fires in SA every now 'n then; why doesn't it fire all the time? Is something real badly worn? Or maybe, was it held back by all that grease and crud before? Well if it was, it's all nice and clean now, it should work - or at least it should work unless the clean, dry parts are binding against each other. Maybe I should oil it..."
So I oiled it - and now it works just fine in both SA and DA. Looking forward to tomorrow - it's goin' TO THE RANGE!!!
Question - its trigger is long, hard to pull and sloppy (there's gotta be a sleazy double-entendre in there somewhere...) Are there aftermarket trigger parts available for the 4506's, or who could give it a clean-up trigger job? I don't have a lot of money in it so I'm happy to spend some extra on its trigger. And it'll be shooting cast lead SWC's in 200 and 230-grains from now on; does anybody know any good Trail Boss loads for .45 ACP?
Thanks all - great meeting you!
). I tried Trail Boss in the Webley - 2.8~2.9 grains, 250-grain Lyman #452424 Keith-form SWC - doesn't smell too bad, nor smoke all that much; mind, it's a very light load.
), which was cranked 'WAAAAAY over to the left. Results as follow - Target was at ~20 yds:
) is not shaven for .45 ACP and moon-clips, and uses original .455 Webley / Eley / Colt ammo. The rim is real thin (.039") and as ~100 rds of my brass is cut-down .45 Colt (with a 0.060" rim), I have had lots of opportunity to verify that Sir Webley is very picky about its rim thickness; starts causing trouble above ~0.042", and jams the cylinder above 0.045".
