When did "action jobs" become popular?

[stantheman86]

Just a general curiousity........was there a time period when all the rebound spring trimming, parts polishing, mainspring grinding etc. became something "cool" to do, or is it something that has been done since the early break tops?

 

[john traveler]

If I had to guess, the public rage to do action jobs first started for the ppc competition shooting game. And that was back in the 1960s when custom barrelled revolvers with custom sight ribs and slicked-up action work started to take hold.

Come to think of it, S&W got into specially sighted, barreled, and equiped model revolvers shortly after this too.

 

[Sprefix]

Great friend was an outstanding 'smith............

I sure don't know when they became popular, but I am a HUGE fan of a great trigger and a slick action. A dear friend of mine that passed not too long ago was my action guy. He is sorely missed for many reasons and his 'smithing is one of them. He was a rough and tough biker type and would never be mistaken for a gun guru or a computer wizz. But, his work spoke volumes. I usually handed him a gun in the morning and we went out to shoot it in the afternoon to see if it needed more tweeking, which it never did. I think he just got a kick out of seeing his work in action and the greasy smile on my face. Hard to shoot a gun that hasn't been "finished". Oh, and didn't your mother ever tell you not to read a book by it's cover? LOL Here's my late friend, Monte.

 

[colt_saa]

Probably some time after double action revovers became popular. Perhaps the 1890s?

 

[Ron H.]

Sir, Elmer Keith wrote of having action work and more extensive modifications done before WWII. Personally, I suspect such work started around the same time our ancestors started making stone tools.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[GLV]

First day--

The first gun left the gun maker.

 

[stantheman86]

Great opinions, all of them!

What sparked my interest is I got an M&P made in the late teens and it looks like at some point long ago, someone "tweaked" it. Impossible to say when, could have been when it was new, or in the 1980's, who knows.

It seems like someone polished up the inside of the frame, they definitely clipped the rebound spring, and widened the rear sight a little bit.

 

[GyMac]

I have nothing against action tuning, but I think the best smoothing takes place with a lot of shooting.

 

[stantheman86]

I don't mind a good action job, done by a competent smith who knows what they're doing.

What irks me is that more good S&W's die on kitchen tables every day, from people with dremel and no knowledge of what they are doing......

Too many used S&W's I buy came with clipped rebound springs, and trimmed strain screws.

 

[Andy Griffith]

Nothing that can't be repaired easily.

 

[Duffy]

Action Jobs

The early S&W revolvers were so well made and hand fitted they didn't need action jobs..In the late 1960s it took hold with Police PPC matches..My first PPC revover was built by Ray Steel(Secret Service gun smith) that did a real fine action job..He kept the hammer fall heavy to prevent mis-fires with a real smooth action..

 

[scooter123]

Presonally, I don't buy into the "hand fitted to perfection myth" one bit, everyone has an off day and I'll bet that there were a lot of guns leaving S&W in those days that needed a bit of attention right out of the box.

As for when "action jobs" became the norm, I have a hunch it took place as soon as some gunsmiths discovered what it took to produce a reliable DA trigger that was easy to shoot. My guess, about 3 to 4 months after the first Hand Ejectors hit the stores.