Detail stripping S&W 6906

[Rob P.]

I can field strip my Smith & Wesson 6906 just fine. What I can't do is detail strip it.

The exploded diagram is NO HELP. Anyone know of any CD/DVD or book which has step-by-step information? Especially I would like to get the firing pin out of the slide to clean in there. I'd also like a look (NO touchie) at the trigger sear surfaces to see if a trigger job is needed or if I have to put up with the gritty feeling.

I haven't fired a lot of rounds through this one (maybe a couple hundred) so it may not be that dirty but I'd rather keep it clean and corrosion free.

Help?

[WKC]

Try AGI. I have a SW 659 which, I believe, is an older version of the 6906. I have detailed stripped my 659. The slide is a bit tricky due to the safety holding the firing pin in.

From my experience with the 659 in the single action mode, the draw bar makes contact with the bottom of the hammer during the long stroke while taking up the slack. The contact surface on the hammer is roughly machined making a real gritty feel. I had to put a stone to that surface to smooth it out. The sear and hammer engagement can only be worked properly if you have a Power Series I jig. There are no other commercially available jig for the sear.

[WKC]

In order to get the Firing pin out, you have to depress the end of the firing pin beyond the safety and then withdraw it to the left. (This assumes you took off the ambi safety on the right side.) Once the manual safety is out, you will have to depress the FP safety to let the FP come out the back. This is a painful operation and I do not do this often. I normally just shoot gun scrubber in followed by can air to dry it off. Then a drop of CLP for corrosion protection.

The frame is a little easier to deal with. The problem is getting all the levers to line up when you insert the hammer pin. Your first step to stripping the frame is to drive out mainspring retaining pin (#24). Once this is out, the grip will come off along with the main spring and plunger. The tension is now released off the hammer and the hammer pin (which is attached to the side plate assembly #57). Be prepared for a bunch of levers to drop. There are two little springs (#13) in the frame. Don't let those go missing on you. The sear pin and sear can also come out but there is no need to pull the sear spring. The disconnector (#6) will drop out either with the hammer or the sear.

To pull the drawbar (#7) you will need to drive out the trigger pin (#66).

To see where the trigger is making the gritty feel, look at how the drawbar makes contact with the hammer while in the single action mode. You can best see this after you pull the mainspring retaining pin out and drop the grip. Start with the hammer down in the DA mode. Observe where the drawbar makes contact with the hammer. This is where the drawbar grabs the hammer for the DA mode. Now cock the hammer to the SA mode and note where the drawbar makes contact with the hammer. It is forward of the DA contact point. The drawbar drags on this surface of the hammer before the forward part of the drawbar hits the sear to release the hammer. I suspect this is the source of the gritty feel you are noticing.

[Rob P.]

Well, I took it all the way down to itty bitty parts today. Thanks to WKC for the synopsis of the firing pin sequence. It really helped and you do need three hands and a right angle monkey wrench to pull the safety and get the pin out.

It was not too bad to pull the frame apart and put back together again. No left over pieces either. It was pretty cruddy inside the FP housing. Not nasty but everything was brown and gooey. I scrubbed it and wiped until it was clean. I may still pull it apart soon and spray some cleaner in there or soak it as I'm concerned that the brown color was from corrosion and not burned powder & cleaner combined with grease/oil. Ain't paranoia wunnerful?

The sear and trigger stuff looked smooth but not polished. I greased it up and it's better but still moderately awful feeling. Not so gritty but.... I'll probably send it in for a trigger job. Some day anyway.

Anyway, thanks again to WKC for the assistance.

[DVSmith]

Great post WKC! Thanks!

[WKC]

I am happy to help. That's what the forum is all about. .

[mjregi]

I am a big fan of the AGI dvd manuals. They are very informative and well thought out.

AGI - Home