Trigger group jumped out of place?

bigalexe · Jun 25, 2013

Ok this thread is kind of a general survey. If it were just a repair thread I'd have thrown it into the handgun forum. I'm curious in general if this has happened to anyone else and what caused or might cause it to happen. Also how do I prevent it happening again?

I have a S&W 22A pistol that I got 2 years ago. After the first year and 3-4k rounds the frame split in half and I sent it back and had it replaced. I've had it back a year and about 2k rounds since then. Last night I was shooting bullseye and on the second set I pull the trigger and get nothing. No resistance at all so first thing is to check the safety and yes it's off. I tried 3 more rounds cycling manually and still nothing. I tear it down at home and what I found is that the entire trigger group for the pistol sits on a plate that is mounted to the frame somehow. That plate has detached itself from the frame and is out of position... no wonder the gun won't fire because the linkages aren't lined up. So then I popped it back in and it worked again on my dummy rounds without a problem.

Anyone else get a similar problem?

Sam1911 · Jun 25, 2013

More of a gunsmithing and repairs kind of question. (So, moved.)

That sort of thing is going to be highly specific to the model of gun you're shooting. I have no idea how the internals of a 22A attach to the frame, but if they can break loose and shift out of alignment, no doubt they aren't going to make the gun fire.

That would be (another) immediate trip to S&W, for me. A gun with a frame that breaks in half, and that (after repair/replacement) lets the fire control group go adrift wouldn't be a gun I'd want in my safe or holster. I'd check S&W forums to see if this is a known common problem.

If so, there are much more reliable and extremely accurate .22 autos out there.

Jim K · Jun 25, 2013

It sounds like the spring plate on the left side jumped out of position. Without seeing the gun, I really would have a hard time telling you how to get it back in. There is no "trigger group" as usually understood, but that plate holds things in and is held in by tabs that go inside the side of the frame. The plate itself retains and provides detents for the manual safety. It is an ingenious and very frustrating system, which is probably why a check of several "how to" U-Tubes don't show any that go beyond field stripping. (There are a bunch and I didn't check all of them, so maybe some do.)

Jim

bigalexe · Jun 26, 2013

Thanks that was exactly the piece I was talking about. I call it a trigger group as a general name for any gun when what I mean is "Yeah all the springy parts that make the gun work that I don't want to ever touch." I was actually able to push the plate sideways a little bit back into place as it had moved very little but it was just enough to shut me down at the time. Mostly my concern is if I run the risk of a repeated failure of a similar nature... maybe JB weld the plate to the frame?

Jim K · Jun 26, 2013

IIRC, the spring plate also holds in the trigger bar, so if that moves outward the gun won't work. And the grip helps hold the spring plate in place, so it has to be tight.

Those guns were apparently designed by the same folks who gave us the Escort, another nightmare to work on.

Just FWIW, the frames on those guns were made an interesting way. S&W bought aluminum alloy already extruded in the general shape of the gun, then sliced off pieces with a power saw, like slicing a loaf of bread. The "slices" were then machined to produce the gun frames.

Jim

Trigger group jumped out of place?

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