Little update: While I got off to a rocky start with the L-Comp I have since developed a love affair with the thing. I shoot it very accurately, it hasn't skipped a beat since I got it back. I have also been carrying regularly:
Smith & Wesson managed to fix my revolver.......after an age
- Thread starter Podmonkey
- Start date
As you can see it conceals very well under just a light vest, it's quite comfortable too except when seated in a car where it digs in a bit.
The holster is a basic one from 1791 Gunleather, thumbbreak is due to my wanting it for woods hiking and being a heavier gun I wouldn't trust it to stay put when climbing around. The pouch is just a cheapo one from Amazon, I have a fancier one on order that will be coming in a few weeks.
The position of the holster and pouch seems to work very well, concealable, comfortable and access to the speedloader is convenient.
I also got a quantity of snap caps and have been doing drawstroke and reload practice a d it's going well. I am training myself on Massad Atoob's stressfire reload as it has the most natural feel for me. I can get it done relatively quickly at thus point.
The holster is a basic one from 1791 Gunleather, thumbbreak is due to my wanting it for woods hiking and being a heavier gun I wouldn't trust it to stay put when climbing around. The pouch is just a cheapo one from Amazon, I have a fancier one on order that will be coming in a few weeks.
The position of the holster and pouch seems to work very well, concealable, comfortable and access to the speedloader is convenient.
I also got a quantity of snap caps and have been doing drawstroke and reload practice a d it's going well. I am training myself on Massad Atoob's stressfire reload as it has the most natural feel for me. I can get it done relatively quickly at thus point.
No money for .357 ammo last week but I spent a lot of time working on my drawstoke and reloads. My reload time is down to about 5 seconds. It's easy to try to go too fast and end up fumbling it.
@S&W Fan remember when I said I wasn't super keen on how those Pachmayr wood grips felt? Well I fired another hundred 158gr PPU 357s and HOLY CRAP! It was like trying to hold onto a bar of wet soap! I had terrible control of the gun, under recoil tge web of my thumb would ride all the way up to the hammer and I had to re-aquire my grip after every shot. The certainly looked nice but as soon as I got home I immediately took them off and put the Hogue Bantam grips back on. I think I will stick with the Bantams, maybe I'll try the rubber mono grips if they are just slightly larger, but I shoot the L-Comp well with the Batams on and they conceal better to boot.
I don’t think that I’ve ever had a set of the Pachmayr wooden grips in my hand . The feedback on other sites about the grips are similar to yours unfortunately. The performance Ctr. Should go back to the tried and true Pachmyr combat style rubber grips that so many preferred on the magnum revolvers .
Last edited:
How often is it recommended to pop open the side plate for light cleaning and lubrication of the the parts therein? I have been doing a lot of dry fire and drawstroke/reload training lately, and I do mean A LOT of dry fire, and noticed that the triggercwas feeling gritty. Concerned that my dry fire has been too excessive I thought I ought to pop open the side plate to look for wear. Never having looked into the guts of a revolver before and getting over the alarm of seeing the spaghetti mess of tiny clockwork parts contained within I looked for any signs of excessive or unusual wear. I used my magnifier visor and didn't see anything obviously wrong other than the factory grease seemed a little sludgy. I blew the works out with some canned air and liberally doused the internals with Ballistol. I then carefully and tightly wrapped then gun up in a rag and turned it over to drain for a bit, hit it again with some more air and put everything back together. The trigger is once again velvety smooth but I'm wondering how often one should do this. I'd prefer not to go messing around in there anymore than necessary. So far I have 600 rounds through and this is the first time I've had the side plate off. Up till now I have just been wiping down the exterior and scrubbing the carbon off the cylinder face and cleaning the barrel out.
kev74
20×102mm Vulcan
When there's a problem, address it. Otherwise you don't need to mess with it.
Both good answers. I’d say that you shouldn’t have to do it any more than what you’ve already done now. If you continue to dry fire excessively along with more range time you’ll know when it’s time. It shouldn’t be very often though. Hell I’ve got some that I’ve only pulled the side plate off of once , shortly after purchasing it. Several hundred plus rounds later and they’re still butter smooth.
Old timers used to urge you to "dry fire" as much and long as you can stand; build muscle and breaks in the action.
Robin
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Grit, flush the shit out with some WD-40 and high pressure air. If you do decide to remove the side plate, drill and tap it for a grease fitting, and please use a screwdriver that is meant for the purpose, not to much on a nice looking gun uglier than a buggered up screw head.
Robin
Robin
And tap the opposite side of the Frame to remove the Side Plate; do not pry against it...few good taps with a phenolic handled screwdriver will jar it loose.
I had to look that up actually. I knew it would be bad to pry on it. The technique I saw was to rap the grip frame with the back end of a screwdriver. I used one with a rubberized handle, popped right off too.
Welp, I hadn't bothered to report on this as frankly I'm over it, this L-Comp drama, but a few months ago my wayward S&W began clicking instead of banging again and it progressing to the point where it was 90% clicks to 10% bangs. Some chambers it seemed refused to fire altogether. A month ago I sent it back, for the second time, to S&W for repair. Again. For the second time. Yes, twice now.
Anyway it came back today:
Tell me you gave me a new revolver without telling me you gave me a new revolver:
New frame, new cylinder, new barrel. Looks like it was test fired extensively.
The cylinder does seem to be much tighter than what I had before.
I'll take her out to test this weekend. I bought 100 rounds of PPU and have about 80 rounds of Armscor to try.
Anyway it came back today:
Tell me you gave me a new revolver without telling me you gave me a new revolver:
New frame, new cylinder, new barrel. Looks like it was test fired extensively.
The cylinder does seem to be much tighter than what I had before.
I'll take her out to test this weekend. I bought 100 rounds of PPU and have about 80 rounds of Armscor to try.
Last edited:
I had a manufacturer replace my frame when I sent it in for a broken ejector. The nice thing is the new grips and Ambi safety only cost me what the parts cost without the labor.
Did you send it back with a "quit fucking around and fix this fucking thing right!" Letter?
Wonder what "Frame Repaired" entailed? Pins the Hammer and Trigger Pivots on flexing?
Saltwater60
20×102mm Vulcan
This same thing happened to my Ruger, as a result I have not bought or recommended one since. Shane they can’t make em right the first time because after all it is a dangerous weapon that could cost you or someone else’s life. Sad.
I took a hands off approach this time. I called it in initially, pointed out this would be the second time it was back, lady on the phone was sympathetic and concerned, saw the service record of it and directed me to coordinate its return with my ever helpful LGS. Then I ignored it it for 3 weeks. I had my new gun room, the FPC and now the new Colt to keep me occupied. I called up early last week for a status update, got the same lady and she didn't see any notes on it and put me in hold for about 10 minutes while she found out what was going on. Tells me that it went out for a frame replacement under the care of one of their top level gunsmiths and she tells me it will be done and back "sooner rather than later". And sure enough its back not quite a week later.
The frame was indeed replaced, not just repaired. New serial # and I had to do tge BGC again. Cylinder is also new. Can't tell about the barrel but paper work says it is new. I'm assuming its just an entirely new gun, I can't imagine they would bother swapping the original's guts into a new frame after also replacing tge barrel and cylinder. It does look like they fired it quite a bit. The exterior is clean as is the bore but there is a lot of fouling in the grooves and in/on the cylinder chambers/face. Mechanically it feels much tighter, especially the cylinder latch as well as the lock up. The yoke/crane won't fall open under its own weight and it latches/unlatches tightly. There is zero end to end play on the cylinder and a bit of play on the rotation which is normal for a Smith. The trigger action feels more positive, more......clicky but is smooth.
Single action pull....... I can't really tell if its any different but it is very light and crisp regardless.
I really hope it is GTG now. I still think it is an incredibly cool revolver.
Ruger? Really? I thought Rugers were at least spared tge QC woes that have afflicted every other domestic manufacturer.
At least I am having great luck with Colt so far.
Did you send it back with a "quit fucking around and fix this fucking thing right!" Letter?
Wonder what "Frame Repaired" entailed?
I'm glad to hear the Colt is working as it should...Long have I contended that Companies build a name and reputation, then ride it into the dirt with over-production and questionable QC, then just apologize and repair the shit that never should have gone out in the first place.
Since the Colt is new, I'm expecting that it was made after CZ's acquisition? I do like their products, including Colt's, but I have certainly had some that made you say "WTF!".
I imagine my Colt is post CZ production. None of the issues I have heard of their 1911s having seem to be present on mine. Machining is all good, no voids in the MIM parts, fit and finish seems good, function is very good and reliability so far is fine. Accuracy seems to be outstanding. Now I hope I can say the same finally for my L-Comp. I'd like to resume carrying it for woods walks.