6904 Reassembly Problem

[Thinny]

Hello. I have a 6904 (purchased in 1990 - I'm the original owner). I've probably put under 2,000 rounds through the gun and I've always really enjoyed it. I just don't shoot it enough. Well, the other day I went to the range, came home, did my cleaning duties, and upon reassembly I ran into a problem I've never had before.

This is the problem: I put the slide onto the rails, and get it all the way onto the frame (of course, carefully depressing those ejector, sear release and firing pin safety levers down as I go). Then, I attempt to pull the slide back to the appropriate position to insert the slide stop, but (and here it he problem) - I cant. The slide is completely locked from any rearward motion.

Now, if I move the slide forward (letting all the pins release) and then back over the pins, it will sometimes engage correctly and I can slide the slide back for full re-assembly. It will work correctly about 1 out of every 15-20 tries.

I'm perplexed. Is this a known issue (maybe a wear issue). Can anyone shed any light on what this gun's problem is?

Thanks for any help folks.

Thomas

[DaveR]

Welcome, hope I can help.

You obviously have experience with this pistol and it does reassemble once out of 15-20 tries. Assuming you have the recoil assembly in OK, I would think spring or part wear of the leavers would make it go on easier.

So when that happens to me the first thing I look at is human error. I have had cases where I couldn't get my 915 or 3913 back together even though I pressed all the leavers down. I my case I had kept the hammer pulled back and the sear release wasn't able to go down all the way. It looked like it was but it was up just a hair. I field strip every week but it still happens sometimes.

If that is doesn't help then there is probably something going on that I couldn't understand either so my apologies. Hope I can learn something too.

Dave

[johnchamp]

& to the forum maybe your recoil guide rod is not lined up just saying hows the recoil spring? and make sure the safety lever is in the up position i hope this helps you john.

[Thinny]

Problem identified.

Well, a bit of progress. I at least can pinpoint the problem. It is the far right pin / lever (when looking from the back of the gun - I think it is the "sear release lever").

I watched the slide assembly / pin depress action very carefully multiple times. I did this with the barrel and recoil spring out of the weapon (for ease). My eye caught something.

The pictures below show my ID of the problem and the work-around for anyone else that has this problem. It works every time.

Question - is this a worn-spring issue? Is it too hard for an amateur to fix?

Thomas

1.jpg2.jpg3.jpg

[DaveR]

Pretty good detective work! You obviously have a good problem solving mind.

I'm guessing that the sideplate with it's pin are not seated properly. The one pin should go thru the extractor, sear release leaver and firing pin saftey. It starts from the opposite side of the pistol so it may not be going thru the last leaver. Refer to this disassembly link. Good pictures.
59 series complete disassembly thread writeup w/pics

You can take the grips off to see if this is the problem without actually doing any other disassembly. If the sideplate pin is walked out a bit that's the problem. It's forked at the end and goes over the sear pin too. Be careful with this whole assembly, they can be difficult to find.

Once you get the grips off you should be able to tell. Let us know what you find.

Edit: Thinking that if the pin is seated properly I suppose the leaver itself could be broken, I've never seen that though.

Dave

[pops]

Excellent post and good pictures Thinny and DaveR. My 6906 is real picky on reassembly so I'll be looking at the alignment of the sear release lever next time I field strip for cleaning. Thanks.

[Thinny]

Just a quick update. I contacted, by e-mail, S&W warranty services and described the problem asking advice. They sent me a FedEx label to send them the gun, and said since I was the original owner they would take a look at it and fix it. That kind of surprised me because I wasn't demanding services and it is often a shock when good customer service happens.

Part of me wants to just roll up my sleeves and get some learning under my belt and fix it myself, but I think I'll send it in (especially since I'll be doing lots of biz travel the next couple of weeks anyway).

I will let you guys know how it turns out and if I get any information back. I expect the gun will be gone for a few weeks.

Thomas

[DaveR]

Thanks for the update. Ill be interested to see what they do to fix it.

I've always had good service from S&W.

Safe travels

Dave