Stradawhovious

Thanks for asking! The RO and I easily got past the first interaction. Although we never really became fast friends, I'm sure neither of us speak ill of one another. He's a stand up guy. I got out of the sport completely. Partially because I no longer had the time, and partially because I got married. (See reason 1). I really did enjoy shooting revo class though, and if I may say so myself I got pretty danged good at it to boot. The RO AFAIK drifted more towards 3 gun. I could be wrong. I often am.

I don't think this is localized to the 629. My last 625 was horrendous from the factory. 14lb+ gritty trigger pull, and the parts in the lockwork looked like they were taken from a low quality "snap-tite" model. Abnormalities and flashing everywhere. Luckily it cleaned up really nice, but I would expect more from a revo that is borderline performance center in price. Speaking with a couple of shop owners, this seems to be par for the course with S&W lately. Too bad.

I have a bladetech for my 4" that I got from unholstered.com. I also ordered the drop offset add on, and couldn't be happier.

Yep, it's from last Thursday. I have vids of all the other runs too,which I'm equally thrilled with, but i think this one is hhe cleanest of the bunch. It was really nice to feel that confident in my runs, and really surprising to see the scores when they were posted........ The only issue is that I dont want to be surprised by good performance, I want it to be common place. (yeah, I know....... Who doesnt, right?) It would be nice to have you out there, especially with your revo. Last week was the first time it was more than just me on the wheel gun! But I know what you mean with 694, 494 and 94 all torn up, it's like sitting in a parking lot for hours. And yes, it does feel good to beat a bunch of bottom feeders. For those of you recommending faster/more movement, any thoughts on how to practice for this? (other than dropping a few hundred pounds that is....)

Thanks for the advice so far...... Good stuff! KeEp it coming! Sorry for not posting my hits...... I guess that's as important as anything else, huh? 14 alphas, 6 charlies and 3 delta. HF - 5.3419 Not perfect, but For me it's far from terrible.

Well, I've been practicing, and practicing, and getting tons of trigger time. For the first time in a match I felt that I shot it to the absolute best of my abilities. Now, to make my best better. In your collective seasoned opinion, what should I be focusing on? Thanks in advance for humoring my incessant buzzing questions. Here is a clip of the run.

Just a quick heads up and kudos for Bob at 4wheelguns.com. I had a fairly unreasonable request regarding one of his products. Even though he had a difficult and busy day, he jumped through all sorts of hoops to get my questions answered. Ordered item Friday night, it shipped on Saturday, I received it on Tuesday. In a world where customer service and pride in your business seems to have taken a back seat, this guy is aces.

+1 on this. If I lean into the handle a little (not a lot, just a bit) there is plenty of travel to seat the primers as far as they are physically able to go with my 550. I've never had an issue with it.

<-------- Say to himself... "Gee, this Amish fellah seems like such a nice guy and offered some pretty good advice! I might as well click on the link in his sig line." <-------- Learns things the hard way.

Well, here is a clip of me fumbling through a stage. Please give any advice/criticism/cheap shots. I already know I need to learn how to count to six..... That was embarassing. I already know I need to learn how to reload. That was embarassing too. I already know I need to lose a couple of hundred pounds...... That's just slovenly. Everything else is fair game. Thanks in advance for your input!

Well, I appreciate all of your responses! Seems to me that there is pretty much a consensus on the way you all choose to make the action lighter/better. I jsut got back form a range trip to function test my 625, and I'm happy to report that it touched off all of the rounds without a hitch. Trigger is at a silky smooth 6lbs, clean break, and firm reset. (Federal only of course!) I did what most of the rest of you did, and that's a combination of polishing the lockwork, bending the spring, and shortening the strain screw. It was eaisier than I expected (I probably got lucky), but I can see how easy it is to ruin parts, or ruin the feel of the trigger pull by doing this. Certainly not for the squeemish, technically "declined", or faint of heart!

I also wanted to add some pics of my handywork, simply because I'm proud of it. I'm sure it could have been done better, but I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

Thanks for the explainations! And for the record, by "adjust" the strain screw, I should have put "shorten" which is what I meant. Sorry! And thanks to those that suggest sending to a professional...... I know that's the correct thing to do since that's where it will end up when I ruin it (only to be charged more than going rate to fix the things I sullied..), but I'm too proud (read: too stupid) to do that with this one. This question is also not about getting advice since I have already chosen my path with this, I'm just curious about the thought processes behind the different methods. Thanks!

Alright, this leads me to another question altogether. I wasn't going to bring it up in fear of starting a royal pissing match, but my curiosity has just overwhelmed any blow my consious might take from instigating said match...... I will start it in a seperate thread, and link it here. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=107653

I REALLY don't want this to turn into a pissing match, I'm just curious on the schools of thought on the three different techniques used for adjusting the hammer spring tension on a modern S&W revolver. I have heard three differend techniques from 12 different techs, all of whom say the others are dead wrong, and shouldn't be allowed to touch a firearm. (This is the type of stuff I want to try to avoid in this thread) The three ways I have heard to adjust the spring tension are bending, filing, and shortening the strain screw (or a combination of some or all). What methods do you guys use, and why? What do you see as the down sides of the methods you don't use?

Same springs or did you lighten the mainspring? Right now I have an after karket spring set, the "Miculek" spring kit in there. When I have some time (and a quiet range) I will put the original back in and putz arounsd with it some, just to see how nice I can make this thing.

Yeah, and if I get off of work early tonight, I am going to risk making a fool of myself by shooting at OGS's USPSA match without testing it at the range first. It's all fun and games until the gun doesn't work for the first string! But its not a points match, nor is there anything on the line so it will be a fun gamble. I'm still amazed at what a difference this made in how everything feels when that hammer falls. Simply amazed.

Well, the surgery was a great success, and it made a surprisingly noticable difference.. Thanks for the input! Can't wait to get it to the range.

Thanks for the input folks, it's much appreciated. Just so i have this straight, when cutting the hammer down as far as it can go, you're pretty much removing all the material to the left of the red line in the photo, correct? What keeps the lock work form getting all gummed up with shit in the meantime? Just clean it out more often? I was under the understanding that you wanted to open the sideplate as infrequently as humanly possible. Pic of hammer.

To add an initial though, My thinking was for the first attempt to simply put the hammer in the "fire" position (hammer down and firint pin engaged), trace the outline of the frame on the hammer, and remove the portion above it. Aesthetically, this makes sense, and does remove quite a bit of weight. Alright, fire away!

Alright, before I begin.... <flame suit on>..... There. do your worst. I'm looking to bob the hammer on one of my revolvers for a myriad of reasons, and have some questions about practicality. I have seen some hammers where only the spur is removed, some where a ton of material is removed to leave the least possible amount for the hammer to properly function, and everything in between. I guess my question is what is the practicality of the two extremes? I understand only removing the spur to lessen the likelyhood of getting caught on the draw for concealed carry, but I can't imagine it does all that much to alleviate the impact on the frame when the hammer strikes it. I understand that removing a lot of material will help keep the inadvertant movement to a minimum. The big question I have is what is the trade off between weight and speed. [My] Simple physics would dictate that the lighter the hammer, the faster it moves and the less it jolts the frame on impact, but there would be force lost with the lighter weight. Where is the trade off? What determines how much to remove? I'm sure I will probably be talked into waiting until I get the cash to have it done professionally, but right now I'm cash poor, time rich and have the tools and motor skills required. That, and I love to tinker, and with this job I can't see any inherent safety issues like there would be with mussing with a single action sear or the like. Worst case scenario (I can think of) is I ruin the hammer, and have to get another one. Besides, I'm not sure I would want to be without the gun for the time it takes to get the job accomplished. Even if/when I do send it off, it wouldn't satisfy my curiosity on the more involved "hows" and "whys" of the modification. To add more information, this would be a 625 model with a frame mounted firing pin. Thanks for entertaining my rookie dumbass question.

They are MIM parts guaranteed. Good to know they aren't as cheap as they look, they remind me of Pot Metal. The hammer and trigger of my other 625 (forged) just seem to be better material.

Thanks! I figured it was just a high spot, that makes more sense than anything else, but are the parts of sufficient quality to use for modification (such as carmonizing)? They just seem cheap. It's a little disappointing for a gun that brings as much money as it does. Don't get me wrong, I love the gun..... Just surprised that my 642 seems to have come with better fit parts than my 625.

Only on the one side like that? It seems unusual.

I'm developing some interesting wear patterns on my hammer, and where it meets the frame. It looks like I'm not getting as uniform a strike on the firing pin as I could be. Is this something I should be concerned about, or is it to be expected? I'm thinking either as simple as a poorly made part or something much worse. Also, are the MIM parts as cheap as they seem? The reading I've done says that they are just as strong and uniform as the forged parts, but I have some serious doubts about this. If my doubts are correct, if I were to have the hammer bobbed on this one, would I be better off buying a new hammer and having it fit instead of the MIM parts? Here are some photos of the suspect wear marks. The spot on the hammer doesn't show up all that well, but it's there, prominent, and the same shape as the one on the frame.