S&W 325 PD Light Strikes

[ranger7]

I bought a 325 PD several weeks ago, used, but shot very little. Trying to get used to the recoil. I purchased the Hogue "Tamer" grip for the 500 Mag and it helped a lot. Making enough progress in shooting it that I'm thinking of switching back to wood grips of some kind.

After about 300 rounds without problems, I started getting light strikes on my reloads (with Federal primers.) I thought maybe I had a bad batch of primers or did something wrong with the reloads.

I had made sure after the last range session that the firing pin moved smoothly. (Even put a drop of Hoppes in and worked it in for a while.)

Today I tried three brands of commercial/new ammo and they all had several light strikes per 6 round cylinder. Firing pin still seems to move smoothly but doesn't appear to come out very far??

I took the grips off and the strain screw was all the way in. I decided to take out the hammer spring as I have a spare (someplace). The spring came out pretty easy ....but... the little piece it attaches to fell out also.

Is that supposed to be loose? Seems like I changed hammer springs in both my 686 and 625 without this complication.

How do I get this back together or is a trip to S&W in order? I do not want to take the side plate off if at all possible. A detailed diagram might help. My Gun Parts Catalog doesn't show enough detail and it doesn't even look the same. Have things changed with the addition of the lock?

Help.

Alan

 

[Navy joe]

I can't help you on that piece's name, but since I take all my-25s apart anyways,... I can't think of how you could put it back on without pulling the sideplate. You will see how it attaches to the hammer plainly when you do. No business messing with mainsprings if you won't pull the sideplate.

As far as light strikes mine did that too a little.

Assuming you are using moonclips, without which light strikes are worse; get a real firing pin. I ditched the Ti one and put in an extended pin from Cylinder and Slide, minor fitting needed but now with a standard power mainspring it about drives the primer through the flash hole. No real chance of a light strike. Extended pin is now a must have for me with 325s and 625s.

 

[JoeHatley]

Sounds like the stirrup has come off the hammer. The side plate will need to be removed to install it. Actually... the sideplate should be removed to swap the mainspring.

Joe

 

[ranger7]

I've swapped mainsprings a few times without removing the side plate, but the revolvers were made before "the lock." I finally decided to "bite the bullet" and try to get the side plate off. Took out the screws and the side plate lifted off with light finger pressure. Easiest one I ever had. The mainspring that was in the 325 had a raised "dimple" almost the entire length of it. It looked like a Wolff. I wonder whether S&W put a Wolff spring in or it was the previous owner. I had a factory stock spring (flat - no dimple) and I put that in.

Took it to the range today and shot about 100 rounds of various brands of commercial ammo. No light strikes.

The firing pin potrudes about .035" fully depressed. Anyone know if that is enough for reliable ignition?

Alan

 

[Navy joe]

Sounds like someone slipped you a reduced power Wolff, no idea why on a carry gun. My 325 came with a std. flat mainspring NIB, I replaced it with a Wolff standard power just because.

 

[ranger7]

Navy joe,

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering whether 325s came with Wolff mainsprings. Apparently some of the more expensive S&W models do.

The previous owner of my 325 is a saleman in a gun store and had access to the store's resident smith. He never mentioned changing anything but he did comment on how smooth the action was.

Are you happy with the Hiviz front sight. The pin in mine looks like it's been taken out at least once. I've been thinking about replacing it with something a little smaller.

The jury's still out on whether I'm going to keep this thing for carry. Recoil is pretty bad with the stock grips. The S&W/Hogue Tamer grips help a lot but they're big and ugly. I got a Hoffner's IWB holster that's pretty compact but it doesn't seem very comfortable yet. (I hate making somewhat expensive additions to a gun to make it better for carry and then giving up in failure. I can get most of my money back on a used gun but you take a bath on accessories.)

Alan