Trigger work

[bilmac]

I bought a M31 at a garage sale the other day. It was a little underpriced and I intended to make a little profit on it. Then I made the mistake of takeing it to the range. This is the first tiny gun that I have ever been able to shoot straight and it has fixed sites that shoot right too which also never happens for me. So I guess I'll have to keep it.

Another surprise aabout this gun though is that the SA pull is not good, it creeps. This is the first S&W I've shot that didn't have an excellent SA letoff. I fact I consider the S&W SA trigger pull as the standard against which I judge all other pistols and rfiles. If it as good as a S&W it's good enough.

Does anybody do action work on S&W revolvers anymore? Used to be when cops all shot 6 shooters there were lots of good folks working on them, now I doubt it. Ideally I'd like to find a man in Wyoming.

[Graybeard]

I'd return it to S&W and let them do it after all as you say that's about as good as it gets or certainly as good as anyone needs a trigger to be the way they leave the factory.

The trigger and hammer on the S&W guns are only case hardened and way too many folks think of them selves as shade tree gunsmiths and try to work on them improperly. The case hardening is only a very few thousands of an inch deep and if you stone or file on them you are most likely gonna go too deeply and remove that hardening and then the actions quickly get horrible. Yours may have had such treatment and if so will need replacement parts to be fixed correctly.

The S&W is so common most any gunsmith worthy of the title should be able to do a decent and proper action job on it if you just gotta keep it in WY but I'd ship it off to S&W if it were mine.

[bilmac]

Thanks for the advice. Back when there were lots of smiths working on S&Ws mostly what they were doing was tuneing up the DA pull. I'll bet you're right, something has gone wrong with this gun and it may take some serious work. Still not sure I want to spend much money on it, I really don't know what I need it for. After trying a few different loads, I shot 5 rds in 2.5" at 25 yds, about as good as I'm capable of. 

[S.B.]

try g.g.williams@mindspring.com.

[Davemuzz]

but I'd ship it off to S&W if it were mine.

+1

[S.B.]

S&W won't work on anything made before 1957, I think is their cutoff date? A custom smith is his only option. By the way, Gene Williams is NO shade tree mechanic! He is a highly respected gunsmith who specializes in older S&Ws and a master gunsmith.

[SharonAnne]

Try Nelson Ford at www.thegunsmith.com  He is a member of the American Pistol Smith Guild. He does my S&W work.