S&W Model 4046TSW questions.

[SquirrelOverThere]

First post, short time lurker etc... Glad we got that out of the way.

So a few months ago I wondered into my local gun shop and ended up walking out with not what I was shopping for. Walked out with a used LEO Smith and Wesson 40 tactical model 4046. Felt good in my hand, and besides the grime and sweat build up, the only damage was holster wear. The barrel looked as if it wasn't fired for some time. I cleaned it quite well once I got home.

I have some questions that I could not find on the forum nor the almighty Google. Excuse my format of question to explaining to answer as I find it the most direct. Are you direct?

Where is a reliable source of parts for this firearm?--- Numrich/Gunpartscorp seem to be the only one I can find, and the products offered are limited.

Are there any parts that are cross compatible, mainly recoil springs and rods and magazine springs?--- The gun fires great, eats everything I've put through it (no reloads, only factory) however one magazine fails to put the last round into battery (nose dive).

Does this firearm get dirty more quickly than others?--- I understand it's steel on steel on steel but after 100 rounds, I can literally see the black nasty on the rails and from where the slide and frame meet on the rear by the dovtail.

I absolutely love this gun, my only other pistol I own is a SCCY CPX-2 in 9mm. I've been shooting rifles and shotguns since I was a wee bastard and shot pistols here and there but I was too young to form proper memory. I use prolix as a lube and CLP "gun scrubber" to clean on the Smith.

Any information provided would be greatly appreciated! I'm not a stickler for other tricks of the trade or constructive criticism. I'll say it here and clear, I use ball bearing grease on my Yugo Mauser when hunting in the summer.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

The 3rd Gen Smith autos have a good reputation for overall reliability and durability- it's unlikely you will wear it out or break it.

That said, spare parts have been problematic, S&W made alot of spares when the pistols were hot back in the '90s but used them up slowly over the years to support continued low-level production until recently.

We see the same thing in the car business. Auto makers will fire production back up for limited runs if they have too many unused parts laying around for warranty repairs and such. As a result, spares can get hard to find even on cars that are only a few years old.

 

[JTQ]

Does this firearm get dirty more quickly than others?--- I understand it's steel on steel on steel but after 100 rounds, I can literally see the black nasty on the rails and from where the slide and frame meet on the rear by the dovtail.

I absolutely love this gun, my only other pistol I own is a SCCY CPX-2 in 9mm. I've been shooting rifles and shotguns since I was a wee bastard and shot pistols here and there but I was too young to form proper memory. I use prolix as a lube and CLP "gun scrubber" to clean on the Smith.

Probably because it is stainless it looks like it gets dirtier.

Are you using a product called Gun Scrubber CLP? I did a quick search and the only Gun Scrubber I'm aware of is a degreaser.

Prolix, while I've not used it, is I believe a CLP. If you are using Break Free CLP (most folks mean the Break Free product when they say CLP) as a "gun scrubber", you are basically using two CLP's, one to clean and one to lube. I don't see the advantage to that. I'm a big fan of CLP's, but they don't all play well together. I'd pick one and stick with it.

 

[SquirrelOverThere]

That statement is entirely my fault. The company is Birchwood Casey. Labeled "gun scrubber" the Prolix i have on hand and use is Prolix Lubricant "total gun care product". Thank you for the correction!

But now I'm questioning Prolix. I mean yea, it cleans but as a lube and cleaner?

 

[SquirrelOverThere]

I think that answers the grit of my questions. Parts are hard to come by, the gun is clean but I need to find a different lubricant, and parts are "discontinued". I really like this gun, not going to get rid of it, but I'm definitely going to invest into something.... Modern. I appreciate both y'all! Thank you so much, I knew I made a right decision with this forum as nobody touted something is better than something else. I think I'm gonna stick around.

 

[JTQ]

That statement is entirely my fault. The company is Birchwood Casey. Labeled "gun scrubber" the Prolix i have on hand and use is Prolix Lubricant "total gun care product". Thank you for the correction!

But now I'm questioning Prolix. I mean yea, it cleans but as a lube and cleaner?

Gun Scrubber is a degreaser. It takes every bit of lube off your gun. Think of a fry pan, if you don't use something to lube the pan, butter, oil, grease, stuff will stick to the pan.

If you are going to run a degreaser, you really need to be extra vigilant that you are replacing lube in every place on the gun that the degreaser removed it. If you don't get all the lube back, you are subject to rust, or perhaps debris (fouling etc.) sticking to your gun and making it harder to remove.

Lots of folks think CLP's are stupid beyond belief. How could one product Clean, Lubricate, and Protect. Conversely, I'm a CLP fan and think degreasing a gun, that I spent some time, effort, and money to put lube on, is just not a good idea. With a CLP, the debris is kept from sticking to the gun, and most of it is simply wiped off with a dry rag. A tough spot, add a little CLP and scrub a bit. Finally, add a little more CLP to lube before you put the gun back together and you're done.

I ran into this a few days back to share in another thread, but here is a guy using a CLP, in this case SLIP2000, to clean his SIG P320 after shooting 6,000 rounds through the gun. For the most part, the crud just wiped off with a towel.

http://www.slip2000.com/blog/

 

[Havok7416]

For the springs check Wolff gun springs. They make springs for many guns including the 3rd Gen S&Ws.

 

[Tallball]

I've found odd pistol magazines on eBay before.

 

[Bama59]

I use old school Hoopes9 on my stainless frame and barrel and let it soak for awhile and finish up with Rem Oil . I also agree with others for Wolff springs recoil and mag springs also parts MidwayUSA and Brownell's ,Lucky gunner chart for 2nd & 3rd gen pistols .

 

[SquirrelOverThere]

I use old school Hoopes9 on my stainless frame and barrel and let it soak for awhile and finish up with Rem Oil . I also agree with others for Wolff springs recoil and mag springs also parts MidwayUSA and Brownell's ,Lucky gunner chart for 2nd & 3rd gen pistols .
View attachment 918574 View attachment 918575

I might try that soak method. I've lubed (probably over lubed) the "DA" portion of the frame as that's where I saw the most contact with steel on steel. Definitely going to go through the gun again on Monday since it's my only day off.

Gun Scrubber is a degreaser. It takes every bit of lube off your gun. Think of a fry pan, if you don't use something to lube the pan, butter, oil, grease, stuff will stick to the pan.

If you are going to run a degreaser, you really need to be extra vigilant that you are replacing lube in every place on the gun that the degreaser removed it. If you don't get all the lube back, you are subject to rust, or perhaps debris (fouling etc.) sticking to your gun and making it harder to remove.

Lots of folks think CLP's are stupid beyond belief. How could one product Clean, Lubricate, and Protect. Conversely, I'm a CLP fan and think degreasing a gun, that I spent some time, effort, and money to put lube on, is just not a good idea. With a CLP, the debris is kept from sticking to the gun, and most of it is simply wiped off with a dry rag. A tough spot, add a little CLP and scrub a bit. Finally, add a little more CLP to lube before you put the gun back together and you're done.

I ran into this a few days back to share in another thread, but here is a guy using a CLP, in this case SLIP2000, to clean his SIG P320 after shooting 6,000 rounds through the gun. For the most part, the crud just wiped off with a towel.

http://www.slip2000.com/blog/

I literally soaked every part and wiped it down with patches and glob mobs. She was cleaner than an unmentionable. Im kinda leaning toward @JTQ on their comment referring the stainless steel looking dirty when it's not. I mean, it's not polymer and I didn't take that into consideration due to me having mostly wood and black/blue steel firearms. Now I know not to buy a white truck again. Its all making sense now.

 

[SquirrelOverThere]

Hey I figured out how to reply to a post! However its all backwards how I wanted it to be. My solution will be> Soak in CLP type degreaser> wipe like inner bore of motor> lube every crevice like I'm in Vegas.

And now I'm kinda sold on Rem oil because I finally heard if someone using it besides me. I swear though, in this hot NM weather, ball bearing grease does quite well in my rifles and shottys.

 

[JTQ]

My solution will be> Soak in CLP type degreaser> wipe like inner bore of motor> lube every crevice like I'm in Vegas.

Don't confuse terms. There are no CLP type degreasers. You can have degreasers or you can have CLP's. They are pretty much opposites.

Of the three things you need done to your gun - Clean, Lubricate, Protect - a degreaser is pretty good at the Clean part. A degreaser is actually bad at the other two, Lubricate, and Protect.

A CLP is pretty good at all three, and becomes better the more you use it, without degreasing.

 

[9mmepiphany]

And now I'm kinda sold on Rem oil because I finally heard if someone using it besides me.

I'd recommend against using RemOil to lube your frame/slide rails...or really anything; it's too light

What you want on your rails is a grease that will stay in place as the slide reciprocates and frame heats up

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Hey I figured out how to reply to a post! However its all backwards how I wanted it to be. My solution will be> Soak in CLP type degreaser> wipe like inner bore of motor> lube every crevice like I'm in Vegas.

And now I'm kinda sold on Rem oil because I finally heard if someone using it besides me. I swear though, in this hot NM weather, ball bearing grease does quite well in my rifles and shottys.

I use the "shake and rattle" rule. If you shake it, and it rattles, use grease. If it doesnt, oil.

There has been lots of debate in the Sig community for years about grease/oil because the legacy P-series pistols are (mostly) steel slides riding on aluminum frames and frame rail shredding has happened occasionally. My Sigs are all nice and tight, so I use Hoppes gun oil on the rails and have never had a problem. Frequent inspections show no appreciable wear on the rail anodization, so theres that.

AR 15s are well known to run better when the bolt carrier is wet with oil, but grease is used for the buffer and spring.

M1 Garands and their derivitives have rather loose, rattly operating rods (slides). Various greases are called for there- some folks like Lubriplate, I run Mobil Synthetic Red wheel bearing grease.

My AKs get grease on their stamped steel bolt races. This is probably spoiling them, though, since many of their bretheren run for years without any sort of lube or maintenance whatsoever, lol.

 

[gotboostvr]

I like RemOil for dripping down into the hard to reach places occasionally. It's good for lubricating revolvers without having to pop the side plate off. I've got a big log of Molybdenum grease for slides and frame rails. It stays put and keeps it lubed real well. About $5 bought me a lifetime supply of the grease.

Regular old Hopes #9 is my general purpose cleaner. The Hopes oil is good to, a little thicker than the RemOil.

 

[hemiram]

I've been using Break Free for over 40 years without any wear or lubrication issues. I only need anything "stronger" when I buy a used gun and it's just plain nasty. Then it gets the Hoppes on the barrel, gun scubber/brake cleaner on the mechanism. Some guns come crazy dirty.