I had planned to shoot this match with my S&W 625 - as has been the case for the last 6 to 8 months, however, Agent Smith has inspired me.

 

He sought some advice on this board and then followed through and is about to embark on his first experience shooting a revolver at an IDPA match. He will be shooting a S&W 686 in which he has installed a lighter rebound and main spring.

 

On April 30th I picked up my new (to me) S&W 586, chambered in .38 Special, with the intention of performing some light mods to make it more suitable for IDPA. Those mods, originally, were just going to be springs, as Agent Smith had done.

 

When I got the gun (bought it sight unseen from a friend) I tried the trigger and it was among the worst DA trigger I have encountered on a Smith, so it sat in the safe these last two weeks. After reading about Agent Smith's intentions, I figured it wouldn't be right for him to "go it" alone tomorrow, so I grabbed the 586 and a bunch of necessary tools etc, and decided it was time to test my skills beyond replacing springs.

 

I got in over my head, but I am glad to report that the gun is back together and there are no leftover parts. I did find that there are a bunch of small hidden springs, that our buddy, Larry Potterfield fails to

mention. The most onerous of those, a small spring call the hand torsion spring in the trigger. This little bugger required three hands, a shoelace and an allen wrench to get back in place, so I had to wait for my GF to come home and lend the third hand.

 

So I stoned the trigger and double action sear mating surfaces, installed a 14# rebound spring and a reduced power main spring and after struggling with the side plate for a bit, managed to button it up.

 

Vast improvement - just a seat of the pants guess but probably reduced pull by three pounds and, more importantly, a smooth, uniform pull all the way through.

 

I have never shot this gun. I have no idea where the sights are pointing. I haven't worked with speedloaders since some bowling pin matches of the early 70's and I have no idea if the lightened mainspring will ignite the ammo I intend to use (less worried about that than the other factors), but here I go, using it in tomorrow's match. Last time I shot an untested gun in competition, it did not end well (Steyr), but call me crazy, I have high hopes for this time out.

 

So, Agent Smith, you will have company in SSR tomorrow - please don't humiliate me too badly.

 

See you there.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

Nice to hear Bob, glad to hear you are starting to dabble in the revolver gunsmithing.

Next time you need to get the hand spring back in, place it upside down on your table ( bottom open side up ) sit it its proper place, get the hand started but dont let it protrude into the middle part, use a punch about the size of the opening in the trigger, push down real hard, and push the hand in.

I struggled alot with that little bugger alot when I started, now I can ussually do it in one shot...

be careful when you lift the punch up , keep your hand over it... if the spring didnt catch it will want to rocket to the darkest deepest depths of the corners of your room never to be found again.

14# rebound is little heavy ? ( but better then stock ) How does the reset feel? did you measure the DA pull yet?

14# was the middle choice in the Wolff kit - it comes with 13#, 14# and 15#.

 

I don't have a trigger pull gauge - not sure I really want to know. For me, it's more about "feel" and smoothness, than trying to obtain a specific weight of pull. This gun's trigger now feels very much like my 646.

 

I picked-up the shoestring / torsion spring trick on You Tube. The shoestring is just used to keep the spring in place, once you manage to get the short leg in the hole and the body in the recess. An allen wrench is used to depress the long leg while inserting the hand. The allen wrench needs to be of a size that the opposite flats just fit within the walls of the trigger, thus not allowing the leg of the spring to slip past it. Same idea as your punch, but the flats have more bearing surface and provide a larger barrier to bypass. Probably could have done with two hands if my vice was easily accessible (buried with junk).

 

I have more trepidation about using speedloaders than anything else - got spoiled with moonclips.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

14# was the middle choice in the Wolff kit - it comes with 13#, 14# and 15#.

 

I don't have a trigger pull gauge - not sure I really want to know. For me, it's more about "feel" and smoothness, than trying to obtain a specific weight of pull. This gun's trigger now feels very much like my 646.

 

I picked-up the shoestring / torsion spring trick on You Tube. The shoestring is just used to keep the spring in place, once you manage to get the short leg in the hole and the body in the recess. An allen wrench is used to depress the long leg while inserting the hand. The allen wrench needs to be of a size that the opposite flats just fit within the walls of the trigger, thus not allowing the leg of the spring to slip past it. Same idea as your punch, but the flats have more bearing surface and provide a larger barrier to bypass. Probably could have done with two hands if my vice was easily accessible (buried with junk).

 

I have more trepidation about using speedloaders than anything else - got spoiled with moonclips.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

I thought you were kidding about the shoe string, lol.

 

link to said video?

Bob,

 

Although I'm NOT registered to shoot the Match tomorrow (the 19th), I can bring-along my 586 that I used the last time we shot together, as a back-up for you (although I doubt that you lightened the hammer so much as to impede ignition).  A friend did a trigger job on her over 2 decades ago, and she lights-off all factory-standard ammo, so if you want the back-up just let me know!

 

I'm planning on attending just to see and mentor friends already registered and to help tape.

 

Rosey

Rosey,

 

I really appreciate the offer, but I have full faith in that what I did will work. As I said, the trigger is more smooth than light. Light was comparatively speaking with the original - which was atrocious. If I were you, I'd bring it, and the rest of your gear, along anyway - there were open slots and even some of those spoken for may pull a no show. A little SSR conclave?

 

Alec:

 

Here you go...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBhZ0SibaCU

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

All this talk almost makes me want to jump into the SSR fray.

Bring it on!

All this talk almost makes me want to jump into the SSR fray.

 H&K makes revolvers?

Wow bob, he really over complicated the reinstallation, if we ever have the opertunity, i'll show you the method I do, takes 30 seconds ( assuming you have some tweezers to sit the spring in and a punch )

 

enjoy the match

Bump!

 

I registered for the Match, so me and my 586 will be there to punch some holes in cardboard!

 

Rosey

How'd she perform bob ?

How'd she perform bob ?

Better than I did. Ran flawlessly and the sights were right on, so couldn't ask for more. Only bobbled one reload badly - and it cost me a head shot because I was hurrying. Results aren't out yet - just hope I beat my son. LOL.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob