I helped a friend of mine pick up a Christmas present for his girlfriend at the gun show today.

We found a 6904 in kinda rough shape. For $200, my buddy thought it well worth it. It had been advertised for $400 and I started talking about how he'd have to replace the grips, front sight, refinish the frame, etc... the seller dropped his price considerably having mentioned he had just picked up the gun.

I took a closer look at the gun in the car. Besides needing a good scrubbing, it looked in pretty good shape after all. The only issue I noticed is that the hammer doesn't stay back after racking the slide. If my memory serves me well, it should go to single action after the first round/after the slide is racked.

Safety was disengaged.

Does anyone have any recommendations/diagnosis/ideas?

'preciate any and all

Saw your thread over there. Does actually engaging the safety prevent the gun from cocking when you pull the trigger? Also, and this is not meant as a stupid question, I merely don't know your familiarity with S&W autos, but you do know the safety position is the opposite of a 1911? On the 6904, the safety is "On" when the lever is down.

No worries, thoroughness is good. I am familiar with S&W safeties. I'm trying to get my friend to let me borrow the gun  for the night for pictures and tinkering. Stand by.

I learned a long time ago about assuming. If not here, someone on the S&W forum will get it figured out.

Does the gun cycle in double action mode after the slide has been racked and the hammer drops?

More specifically, does it function properly when the trigger is pulled?

Does the hammer stay cocked when he manually thumbs it back? (A little tricky to do with a bobbed hammer, but all the more reason to pick up a spurred replacement )

I haven't shot it, but it cycles by hand no problem.

It functions, as best I can tell, when the trigger is pulled.

The hammer does not stay cocked when thumbed back.

So in theory, it would function as a DAO?  (assuming he's firing with live rounds).

How do the hammer/sear look?

Shot in the dark here, but does the hammer have a flat back with serrations on the top?  My knowledge of 3rd gens is definitely less than many others here, but I'd wonder if the hammer was replaced at some point with a DAO hammer (rounded and smooth on top).

Hammer seems to have been filed down...



I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking at with the internals...

Took the grips off... here's this:

Still looks to be a bobbed hammer though, instead of a spurred one that someone has filed the spur off. Can't see any differences from the bobbed hammer on my 3913.


ETA:Do the sear release, firing pin safety lever, and ejector/magazine depressor levers all move freely and pop back up after being depressed?

ETA2: Go here for a schematic of parts.

Sear is installed incorrectly.  The bottom of the sear should be in front of the sear spring (as you hold the gun), not behind it.

This is a picture of a 4006's sear.  Gen 3 S&Ws pretty much all go together the same.  Notice the bottom of the sear is in front of the sear spring.  The way your sear is installed, it will not engage and hold the hammer in a cocked position.