I brought home a S&W model 67 today. The old kind with the pinned barrel and firing pin hammer. I noticed it rattled when I shook it so I was going to take it apart as much as I could. I started with the grip. Anyway I unscrewed the grips to start with and took the grips off. I realized the rattling was coming from in there so I shook it real hard and a piece fell out. I very important piece. The metal part under the grip came out , the long thin metal part underneath the grip. It has 2 sort of hook shaped prongs on one end. I believe it's the part called the main spring. Anyway now when I pull the trigger nothing happens except the guns stays cocked, kinda useless paperweight for the time being. I tried desperatly to put that danged piece of metal back in and can't. I tried bending it to put it back in and I might have bent it permanently, because now it has a slight curve to it. may have been trying to attach it to the wrong part, I'm not sure. It's too stout for me if it was the right part I was trying to put it in to. Please help. Thank you.
I can't put my S&W together again! Help please!!!
- Thread starter Rail Gun
- Start date
Since you are not familar with the working parts of a Smith & Wesson revolver, I would recommend that you contact a local gunsmith and have him reassemble your gun. If nothing is broken or missing ,this should be a simple task. The part you discribed is the mainsping. Probably the mainspring tension screw which is located at bottom of the front grip strap had become loose and the mainspring was free to rattle as you stated. I hope this has helped.
No problem.
Press the trigger and push the hammer forward. This should give you the clearance to slip the mainspring back into the frame. The "hooks" attach to a stirrup found swinging freely near the seat (bottom) of the hammer. Simply hook up the spring to the stirrup before you push the mainspring back into the frame. Be sure that the mainspring screw is backed out as this will give you the clearance needed to install the mainspring. Once the mainspring is hooked to the stirrup and the mainspring is slipped back into the frame, tighten that mainspring screw all the way down.
BTW, you bent your mainspring and you may find that the hammer may not strike the primer hard enough. It can be rebent or replaced (try the latter as it shouldn't be too expensive if you buy used).
Press the trigger and push the hammer forward. This should give you the clearance to slip the mainspring back into the frame. The "hooks" attach to a stirrup found swinging freely near the seat (bottom) of the hammer. Simply hook up the spring to the stirrup before you push the mainspring back into the frame. Be sure that the mainspring screw is backed out as this will give you the clearance needed to install the mainspring. Once the mainspring is hooked to the stirrup and the mainspring is slipped back into the frame, tighten that mainspring screw all the way down.
BTW, you bent your mainspring and you may find that the hammer may not strike the primer hard enough. It can be rebent or replaced (try the latter as it shouldn't be too expensive if you buy used).
VictorLouis
New member
The stirrup is a little piece
that hangs below the hammer. It has a cross pin through it such that each end is a stud which the twin mainspring hooks attach to. You want to position the spring so that the hooks face the rear of the gun, and the stirrup studs rest in them. Then, wedge the bottom end of the spring into its channel at the base of the grip frame. Tighten the mainspring screw and check for function.
Somehow, I don't think this can really be accomplished without removal of the gun's sidelplate. If that's the case, do a thread search here for 'disassembly', and you should find some detailed posts on it.
that hangs below the hammer. It has a cross pin through it such that each end is a stud which the twin mainspring hooks attach to. You want to position the spring so that the hooks face the rear of the gun, and the stirrup studs rest in them. Then, wedge the bottom end of the spring into its channel at the base of the grip frame. Tighten the mainspring screw and check for function.
Somehow, I don't think this can really be accomplished without removal of the gun's sidelplate. If that's the case, do a thread search here for 'disassembly', and you should find some detailed posts on it.
Strain screw is through the front of the grip frame, about ½" up from the bottom of the grip. It puts tension on the spring.
Screw loose to install or remove spring.
Spring has a slight arch. If laid flat on table with ends touching table....center will be about 1/16" inch high. If you bent it....REPLACE IT.
Install hooked end as per Victor Louis post. Bottom end of spring is thicker than the body, slide it into the frame grove from the side. Hold spring centered in bottom of frame untill you get some tension on strain screw.
Then screw strain screw in untill it bottoms in frame.
Check for function
Use screwdrivers that precisely fit the screws.
Don't remove sideplate.....you not ready for that yet.
Good luck and happy shooting
Sam
Screw loose to install or remove spring.
Spring has a slight arch. If laid flat on table with ends touching table....center will be about 1/16" inch high. If you bent it....REPLACE IT.
Install hooked end as per Victor Louis post. Bottom end of spring is thicker than the body, slide it into the frame grove from the side. Hold spring centered in bottom of frame untill you get some tension on strain screw.
Then screw strain screw in untill it bottoms in frame.
Check for function
Use screwdrivers that precisely fit the screws.
Don't remove sideplate.....you not ready for that yet.
Good luck and happy shooting
Sam
Following Gary's instructions I put the main spring back in. I did not remove the sideplate, I just bent it slightly for it to fit. But I did bend it back to origional shape (mostly). I will soon order another one to replace it since I've damaged it. Funny thing is, even though I got the mainspring back in, it still rattles. I have no idea what it could be.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Uh, it's pretty hard to almost impossible to actually bend the mainspring on a Smith & Wesson using just your hands. If you did, it means that the spring likely has a problem and should be replaced no matter what.
The spring is designed to flex without bending. If you do manage to bend it, chances are it's not just going to bend, but break.
The reason the spring came out in the first place is because the strain screw was backed out.
The rattling noise you are hearing is NOT the main spring.
It is the hammer block safety bar.
This is an L-shaped piece at the upper end that has a hook eye at the lower. The eye fits over a stud on the rebound slide, and the L-shape is, when the trigger is forward, pushed up between the hammer and the frame, making it impossible for a crushing blow to either break or bend the hammer to the point where it will fire a cartridge.
The hammer block safety bar is free-floating in a groove in the side plate and is SUPPOSED to rattle. If it doesn't rattle, it could mean simply that the gun is dirty and needs to be cleaned, it is held in place by grease or oil after a cleaning and lubrication, it is bent and binding in its cut, or that it has been removed.
Condition 1 and 2 are not bad. Condition 3 is worse, as it could affect the trigger pull, condition 4 is the worst, as it means that a safety mechanism that is integral to the gun's design (and which, unlike many other safety mechanisms, normally doesn't affect the trigger pull smoothness or weight at all) has been defeated.
If you do decide to remove the sideplate, do NOT, under any circumstance, PRY the sideplate out of position! This can warp it, and at very least normally results in cosmetic damage to the frame and sideplate where they mate.
The proper method for removing the side plate is to remove all screws, and then using a wooden hammer handle, strike squarely across the side of the GRIP frame.
Keep your thumb lightly over the sideplate to prevent it flying off and landing on the floor.
This will also free the hammer block safety bar.
I recommend, however, that you do NOT remove the sideplate until you get a look at an "exploded view" of the gun that shows the different parts in proper relation when the sideplate is off.
This makes reassembling things a LOT easier.
The spring is designed to flex without bending. If you do manage to bend it, chances are it's not just going to bend, but break.
The reason the spring came out in the first place is because the strain screw was backed out.
The rattling noise you are hearing is NOT the main spring.
It is the hammer block safety bar.
This is an L-shaped piece at the upper end that has a hook eye at the lower. The eye fits over a stud on the rebound slide, and the L-shape is, when the trigger is forward, pushed up between the hammer and the frame, making it impossible for a crushing blow to either break or bend the hammer to the point where it will fire a cartridge.
The hammer block safety bar is free-floating in a groove in the side plate and is SUPPOSED to rattle. If it doesn't rattle, it could mean simply that the gun is dirty and needs to be cleaned, it is held in place by grease or oil after a cleaning and lubrication, it is bent and binding in its cut, or that it has been removed.
Condition 1 and 2 are not bad. Condition 3 is worse, as it could affect the trigger pull, condition 4 is the worst, as it means that a safety mechanism that is integral to the gun's design (and which, unlike many other safety mechanisms, normally doesn't affect the trigger pull smoothness or weight at all) has been defeated.
If you do decide to remove the sideplate, do NOT, under any circumstance, PRY the sideplate out of position! This can warp it, and at very least normally results in cosmetic damage to the frame and sideplate where they mate.
The proper method for removing the side plate is to remove all screws, and then using a wooden hammer handle, strike squarely across the side of the GRIP frame.
Keep your thumb lightly over the sideplate to prevent it flying off and landing on the floor.
This will also free the hammer block safety bar.
I recommend, however, that you do NOT remove the sideplate until you get a look at an "exploded view" of the gun that shows the different parts in proper relation when the sideplate is off.
This makes reassembling things a LOT easier.
Alex Johnson
New member
I'd either send it back to the factory or find a qualified gunsmith. You definitely don't want to take the gun apart without appropriate tools and some experience.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Alex,
Beautiful thing about the S&W revolver is that the only appropriate tool that is necessary is a screwdriver that properly fits the slots.
I learned to take apart S&W revolvers simply by doing it -- taking my time to study the relationship of the parts, ensuring I knew what went where, etc.
I did have some problems early on, but the design is so simply and straight forward that it is quickly learned.
There are some pitfalls, such as proper removal of the side plate, getting the cylinder bolt out and back in, and a fairly powerful spring in the rebound slide, but once those are known, it's a straightforward and simple process.
Beautiful thing about the S&W revolver is that the only appropriate tool that is necessary is a screwdriver that properly fits the slots.
I learned to take apart S&W revolvers simply by doing it -- taking my time to study the relationship of the parts, ensuring I knew what went where, etc.
I did have some problems early on, but the design is so simply and straight forward that it is quickly learned.
There are some pitfalls, such as proper removal of the side plate, getting the cylinder bolt out and back in, and a fairly powerful spring in the rebound slide, but once those are known, it's a straightforward and simple process.
Or if you're mechanically inclined and aren't shy about making mistakes, we can walk you through the disassembly process here at TFL. Be warned, you may spend hours crawling around on the floor to look for that spring or plunger that went into orbit. We'd use to joke that 1/2 of gunsmithing school was spent crawling on hands & knees. 'Scuse me while I clean up my floor - again.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Did they even HAVE watches when you were born, Sam?
Thanks for your help everyone. I haden't even thought of the hammer block rattleing. I guess with the firing pin on the hammer there might be somthing in there to work as a saftey. I have a model 64 from 1998 or 1999 too, and it doesn't rattle at all, it has the frame firing pin though.
Within a couple of weeks I will soon order a new mainspring to repleace the one I bent and rebent to flat as passible when I put it back in, and then slightly bent again while getting it back in. I'm sure after that it's not going to be reliable. The very end with the curved prongs on the end really bent bad when I was I was working with the pliers and screwdrivers bending it to try to get it in the frame the first time. But it was still to tout to bend quite enough even that way. And it kept going back. So I straightened it out. I wish I had asked here before I tried putting it back in at all.
Gary, the offer to walk me through dissasembling it and putting it back together is very tempting. But I also fear that I may end up wih a big pile of parts and a frame in a paper bag unable to get it together again. I really want to just do it, and I probably will. I'll consider it further after I get my new main spring. I might not order it for a week or two. I think I can get it directly from S&W from their web site, I'll have to check if they sell them.
Within a couple of weeks I will soon order a new mainspring to repleace the one I bent and rebent to flat as passible when I put it back in, and then slightly bent again while getting it back in. I'm sure after that it's not going to be reliable. The very end with the curved prongs on the end really bent bad when I was I was working with the pliers and screwdrivers bending it to try to get it in the frame the first time. But it was still to tout to bend quite enough even that way. And it kept going back. So I straightened it out. I wish I had asked here before I tried putting it back in at all.
Gary, the offer to walk me through dissasembling it and putting it back together is very tempting. But I also fear that I may end up wih a big pile of parts and a frame in a paper bag unable to get it together again. I really want to just do it, and I probably will. I'll consider it further after I get my new main spring. I might not order it for a week or two. I think I can get it directly from S&W from their web site, I'll have to check if they sell them.
I have a related follow-up. I bought a used 629-5. Try as I might, I could not loosen the strain screw. I realized, after slightly stripping the screw slot, that the screw was Loc-Tited (Red) to the frame. Why would this be done, and how can I break the bond w/o destroying the screw?
Thanks,
SA Scott
Thanks,
SA Scott
Mike Irwin
Staff
It's done to keep it from backing out, which can happen.
If it backs out far enough, it can make the gun completely non-functional.
Try putting the tip of a soldering iron on the screw head, and getting it good and hot. Then try to break it loose.
If it backs out far enough, it can make the gun completely non-functional.
Try putting the tip of a soldering iron on the screw head, and getting it good and hot. Then try to break it loose.
Alex Johnson
New member
Mike, I've taken more than one S&W apart and I suppose that if a screwdriver was all you had to work with it could be done. Still, there are specialized tools made to dismantle these revolvers without doing any damage and in a case like this with someone not experienced with takedown procedures (and pardon me if the intended has had some experience working with guns) this is probably a job best left to the factory or a professional gunsmith. I've seen too man guns (S&W's included) where the screw slots have been marred and the sideplates mauled because somebody thought that they only needed a screwdriver and a little elbow grease to take the gun apart. Guns with this treatment don't do very well on the used market (if they work at all after the abuse) and the cost spent repairing and refinishing them would definitely exceed the costs of any minor repairs that a qualified gunsmith would have charged for the repairs in the first place. If anybody is so inclined to do some work on these guns and has had no prior experience with the subject Nonte's book Pistolsmithing is excellent and the Gun Digest book on Pistolsmithing is also very good. Both show steps to properly dismantle and tune S&W revolvers. Nonte also shows how to make a tool that is useful for the dissassembly and reassembly processes.
Mike Irwin
Staff
"I've
seen too man guns (S&W's included) where the screw slots have been marred and the sideplates mauled because
somebody thought that they only needed a screwdriver and a little elbow grease to take the gun apart."
Hence my admonitions in my earlier messages to use a properly fitted screw driver and instructions on how to remove the sideplate in the PROPER way.
The people who have butchered screws and warped sideplates doubtless haven't had access to the kind of collective information represented here.
My start with disassembling S&W revolvers came with two warnings to me by my local gunshop guy:
1. Use properly fitted screw drivers.
2. Take the sideplate off the PROPER way, which he then explined to me.
From there, the rest was easy once I studied the internals long enough to understand the relationship of each part to another.
Internally, there is only a single specialized tool that is normally recommended for disassembly -- a rebound slide spring compressor. Every other part simply lifts out without need for tools.
I've worked on over 100 S&W revolvers, and have yet to purchase a rebound spring compressor -- I use a screwdriver.
Have yet to damage anything.
Haven't lost a part yet, either.
seen too man guns (S&W's included) where the screw slots have been marred and the sideplates mauled because
somebody thought that they only needed a screwdriver and a little elbow grease to take the gun apart."
Hence my admonitions in my earlier messages to use a properly fitted screw driver and instructions on how to remove the sideplate in the PROPER way.
The people who have butchered screws and warped sideplates doubtless haven't had access to the kind of collective information represented here.
My start with disassembling S&W revolvers came with two warnings to me by my local gunshop guy:
1. Use properly fitted screw drivers.
2. Take the sideplate off the PROPER way, which he then explined to me.
From there, the rest was easy once I studied the internals long enough to understand the relationship of each part to another.
Internally, there is only a single specialized tool that is normally recommended for disassembly -- a rebound slide spring compressor. Every other part simply lifts out without need for tools.
I've worked on over 100 S&W revolvers, and have yet to purchase a rebound spring compressor -- I use a screwdriver.
Have yet to damage anything.
Haven't lost a part yet, either.
I love you guys!
30 seconds with a hair dryer allowed me to break the strain screw loose. Unfortunately, I can't seem to diagnose the problem. Noticeably absent, however, is the hammer block, which I assume a 629-5 with frame-mounted firing pin is supposed to have. Any ideas as to why this would have been removed?
SA Scott
30 seconds with a hair dryer allowed me to break the strain screw loose. Unfortunately, I can't seem to diagnose the problem. Noticeably absent, however, is the hammer block, which I assume a 629-5 with frame-mounted firing pin is supposed to have. Any ideas as to why this would have been removed?
SA Scott