What parts to change 3953 MIM to forged

[andy-760901]

Hey guys

I have a 3953 with MIM trigger and bobbed DAO hammer and am wanting more for cosmetic reasons to swop out the parts with forged.

I can get the trigger and bobbed hammer in forged. My question is what other mating parts will i have to get to change as well. I hear MIM shouId go with MIM and forged with forged. Is there any other part i will need to conclued the change over from MIM to Forged.

Yes i know MIM is not bad but i just want an entire silver gun like the early 3953 pistols ow and i am from south africa so i cant just go find a all forged 3953 and sell mine. They are rather scarce here

Thank you in advance

 

[armorer951]

For a couple of reasons you stated in your post, I would caution against changing out the original parts.

First, you indicate the change-over is purely for cosmetic reasons. This might be justifiable reason and fairly easy to accomplish if parts were inexpensive and readily available. This is not the case, since the gun and it's siblings have been out of production for many years. In addition to the forged hammer and trigger, you will need a drawbar if you want to keep the bearing surfaces the same. Another factor is the effect this may have on the action itself, as many feel the MIM parts actually provide a better action "feel" and have a more durable working surface in terms of the parts interface together.

Second, fitting of the new internals will likely be required, as these parts are not considered "drop-in" . I'm not aware of your situation regarding a qualified gunsmith or armorer, but I would imagine since qualified 3rd gen S&W armorers are hard to find here in the states, they might be non-existant in South Africa.

In the final analysis it's your pistol, and you can do as you please, but this may be a case where common sense dictates a word of caution. Just my 2 cents.....carry on.

 

[andy-760901]

Armourer951
Thank you for your reply. I am a collector and was weighing up the options. All my 3rd gens are all forged thus far and like that. But you make a good point. In the end i think you make more sense so i will leave it in its stock configuration. Thabks for chiming in. In my opinion a smart man yeilds to the word of smarter men

 

[BruceM]

Just have the black parts you don't like hardchromed. The refinished parts will not incur significant dimensional changes and will require little if any touchup when re-installed. Now, if you don't care for the shape of, say, the hammer-that's a different problem to deal with.

Bruce