What did you use to fill the small hole in the J-frames that is open after removing the flag?Originally Posted by Redneck Zen
What did you use to fill the small hole in the J-frames that is open after removing the flag?
See above. I installed the plugs ... or slugs, as the owner/manufacturer calls them. You can see them in the photo of my two guns. They are -- as I said above -- teeny tiny little things, precision machined with teeny tiny little slots in them and a cotter pin kinda key thing to hold them in place. I've pulled a photo from his site that shows the components in their shipping bags.
Best I can do to 'splain it.
Last edited by Redneck Zen; 02-01-2021 at 07:46 PM.
Yeah, I get that. I'm talking about the even smaller hole towards the rear of the gun that is left open after removing the flag.
Haha! Oh that! I just left in the flag. It serves no function other than to fill the hole. And I hate holes. Well, most of them.
If you leave the flag in aren’t you also leaving the pin attached to it, which if repositioned inadvertently could prevent the pistol from being fired?
The flag is the component that locks the hammer. Without the lock in place you rely on gravity alone to prevent it from engaging. Quite likely it moves to and fro from the locked position every time the gun is fired.
It doesn't sound like a good idea to have the flag flopping around in there.
You're right! Kinda.
First thing I did was test dry-fire the gun in every conceivable position, rightside up, upside down, sideways, cantedways, backways and etceteraways.No problems. Then I opened the thing up to see if the flag was flopping around. Nope, no floppin'. The thing is held in place with a teeny-tiny itty bitty spring. I even cycled the action and used a pick to try and force the flag to gom up the works. Nope. It worked 100% each and every time.
But .... -- the philosopher Peewee Herman once said, "Everybody's got a big but." And I had one -- while the 649 is a pretty play toy and practice gun, I've carried the 340PD for a long time and intend to continue until I leave this world. I wanted to erase all doubt 'cuz of Murphy's Law. I also wanted to keep that stupid hole plugged.
Dammit, Smith and Wesson!
So after some reading and some thought, I decided the logical thing was to remove the locking lug from the flag. Which took about two minutes with a rotary tool and a polishing stone. Locked it in a vise, ground down the lug, smoothed the base down with a fine stone, added a drop of oil, put it back together. Works just fine, but now without any doubt or concerns about failure. It's still held in the safe position by the teeny-tiny itty-bitty spring, but even if that fails it don't do nuthin' but fill the hole. No affect on the hammer at all. Did the same for the 649, no problem.
Thanks for pointing out the flag. Odds were I'd never had a problem as it was. The thing is, I got hit by my own car a couple of years ago (some lady came flying through the parking lot and hit my car, which nearly knocked me on my ass). What were the odds of that happening? So yeah, I like trimming the odds to my favor.
RZ,
For me that's the justification for installing one of the Plugs available out there. Even then it leaves a stopped up hole on the side of the revolver that as a right hand shooter I see all the time. The fact we have this to discuss just ticks me off.
Yea, I'm old and don't like change. I particularly don't like change than makes more work, more problems, or that accomplishes nothing but making a lawyer or some bureaucrat happy.
Better go take my morning meds,
Dave
I only own one S&W revolver with a lock and won't use it for anything other than paper targets. I don't believe the extra legal wrangling is worth the risk and stick to pre-locks, modern no-lock hammerless models, or Rugers for carry or hunting.
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