Sunday, August 19, 2018

Don't cry for me, Smith and Wesson...

A friend that I invited to the range brought his gun. Not much of a shooter, he got ther gun for home defense from someone who owed him money. I saw it and thought I was going to be sick.

It's a Smith and Wesson 686 "pre-lock" that some Bubba decided had too many sharp edges, so he ground down the hammer...
He also removed the front sight with a grinder, then took it to the top strap after removing the adjustable sight base. Even filled in the notch where the old sight base used to set.
And this is how you turn a $1200 factory snub nose .357 Magnum revolver into a parts kit.
He also lightened the trigger, probably by cutting coils off the hammer spring, so that if misfires about 50% of the time. But hey--it's easy to draw from a pocket now, right?
Sigh...

23 comments:

  1. Only a few parts. Cylinder is ok?

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  2. That is some criminal thing right there.

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  3. Major suckage.....

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  4. Hey Murphy;

    Jeez, that hurt to look at, betcha "Bubba" watched too many 70's mafia movies...

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  5. No rubber bands on the grip?

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  6. The horror, the horror.

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  7. I'll give you $2.50 for it.

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  8. Ok... how to a rehab on this.

    1. New Wolf springs will take care of the missfires.

    2. Dovetail front sight and a Novak rear sight (say made for a 1911) will give it a set of sights. File front sight down if needed to get a good POA.

    And that is it. Still would make a good carry/house gun.

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  9. Bobbing the hammer spur is a useful modification for pocket carry, and easily remedied by simply replacing the hammer. I would be concerned that in grinding off the sights, too much material might be removed from the top strap, weakening it. I wouldn't have messed with the front sight, and would probably have rounded off the rear sight rather than removing it entirely, but that's just me. If it has a coil mainspring, replacing it with a Wolf spring will restore reliability. If a leaf spring, it may just need the screw holding it to the frame tightened. Point is it's HIS gun, not Yours, and he had it modified to fit his needs.

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    1. It was done by the guy that my friend got it from. Said friend knows nothing about guns and had no idea that this one was messed up and doesn't shoot. Our range trip was his first time out with it. (Fortunately I brought a back-up gun so he still got to shoot.) He's interested in the repair possibilities...I'm just sad for it.

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  10. It used to be a common thing among police officers, especially detectives, to round of the edges so to speak. All in the name of making it come out of a pocket quickly. No front sight, so what, it was meant as a last ditch belly gun (not necessarily one kept on or near you belly if you get my drift).

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    1. Yeah, I remember. But you do that with a POS .38, not a rare 2&1/2" L-frame. sigh.

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  11. I should add, I would never do that stuff myself. I like most of my guns exactly the way the came from the factory and about the only things I typically change on handguns might be the grips.

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  12. Ouch... That hurts.

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  13. Looks like it would make a good fishing weight. (It's too small to be a boat anchor)

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  14. Weaponsman (RIP) had a good name for folks who mod up perfectly good weapons like this - gunsmites.

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  15. This is a stupid move on Bubba's part

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  16. Actually it's a good belly gun for those who point shoot (but I bet it is heavy.)

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  17. Perhaps the installation of a large shotgun bead would be appropriate at this point!

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    Replies
    1. Good idea. Serrate or checker the top like a shotgun rib and it becomes a belly gun.

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