Relax you guys- I'm a mechanical engineer who's been doing all my own car, gun, and bike work since 1983.
Incidentally, by the time you got started in '83 I already had some 30 years of experience...
John Browning, the famous firearms inventor, used to explain to folks that he wasn’t an engineer – HE WAS A MECHANIC!
Anyway, a Smith & Wesson revolver is a different kind of animal, and if you make a mistake you can damage or even ruin it. There are some things that they didn’t teach you at engineering school.
Hint: those sideplate screws are supposed to go back in exactly the same holes they came out of, and because the sideplate is precisely fitted it should never be removed unless absolutely necessary, and then the fewer times the better. It is not usually necessary to remove the plate to lubricate the lockwork.
If you go back to the “Handguns: Revolvers” sub-forum you will find illustrated instructions on how to disassemble a Smith & Wesson revolver – including your pre-model 18. This is not a suggestion that you do it, just to see how it is done.
Be it cars or revolvers, the right tools are a must, and for the latter you will find what’s necessary at
www.brownells.com
Go to
www.smith-wesson.com and you can get a copy of the owner’s manual for your Smith & Wesson. Download it in .PDF format. It includes an exploded view drawing. For much more detailed and inclusive information, buy a copy of:
The S&W Revolver – A Shop Manual, by Jerry Kuhnhausen (also available from Brownells).