A couple friends of mine would really like to acquire an original S&W Model 3 in one of its configurations (NM#3, 2nd Mod American, DA, etc.). Their budget dictates that they are looking for one that is well used, almost a beater, but still a shooter. I'm trying to help them. One question I have is how tight should the lock up latch be before a person should be concerned? The ones I've looked at all seem to lock up well, but if I hold the grip in one hand, and grab the muzzle in the other hand, and try to wiggle the muzzle up and down, I can feel some very slight movement that I might not otherwise detect. How big can this movement be before one should not shoot it? (they want shooters.) To be a bit more technical, how many thou clearance are these latches designed to operate within (the clearance between the vertical posts, and the inside of the latch? One thou? .... five thou ... ten thou?
Tolerances for Top Break latches?
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A couple friends of mine would really like to acquire an original S&W Model 3 in one of its configurations (NM#3, 2nd Mod American, DA, etc.). Their budget dictates that they are looking for one that is well used, almost a beater, but still a shooter. I'm trying to help them. One question I have is how tight should the lock up latch be before a person should be concerned? The ones I've looked at all seem to lock up well, but if I hold the grip in one hand, and grab the muzzle in the other hand, and try to wiggle the muzzle up and down, I can feel some very slight movement that I might not otherwise detect. How big can this movement be before one should not shoot it? (they want shooters.) To be a bit more technical, how many thou clearance are these latches designed to operate within (the clearance between the vertical posts, and the inside of the latch? One thou? .... five thou ... ten thou?
semperfi71
US Veteran
I do not own originals, but I shoot 5 Uberti copies.
Always check the barrel hinge screw. If it is loose the barrel will appear to be loose when you grab it and "twist" a bit as you describe.
I hope this helps.
Always check the barrel hinge screw. If it is loose the barrel will appear to be loose when you grab it and "twist" a bit as you describe.
I hope this helps.
I've not seen any loose barrel hinge screws. The kind of every-so-slight play I'm talking about is only in the vertical plane, the plane of rotation that the barrel makes when it is opened. Upon examination, when this is done, one can see an ever-so-slight gap opening and closing between the vertical posts and the inside of the latch. I'm not sure how much .... at least 1 thou, maybe a three thou.
I had two #3 New Models. One a .44 the other a .38-44. Both were tight as a drum. Shot both then put them away for safe queens. My son has them now.
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