Removal of Smith&Wesson sideplate?

D

Deerinator

New member
I decided to get a smith&wesson for 315 today. Its a used Model 19 Combat with 6inch barrel. Well being is that is used i would like to know how to completly disassemble this revolver to inspect and get some oil on the parts on the inside. I know how to take the cylinder out...but after i get the screws out in the side plate i can't pop it off..do i have to remove the cylinder release and screw on the opposite side as well? My gunsmith told me that i have to apply upward pressure on the back half and tilt it up then back ward. I tried that with a good deal of pressure but i figured i would ask you guys just in case i'm missing a step. If you guys have a link with this procedure i would appreciate it. once i get the plate off i think i can pretty much figure it out from there unless you guys got some pointer to share. Thanks again.
 
A soft wood or rubber mallet to the exposed frame is what I've always done. If you take it all the way down you stand a good chance of taking a bag of parts to the gunsmith and getting the dumbass of the day award. :D
 
are they that complicated? I can take apart my 1911 acp to the bones or is that childsplay as far as this is concerned? Would you recommend one of those agi videos to study?
 
:)

Based on the last 5 personaly observed home gunsmithing jobs I have seen, all tools except cleaning rods are hereby outlawed....:)

PS...get Kuhnhuasens (or whatever his name is) book before you take a SOFT mallet to the grip frAME

wildnooooooooooooalaska
 
Smiths aren't hard to take apart or put back together. The one thing that used to stump me the first couple times I took one apart was how the hammer block bar sets in there to get the sideplate back on. I then thought about what it does, it blocks the hammer when all is at rest, so put it in so it blocks the hammer (tip goes between the hammer and frame).

As for the sideplate, DON'T pry it off!!! I use the handle of my screw driver and rap the side (the flat side part) of the grip frame towards the bottom end, and the sideplate will start to pop up. It comes off from the bottom (as you hold the gun to shoot it), and has a small hook at the top edge near the rear of the cylinder. Loosen the hammer spring (mainspring) before taking the sideplate off. With the sideplate off, the hammer block will probably be laying out of place in there,(don't panic!) it has an oval slot that goes on the small pin on the trigger return slide. The trigger has to be pulled to just the right place to get the hammer out. You'll figure it out when you do it. The cylinder release also needs to be to the back to get the hammer to move. I'd stop right there for the first time or two, unless it's real cruddy. The trigger return slide is not tough to get out, but is tricky to get back in without saying bad words. if you are ambitious, go ahead and take it out, but be advised the spring in the back end of it will try to go zipping away unless you contain it with your hand or a rag held behind it. The trigger is easy when the trigger return slide is out, it just needs to be pulled the right amount to get it to clear the frame and bolt.
Reassemble in reverse order, tapping the sideplate GENTLY back into place if it doesn't go by hand pressure. DON'T force it, the hammer block may not be in place if it doesn't go easily. and DON'T use the screws to pull the sideplate back on. get it all the way on before putting the screws in. You can strip the screwholes in the frame if you use them to pull the plate on.

It's a lot simpler than it sounds. Once you have it off, it should make sense.

after some thought, I would strongly recomand against doing any "action work" while it's apart. I've seen many that had the trigger return spring lightened, and the gun wouldn't cycle reliably when worked fast. Other attrocities have been commited also, but this seems to be one of the most common attepts to "improve" them.
 
Adequate cleaning and lubing of a revolver can be done by removing the grips, spraying a decent cleaner/solvent down into the works, letting the gun drain then putting a few drops of oil in front of the hammer, and behind and in front of the trigger. A drop of oil on the ejector rod and one on the crane where it goes in the frame will wrap things up.

Are they hard to take apart? No, but judging by the number of "I lost the xxx out of my revolver" or "I broke the yyy and where can I get one" questions on here, it might not be as easy to get the gun back together.

Jim
 
Thanks guys. I'm a little scared now..i will tap the side plate off and get a good look around and will try to remmeber about the hammer block thing when i do it.
So heres what i got so.

Guns unloaded
Take cylinder and crane off. Check
Lossen mainspring. Check
Rap on opposite side of the lower back portion of the side plate
Don't panic about the hammer block
Lightly work trigger until it works its way out. Check
I think thats where i'll stop for awhile..maybe get a video on it so i can see what not to do.

Does this sound about right? Thanks
 
You can also tap the bottom of the grip on a piece of wood and that will usually have the same effect as tapping the frame.
 
Save yourself a lot of grief and get the manual. It's not hard, but pictures and a detailed explanation goes a long ways.
 
"My gunsmith told me that i have to apply upward pressure on the back half and tilt it up then back ward."

He's telling you to PRY it out?

FIND A NEW GUNSMITH!

That man isn't a gunsmith, he's a festering bungmuch moron butcher whose hands should be removed to ensure that he doesn't try that with anyone who actually pays for his services.

Prying the side plate off is a sure path to peining the edges of the frame AND the side plate, so that you have a nice little ridge of unsightly raised metal.

It's also a great way to simply warp the side plate.
 
I took the sideplate off my 686 for the first time ever just the other week. I lubed it up good, then, when I went to put the side plate back on, there was this part stuck due to grease on the inside of the side plate! I found out after a couple hours on the net it was the hammer block.

Here are some good pictures of the hammer block (about 4/5 of the way down the page), how it works, and where it goes. Saved me some grief.

http://www.firearmsid.com/A_FirearmFunction.htm
 
My gunsmith told me that i have to apply upward pressure on the back half and tilt it up then back ward.
Click to expand...

The only thing more dangerous than an ignoramus is a know-it-all. This is NOT the correct way to do this, as any man who has removed a sideplate from a Smith & Wesson can attest. The correct way is the mallet to the reverse side as posted above. Either your "gunsmith" gives out advice without knowing what he is talking about, or he has been doing hack jobs on S&W revolvers. I would consider his work and his advice to be suspect at best from now on. :mad:

The cheapest thing you can EVER add to a new gun purchase is a shop manual. The cheapest thing you can ever do to improve a gun is to read the manual. I strongly recommend Jerry Kuhnhausen's S&W Revolver Shop Manual before removing the sideplate. Even then, proceed with caution. There are many more ways to bugger things up than to improve them inside that gun.

That being said, enjoy your piece, and kudos for wanting to learn how to work on it! :)
 
whoa whoa. my bad..before we tack my gunsmith out to dry..he did say bump the left side and then when it pops then "tilt up and back out" is this correct? It was my error to just ASSUME(theres that dangerous word) that was all i had to do but i did it ever so gently i didn't give her hell...then when it didn't work i did the smart thing and STOPED...and posted to someone who knows.

Here what i've gathered
1.Removel cylinder and crane
2.Remove grips
3.NOW DO I TAKE OUT THE MAINSPRING OR LOOSEN IT A FEW TURNS?
4.take out the two side plate screws on the right side
5.NOW DO I TAKE OFF THE CYLINDER RELEASE BUTTON AND SCREW NOW?

I removed the spring in step 3 (i got it back on those little handle things in the frame in step three
then i procedded to rap on the left side with my screw driver handle BUT I DIDN"T DO STEP 5 because i don't know if i should so that or not is that neccesary?
After doing steps 1, 2, 3 i took out the spring, and 4 i did the side rapping but it didn't move a snuff and i didn't want to smack the crap out of it because i may have missed a step.

I do apologize to you guys and my gunsmith. when i can save money and venture for myself i do enjoy it. Just ask my 1991a1, beretta 92fs, and ruger redhawk...i took those apart with free info and visual aid. So i'm not a mechanical layman i do know a thing or to so this info you guys are sharing with me isn't going to go to waste.

If you guys decide i'm a hopeless case i will get that book you guys recommend and go from there. I don't plan on doing any mods to the gun i just like knowing if something is on the fritz i can diagnose and replace the part without outside help.

Thanks for your time
 
My pinhead neighbor decided to pry off the sideplate of his 686 with a frigging pair of scissors and bent the hell out of the sideplate as many internal parts fell to the dirt in his garage. Now he has a really nice $500 paperweight. Some people are just beyond stupid. Fleiger
 
Deerinator, you're getting close. However, I rap the lower grip frame on the right side of the gun, with the gun in my left hand (up in the air a couple inches) over the bench, and the gun laying flat on it's left side. The sideplate pops up nicely, it doesn't take much effort done this way. Not much chance of marring anything either, when tapping on the side of the grip frame area, as it's a covered part with the gun assembled (grips on).

There isn't much need to take the cylinder latch off, unless you need to clean under it badly. I rarely take them off.

You've discovered that the mainspring can be taken out or put in with the sideplate on. If it's hard for you to catch the stirrup on the hammer with the end of the spring, you can put the spring in with the plate off, but when i do this, I only put enough tension on it to keep it in place until the plate is all the way on.


PS. Smith calls the "crane" (colt word) a yoke.
 
Malmute thanks a bunch i'm gonna go and try and do that right now. I just gotta peek inside. Thanks for the detailed info on how to remove the sideplate. I will put the gun in my left hold above a bench and rap on the lower portion of the grip frame.

wish me luck
 
Success!

YEAH BABY. I did what you guys said to do and got a really big screw drive, wedge that baby under the side plate and reefed like hell and whola it came off can you believe it. Thanks so much guys i really appreciate the help on this gun. I looked underneath the plate and it wasn't gunky. There was residue of the cleaning stuff i used but no gobs of good. Once i got the hammer block in place i but the side plate on but couldn't get it all the way so i used the screws to close the gap and it went back on. I feel great about this gun. I love it!

OKAY OKAY I just b.s.ing you guys. I did get the sideplate off but i needed to use a bigger screwdriver handle and a couple of good wap and if was off. To my suppisions there was a little grim on the inside rim of the side plate to explaine the difficulty is removal. I DIDN"T LOOSEN THE MAINSPRING BUT ALL WAS WELL. can someone point out why this is important? After inspecting that everything was sound and i check the fucntion of the revolver i see there are a pretty simply design expect that dang hammer return. That might prove difficult when i decide to take it out. After the inspecition i put the hammer block in with the hook facing in and put it over that little dinky pin in the middle of the trigger return and lightly place the plate back on and slowly taped it back on with no binding but there was 1/2 of a 1/2 of a 1/2 millimeter still exposed then i lightly tighten the screws and it squished back it. I put the cylinder back in and cocked the hammer and she went back as smooth as ever. HOW do i check to see if the hammer block is working correctly. I can see the hook when the hammer is back and it is in the same spot as before i monkeyed with the gun so is everything i did a good job?

Thanks to you guys i am able to add the gun to the "replace parts myself list" for the most part with this gun and i thank you for you knowledge and patience. Now when this question arises from a newer member i will be able to answer their question.

Here is a ammo usage question. Can i shoot middle of the road magnum ammo through this gun all the time? I know this is the twin to the model 66 which is a K frame and smaller then the model 686 so it it wise to feed it a steady diet of 357 mag ammo? I don't want to beat up this pretty gun.

I was going to name it what to you think about "Oblivion'?
 
Congradulations on successfully taking the sideplate off!

If the sideplate went on OK and seated all the way down, and the gun functioned, then you have the hammer block in correctly.

As you have found out, the Smith's aren't all that hard to get apart, nor are they too mysterious inside.

If you decide to take all the insides out sometime, you need to take the mainspring out all the way. The hammer is next, and needs to be about halfway back to come out. The trigger eturn slide has a hole and a spring in the back end of it. I take a small screwdriver that will fit into the hole beside the pin at the back of it, and stick the screwdriver into the hole, raising it slowly. when you get it up to a certain point, the spring will seek to assert it's freedom (fly off across the room) if you are not careful with it. It's rather strong. After that point, all else is fairly simple. When reassembling the trigger return slide, I use a screwdriver to compress the spring into the slide body, and work the slide back down into it's place. Getting the spring compressed and back down behind the pin is the tricky part, but if you are careful, it is not too tough. Allow yourself several bad words when doing this the first few times.

With the sideplate off, before taking parts out, and while taking parts out, cycle the trigger a few times, watching the action of the cylinder locking bolt, and the hand(the thing that moves the cylinder).(and little or no mainspring tension, you'll have to move the hammer manually, and have the cylinder in place at first) Observing these parts working will help you get them back in place correctly when you understand what they do.

Medium magnum loads should do fine in your gun. The problem, as I understand it, with the medium frame magnums, came about when 125 gr magnum loads became popular. The problem has something to do with the pressure curve, or burn rate of the 125 gr loads, they tended to crack the rear end of the barrel, mostly at the bottom. For some reason this did not seem to occur with 158 gr magnum loads. There has been a fair ampount of discussion on the smith-wessonforum site on this topic. Some posters there say they have shot magnum loads in model 19 and 66's for many years with no trouble, but tended to avoid the 125 gr loads. Some said they used a lot of 125 gr loads and had no trouble from them either. As for me, i would use 125's sparingly, for carry loads if you wanted, but shoot mostly 38 spl's or 158 gr magnum loads in it. I personally don't care for the sharp muzzle blast of full power 357 loads, so I don't shoot them much. I find 44 mag muzzle blast, even from a 4" barrel, to be more tolerable.

Enjoy your gun, it should give you long years of service. I think it's one of the true classic Smiths, and one of the best balanced and handling Smiths ever made.
 
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