I found this long-wanted Model 39-2 at a late Fall gun show here in North Carolina. The gun's external appearance told me that the gun had seen little use. Looks can be deceiving. There was some pitting in the bore but I lucked into a new condition barrel on eBay at a great price. The first range session was a disappointment when about three rounds in each of the first two magazines failed to extract. I was using Federal and Winchester factory loads. I cleared the pistol and returned it to its box.
Pistol stoppages are often called jams by the less experienced. Understanding what the gun does or doesn't do is the first step in fixing the stoppage. In sequential order, there is failure to advance, failure to feed, failure to chamber, failure to fire, failure to extract and failure to eject. Having identified a failure to extract, I immediately suspected the extractor spring or the extract itself.
Once home, I have some armorers' tools which I used to remove the extractor pin. I was able to judge the strength of the extractor spring once I removed the pin punch as I had my finger over the extractor to prevent it from launching. For a gun that looked like a safe or sock-drawer queen (whatever your preference) I couldn't believe that the extractor spring was worn out or perhaps S&W had a bad batch of springs.
I ordered a package of three replacement springs from Woolf Springs. The package noted that the correct spring for the Model 39-2 would also fit 18 other S&W pistols. So, I thought I'd at least gives my fellow members a heads-up that the extractor springs will fail in time and that they need to be replaced. To do this, you need the proper sized pin punch, a light hammer and a means of holding the slide steady without leaving tool marks. There are a number of youtube videos that show you how to do this.
Upon installing the new Woolf spring, I could immediately feel the additional tension the new spring had compared to the one I removed. I had to push hard to get everything aligned and the retainer pin back in place. I had also ordered replacement springs for the magazines rated five percent stronger than the original springs.
Last week, I took the gun to the range where I ran six magazines of factory and hand loads, all without a single stoppage. I was especially pleased to see the fired casings ejecting with force and almost all to the same place. I don't measure my shot groups to the thousandth of an inch so I have no one-hole groups to write about.
I finally have a gun I've lusted for and best of all, I feel fully confident in using it as an SD gun.
Pistol stoppages are often called jams by the less experienced. Understanding what the gun does or doesn't do is the first step in fixing the stoppage. In sequential order, there is failure to advance, failure to feed, failure to chamber, failure to fire, failure to extract and failure to eject. Having identified a failure to extract, I immediately suspected the extractor spring or the extract itself.
Once home, I have some armorers' tools which I used to remove the extractor pin. I was able to judge the strength of the extractor spring once I removed the pin punch as I had my finger over the extractor to prevent it from launching. For a gun that looked like a safe or sock-drawer queen (whatever your preference) I couldn't believe that the extractor spring was worn out or perhaps S&W had a bad batch of springs.
I ordered a package of three replacement springs from Woolf Springs. The package noted that the correct spring for the Model 39-2 would also fit 18 other S&W pistols. So, I thought I'd at least gives my fellow members a heads-up that the extractor springs will fail in time and that they need to be replaced. To do this, you need the proper sized pin punch, a light hammer and a means of holding the slide steady without leaving tool marks. There are a number of youtube videos that show you how to do this.
Upon installing the new Woolf spring, I could immediately feel the additional tension the new spring had compared to the one I removed. I had to push hard to get everything aligned and the retainer pin back in place. I had also ordered replacement springs for the magazines rated five percent stronger than the original springs.
Last week, I took the gun to the range where I ran six magazines of factory and hand loads, all without a single stoppage. I was especially pleased to see the fired casings ejecting with force and almost all to the same place. I don't measure my shot groups to the thousandth of an inch so I have no one-hole groups to write about.
I finally have a gun I've lusted for and best of all, I feel fully confident in using it as an SD gun.
