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469 Safety/decocker lever issue

7.1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  gtracer66  
#1 ·
I'm new to this forum but I do go on the Ampersand regularly.

I just came back from the range today. When I started to clean my 469, I noticed that the right side safety/de-cocker lever was loose. I didn't think much about it and got an Allen wrench out to tighten it. I figured I could put some blue Lock-tight to prevent this from happening in the future. But then I noticed that the Left side lever would not move. Essentially, I had no way to de-cock the gun.

I disassembled the gun but upon inspection, I could find nothing that looked abnormal in the slide.

Has anyone else had problems with the safety lever "freezing" on them after shooting? Before this trip to the range, the lever worked (from both sides) without any problems. Is there anything I can do short of taking it to a gunsmith?

This is my EDC gun. My only other options (for EDC) without the 469 is a Kel-Tec P3AT OR my Walther P-38. So I'm anxious to get the 469 back in working order.
 
#2 ·
Call S&W tomorrow. I was concerned about the safety/decocker on my 669 and they checked the serial number and it is okay. They said they had a run of about 6 weeks in 1986 were there was an issue that was corrected by a re-call. I was told even though it is out of warranty, since it was a safety defect, they would fix free.
 
#3 ·
Thanks Watchguy. I checked for the recall before I purchased the gun. It was not on the list. I was able to compare it with another same model that was subject to the recall. Mine did not have the problem. My problem is that the lever seems frozen. The recall has to do (from what I read) with how the decocker works. Until yesterday, mine worked perfectly.
 
#4 ·
Have you tried to take it out of the gun? I believe that there is a detent pin that holds the setting. Could be that the pin/spring assembly got crunched somehow during recoil. If you do remove it, I would suggest putting the slide assembly in a large ziplock bag while you perform the procedure. It keeps the springs from launching into orbit.
Good luck.
 
#6 ·
OK guys! I didn't feel confident in trying to disassemble the slide (as Scott suggested), so I took it back to the store where I got it. I figured they had a gunsmith (or knew of one). The guys at the store looked at it and seemed stymied, but then "piddled" with it for a couple hours and Voila, they got it working again. They said it might have somehow gotten some "goop" in there, despite my cleaning it. Don't know how or what that would have been, but it works again. Since I bought it there (Take Aim Guns, Palm Harbor, FL) there was no charge for the tinkering. Now I don't have to carry my heavy artillery and can get back to summer carry mode.