practical_man

+1 to the setup Warren describes. It has worked out great onmy 617. Warren, if you are working on something better than what you put on my revolver I definitely want to see it! I am thrilled with the FO setup! - John

Please post to let us know how it worked out for you Dr J. Success stories build confidence for our community.

I installed the exact same set up on my 34. Used a safe sides Swiss pattern file because that's what I had. Any safe side smooth file will work. I have a sight pusher but rarely use it. In fact it's loaned out right now. I just use a brass punch and a 1 pound hammer. Any brass marks are easy to clean up wi CLP and a toothbrush Push the sight in, remove, file. Repeat till it goes 1/3 to 1/2 of the way. Drive with punch to seat. Test fire and make adjustments. A blue sharpie will help you identify the high points that need to be removed as you are test fitting. Cover the filed area with ink. High points will rub off. Magnifiers are helpful but not required. I have a set I use for checkering stocks and general inspections. I have gotten my money's worth from them. Haven't seen the Dawson video so not sure what they do. If you can change your own spark plugs you can do this without catastrophe. Set aside time without distractions and go slow. - john

Full auto Same thing happened to mine a couple years back. Squared up the extractor with a smooth file and scraped the rough edge from the chamber near the extractor cut. Fixed it right up. - john Edited to fix spelling errors from this darn autocomplete software. LoL

Specifically, what brand(s) of factory ammo are you guys using? Sorry about that. My question was directed at seanc amd Waltermitty. I've got my 625 running pretty well with Federal primers. Now I have to work on getting it 100% with factory Remington and Winchester. My intention is to have one set of springs to use with my Federal primed reloads and another set of springs to use with the harder primers used in factory Remington and Winchester ammo. I'd be most interested to know if the Wolff reduced power mainspring will ignite these factory rounds. Steve, The Wolff mainspring works fine for Winchester and Remington factory in my revo if you have the strain screw turned all the way in. Bear in mind that rebound slide spring and mainspring forces shoul be balanced for the best trigger pull. - John

K That's great news. Really rewarding to do our own maintenance. - john

Sounds like taking a little off the crane should get it running. Probably just Need to square the end of the crane and align the ejector rod. Had that very same problem with a basket case k frame that is now my favorite revo because I spent so much time learning how to make it run.

Is the ejector rod tight? Might sound silly, but that is a common cause of binding. Is it binding on case heads or at the barrel end? How much end shake does it have?

That is a great idea. Might be just what my old school para ordnance needs. Looks tough to get a drill chuck past the trigger guard. Guess there's only one way to find out. -john

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=13815/Product/JERRY-KUHNHAUSEN-THE-U-S-M1911-M1911A1-PISTOL- This Kuhnhausen book is money well spent if you want to tinker with 1911's. http://www.milsurps.com/content.php?r=424-1941-The-Modern-Gunsmith-(by-James-Virgil-Howe) is a link to pdf version of Howe's Modern Gunsmith. I have the paper copy and it has paid for itself many times over in general skill with hand tools. -john

a little ding in the case mouth is no problem at all. sizing die will take that right out.

I like Hodgdon Clays powder a lot. Been using it since 2000 and been thru a couple hundred pounds of it. Clean and economical in 45 acp and 12 gauge target loads. If you decide to switch make sure you get Clays, not Universal Clays or International Clays. The burn rates are considerably different. - john

I have alwys done it on the few that I have built. the pin isnt hard. A punch will deform it enough so it doesnt fall out. - john

About 3.5 ounces, less than 10% of original weight. What matters to me is that the cg shifted rearward enough to settle the sights down for double action shooting. - john

Multiplex- Those sights are available from ToolGuy. Send him a PM. They are a great value and Warren is a fine shooter and machinist. He has designed and fabricated a fine set of sights that are slowly appearing on all my S&W revolvers. Question 1 -- a 2.5 pount trigger pull isn't hard to do single action, but that ain't gonna happen double action. A little polishing on the engagement surfaces and balancing springs will get you there. But be careful with the polishing, there's not much single action engagement to begin with. Q2 -- no idea as you've stated it. I finally got all the parts to install a second, 6-round cylinder in this revo. Now i have best of both worlds -- 10 shot, or with minor effort, 6 shot. Q3 -- Not that I know of. Candidly, I'm not interested in extended cyl release. I had a brief flirtation with one and decided that's not for me. Someone else will probably chime in to more directly answer your question. -john

Me too. This stuff is great. Also sold as a tennis product at our local sporting goods store. -john

Thanks. That might be worth buying. Sour bears the heck out of doing it by hand.

I bought some from Caspian a couple years ago that had no secondary cut. The work fine in my bullseye guns with roll triggers. Not sure what they're selling now.

In a word, mechanical repeatability. I was taught to have very tight bushing to slide fit and a close sliding fit between bushing and barrel at lockup. Barrel fit is much looser during unlocking process. Tight bushing to slide fit removes one source of variability. I think it matters at 50 yards. Not critical at all for 25 yards. Of course that assumes that the hood, link, and link pin are properly fit at the breech end too.

Have thousands of reloads thru various blocks, most with lead projectiles. No problems so far. It's factory ammo that has give problems.

Me too. They fit me very well. Sent email to Smith&Wesson and Hogue. Heard nothing back from either of them. They weren't listed on either web site. Hope someone spills the beams on the source soon.

Very nice. Sure wish the 5 inch versions were more widely available.

Updated with some better -- but not great -- pix to show the barrel contour and Warren's great fiber optic sights. Got most of the parts to do a 6 round cylinder conversion. Of course, Brownells was out of stock on the ejector spring, but can live without that for a while. This little project is almost complete. Will soon have the perfect 6 round revolver for conventional pistol or rimfire PPC practice, and a 10 round sylinder to swap out for steel. Thanks to Warren for making this project a reality. -john PS. if anyone knows how to get the new style grips from S&W's OEM provider, please send me an email or PM. These are perhaps the best fit for me. Much better than the standard monogrip or any of the wood offerings from S&W. Want to put these grips on all my S&W revolvers.

Looks great. Exactly what I am looking for as next revo.

+ 1, I am getting into casting my own lead now, waiting on my molds to come in. just like reloading I find it cheaper for MYSELF and is fun to do as well as addicting. the Lee 125grain RN bullet has worked well for me in both 9mm and 38 SPL.