Can a regular person (non-smith) do an action job on a S&W M-10?

Buy a copy of Jerry Kuhnhausen's book "The S&W Revolvers: A Shop Manual".

This gives the absolute best instructions there are on working on the S&W action.

Buy it at Midway USA or Brownell's for about $30.00.

Hint: You don't even TOUCH the hammer or trigger.

In the old days, people thought that the lighter the trigger pull in double action, the better.
People lightened the springs until the gun would just barely pop the primer, and mis-fires were common.

Today, we know that lighter is NOT better.
Today we go for a SMOOTH trigger, that retains almost the full factory weight springs.
This gives a totally reliable gun, but one that is easier to control due to the smooth trigger pull.

A lighter trigger is actually slower since the action is slowed down. With near-factory weight springs, the gun is faster.
 
Of course. It's just a 'K' frame S&W revolver. Pop of the side plate, take out all the internal parts(you'll need a special tool to remove the rebound spring. It's a bent rod of the correct diameter with a slot. Made one long ago.) and polish them using a cloth wheel in a bench grinder or drill press and jeweller's rouge(NB: this does not mean using a file or removing any metal. Polish only.) and change the springs.
 
I cleaned and lubed my 10 the best I could then I shot it ALOT , Everything got alot smoother.
Thats as far into it as Im going.
 
S&w

Sir:
I wouldn't ever touch a Colt or S&W to try to do an action job.
I've seen some "action jobs" and always had a funny feeling about the revolver as I handled it and cycled it.
There is no better trigger pull than a Smith. Most of the modification is on the D.A. pull. To me, shooting any revolver D.A. is crazy unless it's a deadly encounter situation!
I carry a Smith 457, which is D.A. on the first shot and it's only with steady practise that I manage it - I always carried the 1911 in 45 and it is, to me, the premier combat gun! I've used the 357 SIG and the 400 Corbon, but NOTHING equals the 1911.
As to Glock, even though it is lauded as to being a great combat gun - it certainly is the very worst. The "safe trigger" feature it is an accident waiting to happen - all the bad guy must do is get ahold of it, point it and pull the trigger! Bad thinking.
Yes, I have revolvers but they are 357s, 44 mags, 480 Rugers and 454s.
They are all Rugers and to my feelings the Ruger Redhawks have the most even and soft D.A. pull there is in a factory gun.
Most all, action jobs consist of timing and polishing. This must be done by a master smith ON S&Ws.
Harry B.
 
got to be very carefull polishing, use indian polishing stones, go lightly of where you see rub marks inside the frame and install a good spring kit
 
The suggested shop manual is good. I have a notebook with copies of a book that was passed out in a gunsmithing class I took that I like a lot better. Really is show and tell book. But the cover with publishers data is missing. I have a 'real' copy that I will find and provide the info. And, yes, spend some money on good stones, maybe some small files, good gunsmithing screwdrivers, etc. See Brownell's catalog and Brownell's 4 volume Gunsmith Kinks. Oh, and leave the muscle out of the tuneup job! A Smith is a fine gun that can be made finer .... or ruined. It is not difficult to make a S&W really sing. The hardest part is removing the side plate the first time!! Have fun.
 
Why not? if you go by a good referance and are careful you are unlikley to make a major mistake. Heck most gunsmiths are to a large degree self taught, and are frequently faced with firearms they are only marginaly familar with. Yes a lot of guns get "bubba'd" but at the same time I think it's admirable and somehow very reasonable for us to want to understand and work on our own machinery. Just comes down to knowing one's limits and being careful. Don't let others discourage you, give it a try, personaly I'd chose a old stainless beter so you can work on cleaning up the finish without need of re-bluing and make something nice out of something that was not.
 
You don't need a special tool to remove the rebound spring. Get a short handle flat screwdriver and grind part of the blade down such that the tip will fit into the spring. That can be used to both install and deinstall the rebound slide/spring.

BTW, do a search in this forum. You might find instructions on how to polish the S&W action.
 
Some easy things

I just got done rebuilding one of those old police (actually French prison!) trade-in guns a local shop was selling cheap.

As others have said, polish all the internal stuff if you like, including where they rub on the frame and sideplate. And if anyone hasn't told you the trick to removing that sideplate, you take the 3 screws out (remembering which hole for each one). Then rap smartly on the stock frame with the handle of a plastic screwdriver. About 3 taps and the plate should pop free.

But there are a couple of easy things you can do first:

With the grips off, at the lower front is the setscrew that tensions the mainspring. Back that out a few turns and dryfire it. You can adjust it as light as you like until it fails to ignite primers reliably. then you screw it back in a bit.
At that point you can do like S&W says and grind the tip of that screw to the length you want. Or you can Loctite the screw in place, but you may have to releive the inside of the grips to clear the screw head.

Also, if it's a newer gun, you can dry fire it a few times slowly while you maintain pressure against the back of the hammer. This increases pressure at the mating points of the internal parts and sort of forces them to polish each other. This probably makes a lot of people cringe, but it works surprisingly well. I've done this on a new Single Six with good results that I could feel. Poor man's trigger job

Last, that grooved trigger on some M10s hurts my finger. I intend to dremel those off next time I take it apart.

Reblued and with some nice target grips, it's one of my favorites.

Oh, I'm new here. Howdy.

Rex
 
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