That S&W "Ping"!

[Jalopiejoe]

I have a 617-6 and a 686-6 that have very nice factory triggers, I use snap caps and dry fire them quite a bit and
I like that "Ping" when the hammer drops! I'm guessing
that sound comes from the spring leaf.
I recently bought another 686-6 (Talo) and the SA trigger
was gritty and the spring seems heavier. I have dry fired it
abit and the trigger has gotten much better. What I am
missing with this gun is the "Ping"!
Could the spring have more tension or something causing it
not to "Ping"? And no, the grips are not rubbing against the spring. Hogue Bantam grips.
Any Ideas!

 

[armorer951]

I think you are correct about the source of the sound.....in my experience over the years I've found that not all of the guns produce that wonderful ping/ring. Along with a couple of Smith revolvers, I have a model 5906, and a Marlin model 39a that produce a similar sound/frequency when dry fired.

 

[Sam54]

I noticed the same sound when I replaced my factory rubber grips on the 686 with wooden bager grips. With the rubber grips no and with the wooden "ping"

 

[1madss]

I have a 10-6 that I put a Wolff standard power spring in and it makes a definite ringing ping when fired DA, but only DA. It bothers me a little as I use this gun for my of my dry-fire practice. I ended up tying a short piece of a rubber band around to mainspring. I'm sure it's the mainspring as this stops the ping. I've gone back through a number of times to make sure the spring is installed correctly but it still make sound even after a few hundred rounds. Not a big deal, I just found it odd as my M13-3 nor M28-2 have the ping.

 

[Dave T]

I'm going to differ with most of you in that my experience is the "ping" is a product of the frame mounted firing pins and the MIM hammers that drive them. Never heard it before and I've owned dozens of old style S&Ws, all of which have been dry fired at one time or another...some extensively.

YMMV,
Dave

 

[WaMike]

What ever it is, I hate it.....sounds cheap. Much prefer the older models that just "click."

I'll try the spring thing, but if Dave T is right, then what?!

 

[Mike McLellan]

It is the mainspring. It makes our S&Ws sound like Taiwan-built cap-guns. I wrapped a small band-aid that I had in my work bench drawer around the spring and the "ping" stopped. I imagine duct tape would work just as well. It'll give our descendents something to discuss on this forum fifty years from now when someone writes, "Took my grampa's gun apart, and found a band-aid wrapped around that main spring. Is this factory?

 

[Warren Sear]

I'm going to differ with most of you in that my experience is the "ping" is a product of the frame mounted firing pins and the MIM hammers that drive them. Never heard it before and I've owned dozens of old style S&Ws, all of which have been dry fired at one time or another...some extensively.

YMMV,
Dave

Same in my experience. The "ping" comes from the frame mounted firing pin. None of my old guns make that cheap "tinny" sound.

 

[Mike McLellan]

My "newest gun" is from 1974. The two guns that suffered from Ping Syndrome were from the '30s & '40s (new Wolff mainsprings in both).

 

[Drail]

The ping is the result of a well fitted sideplate snugged down tight and a properly curved mainspring. I have several older guns that have the magic ping. You have to hold the revolver pretty close to your ear to get the full effect. It rings like a bell. But my experience is only with the older ones with all forged parts. I would suspect that most of the new unpure S&Ws ain't got that ping. Just more proof that older is better.

 

[WaMike]

WHOO HOO!

Fixed it! On my Mdl 21-4, I took off the Hogue stocks and just held the mainspring in my finger to check if that was the issue. It was....

....so I took a soft eraser and carved it to fit between the mainspring and that curve on the inside of the grip frame. Stopped it completely, and hasn't affected trigger strike nor pull.

Ah....at last it doesn't sound like a broken toy.....thanks to all who suggested the fix.