Unreliable 686!! Light strikes (solved - thanks for your inputs)

[orangeusa]

Yes, an oxymoron - unreliable 686. I bought a -2 (almost unused) and had a local smith clean it and do a minor trigger job. Gun is perfect for me.

Bought a -1 several months later - asked same smith to do the same thing. This time he charged me 3 times the price and the SA trigger is like 2.5 pounds. Not what I would call a mild trigger job.

Shot the -1 yesterday and today. Got 10-30% no fires (there WERE significant strikes in the primer on first shot, but no BLAMMO). Had to shoot two times to get most of the Winchester .357 ammo to fire. The ammo was Winchester .357 bought the night before. I even had failures with 38spl reloads. (1 out of 20 or so).

I am not a happy camper. Revolvers are not supposed to fail.

If I bring it back to my smith, he'll probably say it was a risk I was taking by having the trigger modified.

Any ideas? OH - ALL of the light strikes were when I was shooting DA.

I'm thinking worst case - I find a REAL gun expert, and ask him to return the -1 to STOCK, close my eyes and pay the bill.

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[alland]

Check the strain screw and make sure it is all the way in.

[orangeusa]

I'll check both guns. Gosh I hope that's the problem....

Shot with my buddy who JUST bought a Colt Python - I was hoping to outshoot him (which I did), but was getting these light strikes and I was hopping mad..

Thanks - will keep you posted.

[G-Man WC]

My first question is who's your smith that's giving you grief?
A pin protrusion gauge is a something every smith should have in the tool box.
If you have two differant trigger pulls on the same revolver and he's not charging you the same amount for doing the same job twice, I'm not sure I'd continue to use his service. -g

[orangeusa]

The guy works at a gun shop I respect, had never used him before...

Had always figured out my own issues, but as my first expensive wheelgun, figured I'd let him work on it.

But yeah - I was stunned at the difference in price. Esp since I thought it was the same treatment. Basically - lube an older low round gun and do a 'mild' trigger cleanup...

He and I will be talking tomorrow. I hope it's just a simple adjustment.

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[c good]

Hope he didn't polish off too much of the double action sear or trigger. This will cause the hammer to drop too early. If it drops too early it does not have enough inertia to reliably ignite the primer. If it is reliable in single action, and the strain screw is all the in and tight then he may have to install a new hammer or trigger or both. HTH c good

[G-Man WC]

Hope it gets sorted out and he takes care of you. -g

The guy works at a gun shop I respect, had never used him before...

Had always figured out my own issues, but as my first expensive wheelgun, figured I'd let him work on it.

But yeah - I was stunned at the difference in price. Esp since I thought it was the same treatment. Basically - lube an older low round gun and do a 'mild' trigger cleanup...

He and I will be talking tomorrow. I hope it's just a simple adjustment.

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[eaglemike]

A lot of people cut material from the tip of the strain screw. Don't know if he did, but first thing to look at after making sure it's all the way tight. If this was done, it's not too hard to remove a little material from the underside of the head of this screw. It likely would't take much. Sometimes only .010 makes the difference between reliability and mis-fires.

Good luck!

[orangeusa]

Thanks guys, I'll compare the two guns and see what is up. Don't ask why I bought a -2 and a -1 within months of each other - I still don't know.. Semi-Noob Wheelgun fever??? haha

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[orangeusa]

Okay - the SA trigger is similar on both.

The -1 (trouble gun) doesn't lock into SA as smoothly or cleanly as the -2. BUT neither had issues with soft strikes in SA. BUT the hammer is a LOT further back than when shooting DA.

In DA, -1 gun doesn't seem to go HALF as far back as SA position.

In DA, -2 gun goes a big further back. (Subjective, yes).

So seems DA release is not correct - on EITHER gun..

THIS IS WHY I WENT TO A SMITH INSTEAD OF DORKING WITH IT MYSELF!

I'll look at the strain screw next...

(thanks for your posts...)

[saki302]

If he screwed with the screw, order a new one from Numrich and put it in yourself.

-Dave

[missiondude]

Send it to Randy Lee at Apex. He is the man for S&W revolver work west of the Mississippi... He worked over both my revolvers and tuned them to the brand of ammo I am shooting. Good guy, great shop.

[orangeusa]

Where is Apex?

[kcstott]

Nope don't send it to anybody. Take it back to the shop you got it from.

Please point out to the management that they have a person working for them that is going to get someone hurt.
This Smith made a few mistakes.
1. The pistols were not to your expectations
2. They were never checked for proper function with live ammo
3. Trigger pull was set to light.
4. Huge price jump with no explanation???

The big issue is two and three above. Those two issue can put someone in jail or cause a huge wrongful death lawsuit that shuts them down.

Now most would say I'm crazy to take something to someone that just fouled it up. Wrong. The only way to teach him and show his boss he fouled up is to walk in there and complain. Because the true measure of a man is not the quality of work he produces but how he handles the inevitable mistakes that we humans make.

If he stands behind his work fixes the issues and make you happy. He's a good smith.
If he tries to say "That was a risk you took" thats BS as there are many other prominent Smiths out there that will not only perform a trigger job but they will fully warranty it and if a mistake is made they will fix it free.
If he can not or will not fix the issues then request new stock part be installed at his cost or at the worst cases scenario inform him you intend to send it to another smith have it done correctly and send the bill to him as it is not your fault to have to fix his foul up.

Be firm but polite when speaking to them. let them get pissed off and out of control, that will show you what kind of a person they are.
I really hope this guy makes good on this and takes care of you. if not then post his name and shop all over this board and let the chips fall where they may.

I stand behind every job I do, Every part I install, Every piece I make. I take pride in my work and wish more would do the same.

[orangeusa]

Smith 1, orange 0..

Well, your advice was spot on. It was ME (I) who fouled up.

So today, went to the LGS. The smith was really nice, explained how the internals worked, and adjusted the strain screw, lubed a few parts (I think). The trigger is even more to my liking. He even ground my aftermarket wood grips to make them fit properly.

And I was WRONG on the price (he charged me just for cleaning on the first gun) and charged me for cleaning and trigger job on the 2nd gun. We're not talking a lot of money here..

The smith told me when I picked it up to adjust the strain screw and I forgot. At the time, I was thinking - no biggie, should work fine. I didn't shoot it for at least a month later.

So, am eating a little crow, nom, nom.. But am happy.

Thanks for your posts - at least I was able to explain the problem better when I brought it in.

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