625 PC Redux

S

Stoic

New member
About six months ago, I purchase a S&W Performance Center 625 with a 4 inch barrel. This version included the new S&W safety and internals. Needless to say, the trigger action was terrible and too heavy, but I was deluded into thinking it was adequate. Yet, stock and unmodified out of the Performance Center, this revolver was essentially worthless and was junk.

After corresponding with Jerry Miculek and Clark Custom Gun, I saw the light and I sent my 625 PC to Clark Custom Gun for a complete rework. They replaced some internals, trigger, and mainspring, and dehorned some parts for pain free reloading with the moonclips. S&W had left some burrs and rough tooling marks on the crane and frame.

This custom PC revolver now has a target single action and a light and smooth double action. I've never felt a better action on any other revolver. This revolver now shoots the way Jerry intended it when he collaborated with S&W. Yet, I had to pay a premium to get it.

If I had to do it again, I would not pay the premium for the PC moniker on a S&W revolver. It's no longer worth the money for what you get. S&W's Performance Center should be ashamed! You'd be better off purchasing a used 625 and sending it off for an action job. Beware.
 
I've got a model 29 that needs some work, maybe a bit more than yours needed.

But for the job they did, what was the turn around time and the damage done to yer wallet?
 
You make no mention of whether or not you attempted to let S&W correct the problems under warranty.:confused: Even if the gun was used, they very likely would've done so for free. Even the best has the occasional problem piece, which you obviously purchased. It pays to know Jim March's checkout procedure.;)
 
VictorLouis,

S&W isn't making defective revolvers. My revolver wasn't an abberation. These revolvers are performing exactly the way they were specified out of the Performance Center of today. Legal considerations prevent a good out-of-the-box trigger action.

Don't presume that I didn't go to S&W first. I did. It was a waste of time since the revolver returned the same way it was sent to me from the factory in the first place.

S&W's Performance Center is handicapped by legal obligations and corporate policy regarding the weight of the trigger pull and other safety concerns.

S&W's Performance Center CANNOT officially produce the revolver that I now have the pleasure of owning and will not do so if you ask them because of contemporary legal concerns. They cannot officialy say that they modify stock revolver parts by removing metal from them to produce a smoother and lighter action. They will not modify the main spring.

With these issues in mind, I voided S&W's warranty, and had Clark Custom Guns rework this revolver into a performing firearm on the top of the mechanical merit envelope.

Without modifications, this revolver would have been sold to another unsuspecting person hoping to gamble on the "Performance Center" moniker and its past history of producing fine revolvers.

If you or anyone else is satisfied with the type of revolvers being produced by the new S&W, then I'm happy for you. Go out and buy a million of them. I wouldn't buy another one unless I intended to spend another $200 at Clark Custom Guns.
 
Stoic,

I've had great sucess improving the action of my newer S&W revolvers (PC and regular production) by swapping out 3 parts. Total cost around $25.

I swap out the mainspring and trigger springs with a reduced power mainspring and an 11# return spring by Wolff ( www.gunsprings.com ). These springs might cause light primer hits, so I finish with an Extra Length Firing Pin from Cylinder & Slide ( www.cylinder-slide.com )if needed.

The light reurn spring may need a bit of polishing on the angles where the hammer and rebound slide meet to reset the trigger consistently. The firing pin may have to be shortened a slight bit depending on individual guns.

I've done this "fix" on a dozen revolvers in the last month and the results are very satisfying.

I agree that a gun out of the PC, costing $250 more than a regular model, shouldn't need this extra attention, but the reality is, it's inexpensive, easy, and it works.

Good Luck...

Joe
 
STOIC is correct

in saying that the PC Shop is restricted in lowering the SA pulls. After 3 failed efforts on 2001 & 2002 PC guns for which they would only slick them and " Can't go below 4 pounds SA."- I spent some time and part $ and did them myself. I'm very pleased with the results and are equal to mt late '50s N frames....dewey
 
The parts mentioned by the above posters were replaced in my rework along with several other parts.

Glad to hear that the basic addition of a few parts will bring the newer S&W revolvers up to speed.

Remember, my rework didn't just include part replacements, but a professional action job and dehorning, both of which were icing-on-the-cake so to speak. $70 dollars of the $200 was for FedEx shipping.

By the way, I don't have the expertise to do an action job so I leave that to the Pros at Clark Custom Guns.;)
 
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