Does anyone pin extractors any more?

[snertley]

Does anyone know who does this anymore. This is on a 686 that I got 20+ years ago. (I was told it came out of Canada). 

[MWP]

That’s how the factory did it for years. I’ve never seen anyone do it after the fact.

[revoman]

I think that was done when the extractor was round and now they have one flat side. So the need for the pins were no longer needed. Not for sure on this. 

[Toolguy]

The extractors used to all be pinned. At that time, the stem of the extractor had a groove with a keyway running lengthwise and a corresponding key in the cylinder. The pins were never quite in the same place from one to the other, so there was a good bit of work involved with fitting a new extractor. The new style has a D shaped stem with a D shaped hole in the cylinder. Additionally, the outside is milled in a square pattern which accurately orients the extractor to the cylinder, to replace the pins. With the new style, the extractors are easily interchangeable, making production and any subsequent repairs much easier.

[snertley]

Thank you guys for the information. It is much appreciated! 

[SteelCityShooter]

I have a 686-3 purchased new in early 1993 that has a pinned extractor star and a round extractor rod so the change was made some time after that.

[swordfish]

50 minutes ago, SteelCityShooter said:

I have a 686-3 purchased new in early 1993 that has a pinned extractor star and a round extractor rod so the change was made some time after that.

Not necessarily.

[SteelCityShooter]

7 hours ago, swordfish said:

Not necessarily.

Then why would mine be pinned if the change was made prior to 1993?

[Amerflyer48]

Sometimes "batches" of a particular gun sit off to the side (kinda like NOS car parts) or it is only done to certain models as a phase out. 

 

it is not uncommon to find an old S&W that according to the catalog is older than the date on the box. 

 

also sometime in the past maybe a smith replaced the cylinder for some reason or other..

 

[SteelCityShooter]

On 12/18/2018 at 10:51 PM, Amerflyer48 said:

also sometime in the past maybe a smith replaced the cylinder for some reason or other..

 

Not in this case.  I bought the gun new and have not had it modified. 

[swordfish]

1 hour ago, SteelCityShooter said:

Not in this case.  I bought the gun new and have not had it modified. 

New directly from S&W, or did it come from a gun shop? If it came from a gun shop, they probably got it from a distributor, and who knows how long it was on their shelves, or how long it sat at S&W in their warehouse before that. Not trying to be argumentative, but you can't really tell by the fact that you got your hands on a thing that could have been made months or years earlier.

[SteelCityShooter]

6 hours ago, swordfish said:

New directly from S&W, or did it come from a gun shop? If it came from a gun shop, they probably got it from a distributor, and who knows how long it was on their shelves, or how long it sat at S&W in their warehouse before that. Not trying to be argumentative, but you can't really tell by the fact that you got your hands on a thing that could have been made months or years earlier.

Sure, it came from a gun shop and it, indeed, could have been in a distributor's warehouse for quite some time.  All I know for certain is a) my 686 was purchased in early 1993 and b) the extractor star is pinned.   I can't find a reference to a list of  S&W serial numbers vs date of manufacture but that would help pin (pun unavoidable)  it down.

[Amerflyer48]

9 minutes ago, SteelCityShooter said:

Sure, it came from a gun shop and it, indeed, could have been in a distributor's warehouse for quite some time.  All I know for certain is a) my 686 was purchased in early 1993 and b) the extractor star is pinned.   I can't find a reference to a list of  S&W serial numbers vs date of manufacture but that would help pin (pun unavoidable)  it down.

 

Smith and Wesson Forums,  I know someone over there has a copy of "the Standard Catalog" by Jim Supica and would probably look up your serial range if you ask nicely,  they did it for my 1970 K-38 

 

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/222977-new-members-looking-date-manufacture-info-how-find-your-serial-number-79.html

 

 

[revoman]

Try calling S&W they could probably answer your question on the date of manufacture.

[BallisticianX]

On 12/20/2018 at 5:48 PM, revoman said:

Try calling S&W they could probably answer your question on the date of manufacture.

If you call S&W with requests for "born on dates" for anything beyond 10 maybe 20  years old they will redirect you to contact their Historian for that info (Roy Jinks was that person, not sure if he still is). 

Edited January 8, 2019 by BallisticianX

[BallisticianX]

No one still manufactures revolvers with extractor (locater) pins anymore. Not cost effective for the extra manufacturing process and added complexity (redundancy) in a warranty repair. 

I believe the design change from the Round "keyed" and pinned extractor to D profile occured in 1994 on most models. But as exceptions are the norm with S&W because ship dates often lagged well beyond a manufacturer date some models were likely shipped after '94 that had the pinned extractor.