Difficult Thumb Piece S&W Model 36

[DeltaDagger]

My wife has arthritis and now has difficulty operating the Thumb Piece to open the cylinder on her S&W Model 36-7 (5-shot .38 S&W Special, 1.8-inch barrel) I have cleaned and lubed all the pieces attached to the Thumb Piece and the Extractor (rod), but not much improvement.

I have a 6-inch barrel Model 66 in stainless and the Thumb Piece on it (same basic design) is much easier to operate.

The Thumb Piece is the sloped serrated style, so it's not a matter of her thumb slipping, it's strictly about overcoming the spring loads on the Extractor with an arthritic thumb.

Q: Should I have at cleaning and lubing the two springs operating on/against the Extractor or is that a job for a Gunsmith?
Q: Anyone with experience cutting a half coil off either or both the springs (don't want the cylinder opening by accident)?
Q: Any other suggestions / ideas?
Q: How hard is it to operate the Thumb Piece on a new Airweight?

Thanks...

[cannon]

Can the spring tension be relaxed?

[Ron-Solo]

That spring tension is needed to keep the cylinder in battery. I don't recommend messing with it.

The Model 36 and its stainless brother, the Model 60, were the backbone of back up guns for decades.

The small frame and short barrel are not optimum for home defense. It is a shove it in your attackers belly and squeeze. This is why it was popular as a LE backup, where you are fighting to regain control of your primary weapon.

My wife also has arthritis issues in her hand. She has difficulty racking the slide on any of my semi auto pistols, and never liked shooting a 2" revolver because it hurt her hand. I got her a 4" barrel Smith and Wesson K Frame Model 67. For some reason, the cylinder release button is easier to operate on a full size revolver. She does not have any issue shooting it with +P loads.

Check out Ruger revolvers. They open slightly different. Find what works for her. The grip shape on the Rugers is different too. They make quality double action revolvers.

Best of luck. Check out ranges that rent guns to help her decide.

[Barbarosa]

First make sure the ejector rod is screwed down tight. I believe older models were left-hand thread but I don't know about a -7. Check to see if the release is still tight with the cylinder open. It will be in the forward position but you should be able to move it back and forth to see if it is binding. If it is OK then the issue is with the plunger (I'm sure there is a proper name for it).

I've got a 642 and my wife has a 317; both require a lot more thumb pressure to open than my older, well-worn Smiths.

[SoCal Bob]

I second what Ron-Solo said about checking out Ruger revolvers, especially because of their style of cylinder release.

Open the cylinder on your Smith, now push the thumb release and see if the bolt (aka cylinder catch #22) is flush with the back wall or slightly recessed. I had a couple of Smiths that were hard to open and saw that my bolts were slightly recessed, meaning the center pin (#2) was still catching on the back wall. I removed the thumb piece and, using a fine stone, removed a very small amount from the bottom that fits into the channel on the side closest to the cylinder allowing it to travel further in the channel. This allowed the bolt to move flush with the back wall and the center pin now moved freely when the thumb piece was pushed.

I stoned a little from the thumb piece base, screwed the thumb piece back on, tried it, and repeated the process until the bolt was flush with the back wall and the cylinder opened easily.

Here is a link to a Numrich schematic to make sure we are on the same page: http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufact...tm?results=All

[ojisan]

^ I did the same thing to my 642.
It works much better now.

['ol shooter]

Hogue makes this to fit K,L,N frames. Maybe it could be adapted or you could do this to your existing one.

[DeltaDagger]

Thanks to all - I see a some good ideas here and I will certainly check the cylinder catch (bolt) clearance, Ruger models, and that crazy looking Houge Thumb Piece extension.