Gunsmithing Question

Question
Hello Mark,

I have a Smith and Wesson K-Frame revolver. I recently ordered a new main spring and rebound spring to reduce the trigger pull weight.

Of course, after taking it apart and putting it back together the gun isn't working. I guess that's why the owner's manual says in big letters "DON'T TAKE APART YOUR DANG GUN!"

I'm including a link to an image of all the parts of this particular gun.

When I pull the trigger, the cylinder only rotates sometimes. What it looks like is happening is that the hand (part 34) pushes up the cylinder but when it falls back down afterwards it's not perfectly aligned.

I watched a Youtube video of disassembling and reassembling this gun. The video is included below as well. At 15:30, the guy making the video is doing SOMETHING to attach the hand to the trigger itself. He says "Hopefully I get it right in" and then jiggles it a bit to get the piece properly into place. However, on mine when I connect the hand to the trigger it just goes right into place. There's no click, no resistance, and no spring that it's actually touching. Is the hand itself suppose to be connected to a spring? If so, the most logical explanation for my problem would seem that a piece fell out and I didn't see it.

If that isn't the case - my next question is how far is the hand pin (part 35) suppose to be into the hand itself? Right now it sits flush (which seems right) but in my observation it seems as though the piece would stay better aligned if the hand pin were a bit longer, or in this case a bit further outside the hand itself. I tried pushing the pin out a small amount but it wouldn't move and I didn't want to push it if it wasn't suppose to.

If you could provide any insight, I would greatly appreciate it.


See the part at 15:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78YecqRm_fs

http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sw-nframe.gif

Answer
I am really against people doing home gun smithing on revolvers.

( I would never buy a used 1911 pistol because they very commonly have been "improved" by someone who read about it in a magazine one time...)

I HAVE replaced a mainspring on an N frame Smith..it took me at least 5 attempts to get the spring installed correctly and I have been doing this for several decades.

I do not mean to jump on you personally, because I read about this stuff all the time - "I just got my first revolver and took it all apart and polished up the surfaces..." This is one great reason to THOROUGHLY check every used revolver you buy. I have seen that video, too, and the guy who made it is responsible for a lot of business for real gunsmiths fixing bad "repairs"...

These guns are assembled by people who KNOW what they are doing, and they are NOT MEANT TO BE "IMPROVED" AT HOME!!!

Most REAL gunsmiths today have little idea how to do internal repairs on revolvers...there are maybe a half dozen people in the USA who can actually repair a Colt double action.

Put the gun in a bag and take it to a GOOD smith who can fix it and never remove the side plate to another revolver again.

This is a learning experience if nothing else.