What's everyone else doing with their J Frames?

S

Sarge55

New member
Been thinking of tweaking this and tweaking that on my 442, but was hoping to get a bit of "know-how" from some of the "Smiths" that frequent this list. Have an almost new 442 that I would like to add a personal touch to it. I should note that this little gem is to be used strictly for a police back-up/concealed carry weapon.

Can anyone advise me of some of the ways I can improve the overall feel, functioning and look of the revolver? I'm game for any modifications (however slight), of course, at a reasonable price. Being familiar with the inner workings of Smith & Wesson revolvers, I'VE never messed with an alloy framed one. Thus, I'm a bit hesitant to remove the sideplate and smooth up some of the inner workings. Any words of caution?

Should I change out the stock springs with Wolff's Springs? Change the Uncle Mikes stock grips to something a bit more concealable?

Can anyone recommend ankle holster? Been considering one of the elastic ones from Galco or DeSantis.

I quess I should've mentioned that I have a good bit of knowledge when it comes to Semi-Autos, and I work pretty well with my hands.

I'd love to hear what you've all done to your J-Frames!

Many thanks!

Sarge55

[Edited by Sarge55 on 01-10-2001 at 02:05 PM]
 
I haven't done any action work at all. I did de-horn the two rear corners of the trigger. The fleshy pad of my finger would get pinched between it and the back of the trigger guard. Also smoothed down the leading edge of the cylinder release, as it would abrade my thumb knuckle upon recoil.

I added one of those clips that attaches to the sideplate for 'holsterless' carry. It works well enough for the occasional dog walk, or trash run. As to elastic ankle rigs, the Renegade comes to mind. It is a generic pouch that will work with all of the J-frames, but I have no experience with it. The Galco ankle glove is tops in my book, due to the large neoprene band which just seems to mold to my lower leg. Mine has the open top with adjustable tension screw, and it is also offered in a thumb-break style.

Less up know what you decide to do to your's, OK?:)
 
If you haven't done any action work on revolvers I would leave the action alone. Most of my work has been confined to muzzleloading firearms and some of the percussion revolvers, though I have worked on some modern revolvers as well. You can get a set of ceremaic stones from Brownells for action smoothing and used with discretion these work wonders (though you don't want to remove metal, just smooth the parts and stay away from the sear notches unless you know what your doing). Refinishing is something that you can do as long as you know what your doing, you might want to do the polishing and dehorning yourself and than send the gun off to have it treated with one of the newer finishing methods. Aside from that I don't think most good j-frames need a whole lot more work done too them. You might want to consider buying, or making a slimmer set of grips if your purposes are for concealment and perhaps having someone bob the hammer if it's exposed. I've never done this to a hammer, but would suspect that a stronger mainspring might have to be put in to compensate for the lighter weight of the altered hammer, in any event it's not something I would mess with before doing some research. A simpler solution is just to have a hammer shrowd installed, I prefer this method since I don't like bobbed hammers. Best of luck.
 
Sarge, one more thing, I don't have the book with me right now but you might want to look at The Gun Digest Book of Pistolsmithing. This covers some work on the J frame guns and is an excellent reference book for a lot of the procedures you might encounter.
 
I have a nickel plated Model 38 airweight which features the shrouded hammer (hey, we use to say that nickel is for punks and pimps but this gun was bought used and for $200). I removed the Crisom Trace off my .22 Ladysmith (8 shot) and placed them on the Model 38. It goes into my pocket every now and then when I don't want a heavier gun.
 
Since this is police backup, I would NOT change the original springs, both from an ultimate reliability as well as a liability, concern

The only thing I would have done is a very light polishing on the bearing surfaces inside the gun to cut down on friction points.
 
a very good choice in a backup gun. but i'm bias, been carrying my 642, since the introduced them, as a backup for my sig on duty.

i used to carry it strapped to my vest but decided to go with an ankle carry as its easier to reach while seated in the squad car, more covert to pull too when folks walk up.

i had the action tuned for smoothness and the trigger face polished and rounded. i think he also changed springs, you can tell i have a lot of faith in my smith. thought about taking the edges off the front of the cylinder but never had a problem yet. i was hoping brown would make his cylinder release for the j-frame but will most likely just knock the edges down. ;) FURTURE PROJECT: i think you should be able to lighten the internal hammer and still get reliable ingition by trading off velocity for mass like powers used to do on his PPC guns :cool:

changed uncle's grips to their boot style and now looking at hogue's new batam grip set. less control - more concealable

i really like the alessi or null ankle rigs
 
Hello,

I've used a Model 640 Centennial in .38 Special to backup my Smith & Wesson .41 Magnum since 1995. It is mostly carried in an Alessi ankle holster or a Mitch Rosen "Pocket Softy" pocket holster. I have also used Bob Mika's pocket holster with excellent results.

A Model 642 Centennial in .38 Special joined my collection early last year.

Leave the slicking to a professional. My 640 was done by Andy Cannon and the results are outstanding. He's going to get my 642 very soon.

If boot style grips don't do much for your hands, try the unsung hero of J-frame grips in my opinion. The Farrar brand grips. They are not as long as the larger Houge or Pachmayr and fit my hand perfectly. They are also the most durable rubber grips I have ever seen. I recently ordered a second pair for my new 642 and was amazed that the five year old and heavily used Farrar grips on my 640 looked as new as the one I had just received!

Bianchi Speedstrips loaded down to five rounds gives great handling characteristics while HKS speedloaders work even better albiet don't conceal as well. The Speedstrips will carry just about anywhere!

One last accessory would be ammo. While I was at LFI we talked J-frames quite a bit, and any of the various versions of the FBI load (158-grain LSWCHP +P) is the best balance of penetration and expansion. Roughly about 750 to 800 fps out of a J-frame barrel with 12 to 13 inches of penetration in gelatin. Expansion is more like disruption to about the 0.50 caliber range. Great load. I like the Federal Nyclad version for reloads as the soft lead hollowpoints do not deform with the thin blue plastic coating.

- Anthony
 
Looks like the overwhelming majority here says leave well enough alone, so I think that's what I'm going to do. I May try out a few different brands of grips, but that's about it. I guess I'm so used to fine tuning (read "tinkering") with semi-autos, I just felt that smoothing things up a bit would be the natural thing to do. I'm sure many of you semi-auto folks can relate to that! Dry firing and plenty of range time will, without doubt, smooth out some of the rough edges.
I do have one concern though...
How can I insure that all the internal metal to metal parts are getting the proper lubrication? I can't see, or have access to, many of the parts that I assume need lubed. What's the secret?
Many thanks for all the great replies!

Sarge55
 
You should consider the Bianchi Model 4750 Ankle holster. I use it regularly for my S&W 637 and I love it. Most comfortable one I own. It was only around $40! Check it out at:
http://www.bianchi-intl.com/index_rangerconceilment.htm


The cheapest dealer (you can't buy direct from Bianchi) I've found is Brateman's. They are a great, family-run outfit and there service is fantastic!! Call (219)484-8665

Good luck! :)
 
J Frame

I've been carrying a J Frame of some type for many years as a back-up to my duty gun. My current "J" is a Mdl 642, which is basically stock (except for the grips). I would hesitate to swap and experiment with springs on a carry gun. I have also used a wide variety of ankle holsters throughout the years, and the best by far is made by Ken Null.
 
Sarge55, here are a few of my thoughts. You have a great gun to start with, and any changes would indeed be "tweaking." For starters, if the action is good, leave it. A Wolff reduced-power rebound slide spring can reduce the pull a bit, as long as it does not impede trigger return function. Due to the reduced mass of the hammer (compared to guns with a full spur hammer) I'd be a little more reluctant to go with a reduced power hammer spring so as not to compromise ignition reliability. Some judicious internal polishing by somebody who knows what they are doing could do go a long way to smoothing the pull, if you really feel it needs smooting.

Next, I don't like the stock rubber grips. Yes, they are comfortable and give good control, but I find they "grab" covering garments. My choice on the Airweight Centennial is the Barami Hip-Grip and a Tyler T-Grip grip adapter. Decent control, excellent concealability, and no holster necessary.

If you intend to use pocket carry, holster carry, or more unconventional carry (e.g., belly band, Kramer Confidant, etc.), consider something like Eagle Secret Service grips, or even the old, skinny, wood J-frame grips combined with a Tyler T-grip. I don't think you can find a smaller package than the latter that still affords a decent purchase on the butt.

Finally, I'll offer this. One of the niftiest things I did was ship out a J-frame to Innovative Weaponry, maker of P-T Night Sights, and have a tritium dot installed in the front sight. Not necessary, but very nice to have in low light.
 
There are several great pistolsmiths who will give you a dependable, smooth as butter, duty action job without compromising ignition. Call Teddy at Actions by T. By the way, I have a 332 and all I did was remove those oversize rubber grips and put on an old set of the original j-frame wood grips. A hide out gun should be capable of being hidden.
 
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