The Lighter Side of J

Ever since Colt announced a return to the double action revolver market I’ve been spending some more time with my S&W 642. I’ve never handled a double action Colt before so I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on their upcoming all steel Cobra. On the other hand, I’m sure I’m behind a host of others wanting to do the same thing. So in the meantime I thought I would put together a review/update on my old J frame, although its not exactly stock.

I’ve spent more than a little time with Smith & Wesson revolvers. The L frame 686 for one. Then there’s the J frame 642. It does the job ok but the trigger is “meh.” I don’t have a trigger pull gauge and I don’t need one. Find any stock J frame and pull the trigger; heavy and even sometimes gritty. They’re not that great, especially when compared to their K and L frame brethren. When my original 642 broke a hammer stud S&W stepped up and gave me a new one. Before it was delivered I remember asking a technician if it would be possible to have a trigger job done at the factory on my dime. “No, we have to ship it to you before any work can be done.” Rolling both eyes back, I pressed the issue. Finally the tech said “No, we don’t do trigger jobs on J frames.” Now bear in mind this conversation took place a year or so before S&W began offering what they refer to as enhanced actions on their 642 and 442 line of pistols. So be it. A couple weeks go by and I receive a brand new 642, complete with heavy and gritty trigger.

Being able to observe how parts interact when the trigger is pulled will allow you to become more proficient in diagnosing problems.

That would be the end of the story except that S&W generously designed their revolvers with three screw side plates which allow easy access to the fire control group. Since I had paid $385 for the first pistol and received another at no charge, I reckoned this one had cost me $192.50. That made me feel better about voiding the warranty because no sooner had the side plate come off than I was removing the mainspring, hammer, rebound slide, cylinder stop, ratchet pawl, firing pin, etc. Then the stones came out. I hit up the frame, side plate, rebound slide, and very specific points on the hammer and trigger. I took special care in avoiding the singe action contact points between the trigger and hammer. The joy of the S&W design is that by removing the side plate you can observe the action, how everything works, what contacts with what, and see everything move in relation to one another. I’m far from a gunsmith. At best a hobbyist. But if you have patience and are willing to learn you can stone an action.

The design of S&W revolvers lends themselves to easy access of the internals.

After stoning was complete I replaced the stock rebound slide spring with a Wilson Combat 13 pound spring. The spring came as part of their Custom Tune Spring Kit #321 for J frames. After everything was back together I gave the trigger a try. Noticeably better… but not good enough. I eventually opted for the 8 pound main spring. This combination results in a slightly lighter trigger pull. Its not amazing, but it beats the heck out of the factory configuration. The only problem with lighter springs is the chance to have light primer strikes. With reloads and range ammo, no big deal. With defensive ammo, that’s a no-go. So I went to a big box store and picked up some factory carry ammo.

I fired the following loads over my chronograph to collect some data. Note the Hornady 125 gr. XTP old and new loads, #90322 and #90324. Apparently, #90322 is not offered anymore and has been replaced by the latter. The #90322 loads I had on hand were about 4 years old. Everything else was factory new or handloaded within the past month. Loads with (F) in the powder and charge columns indicate factory ammunition. The two handloads used my own cast RCBS 38-158-CM bullets sized to .358” along with CCI #500 small pistol primers. 10 rounds for each load were fired and all velocities are in feet per second.

Bullet	Powder	Charge	Vel. Low	Vel. High	Avg. Vel
RCBS	Auto Comp	5.0 gr.	702	789	753
RCBS	Trail Boss	3.5 gr.	564	671	633
Hornady 125 gr. XTP #90322	(F)	(F)	804	860	829
Hornady 125 gr. XTP #90324	(F)	(F)	775	884	819
Remington 110 gr. SJHP +P	(F)	(F)	900	975	952
Winchester 130 gr. PDX1 +P	(F)	(F)	787	877	826

I found in interesting how the older Hornady load bested the currently produced ammo by 10fps on average. Seeing as how velocities are so close I guess we can say it’s a wash. My load using 3.5 gr. of Trail Boss proved to be an excellent plinking load in a small aluminum framed revolver. It prints slightly high (1” at 9 yards) for the 642’s fixed sights but the recoil is comfortable. The most fun load was the Remington 110 gr. SJHP +P. While it sounds like a 357 magnum going off the bite doesn’t match its bark. I found the accuracy in my gun to be superb for plinking steel at 30 yards. Then there was the Winchester 130 gr. PDX1 +P. I was surprised in the velocity. Winchester advertises 950 fps on the box. I didn’t expect to lose 124fps out of my short barrel. It sure made up for the velocity drop by producing the best accuracy for the day. I was able to group seven rounds touching on paper at nine yards. Recoil for both +P loads was less than I expected. The biggest detriment to the Winchester was the insane price tag of $1.24/round. The Remington could be had for $.50/round. The Hornady fell between those two at $.68/round. Not surprisingly, the Remington and Hornady loads can be found online for several cents cheaper. The Remington load also provides nickel cases which extracted slightly easier than the rest.

Velocity and accuracy aside, how did the rounds function? Not one hiccup. Light primer strikes? Not even one. That’s not to say your experience will not vary. Every gun is a rule unto itself. To know what components work in your firearm require you to test and evaluate the results yourself.

Considering the interest and fanfare in the upcoming Colt Cobra, I may not be able to obtain one for some time. If I do, a review will be forthcoming. If nothing else I have a reliable J frame with a better than factory trigger.

Glock 30SF – 20,000 Round Update

Following the 6 year review of my Glock 30SF in 45 auto, I have spent a lot more time with the pistol. I logged 20,000 reloads through the gun a few weeks ago and wanted to give a reliability report. First off, I feel extremely gracious to have been able to afford enough resources and time to be able to evaluate a gun so thoroughly as this. No other gun on the Land & Groove site has seen as much use and abuse as my Glock. But I know a few are thinking, “hey, what’s the deal with a round count? What exactly is the point besides showing off?” It’s quite simple, really. By logging rounds on a firearm, it becomes easier to identify upcoming maintenance. After losing a few slide locks early in the evaluation I felt it prudent to keep detailed logs so I could point to rounds vs parts breakage if and when they occurred again. I also wanted to give an account on Glock’s motto: Perfection.

 

So is it perfect? Did the pistol keep gobbling up round after round without fail? Not quite. The weakest part on my Glock has got to be the slide lock. My first one went out at around 2k rounds. The next let go somewhere around 7k rounds. I’ve changed out my recoil spring assembly four times, but only because I prefer to get a new one every 5k. As you’ll recall from the previous review everything was stock except the Storm Lake barrel. After some looking around I made the decision to switch to Truglo rear and front sights in green around 15k rounds. There was nothing wrong with the stock sights. I just wanted something more precise as the factory front sight tends to be a tad large in my opinion. It also has a tendency to get dulled by cast bullet lube and powder residue during long range sessions.

The more the merrier. Magazines are essential to reliable function in semi-auto pistols. Feeding malfunctions can sometimes be resolved by changing out magazine springs.

So everything was running along fine until 16,300 rounds. My first and hopefully last major failure – the trigger spring broke. I’ll claim responsibility for that one. I should have completed a detailed inspection at 10k. Luckily this happened on the range and not in a defensive scenario. Losing a trigger spring during the fight for your life can mean certain death. For those unawares, the trigger spring, (more aptly: trigger return spring), enables the trigger to reset after being fully depressed. A pistol without that spring will fire, eject, and chamber a new round, but requires manually pushing the depressed trigger back to the fire position for each successive shot. When it first occurred I thought maybe I did not have a firm grip and was causing the malfunction. Sometimes the inertia during recoil from the last round fired would barely reset the trigger. Most times it would not. Driving home from the range with what was essentially a single shot pistol on my hip was a humbling experience. If there was ever a reason to log rounds on a pistol you intend on bringing into harms way that would be #1. Since then, I’ve made it a priority to do a complete inspection for any firearm at 10k rounds. The trigger spring cost me a grand sum of $1.83. A paltry amount for such an integral part. Replacing the spring put my pistol back into action with no issues since.

Not bad after 20,000.

As far as durability goes I’m nothing less than impressed. The reputation for the finish on my Gen 3 Glock 30SF is well deserved. The pictures would not show but there is a faint graying on the high spots toward the muzzle on the outside of the slide. Its very minimal and has not warranted special attention during cleaning. The breech face is noticeably worn but has suffered no worse for the wear. The Storm Lake barrel has taken off a decent amount of finish from the interior of the slide but it looks to have leveled off for now. The only thing that really concerned me was the barrel hood where it locks up against the breech face. There is a noticeable amount of flare on the barrel hood where it has peened against the breech. It has yet to cause a problem but I’ll continue to monitor the progress.

Since my last review on the Glock 30SF I have taken up bullet casting. I originally wanted to produce a few hundred bullets for black powder loads in 32-20 but couldn’t resist trying for 45 auto. I go through, on average, 80 pounds of lead for the Glock 30SF every year so it was a no-brainer. At my current cost of $0.05/round for 45 auto, I’m spitting out 50 round boxes for $2.50. If you like to shoot and have more time than money that’s not a bad way to spend it.

 

Conclusion: Shoot the heck out of your pistols but also complete a diligent inspection every now and then. Even if you don’t keep detailed logs at least have a general idea when preventive maintenance should take place. Though my Glock is a sample size of one and may not be representative of Glocks in general, I hope this update gives readers an understanding on the importance of regular inspection intervals. I’d also like to reemphasize how fun this pistol has been. Yeah, it’s a carry gun. It’s boring and it’s like all the others. But this is really a good shooter. Even after 20,000 rounds I’m not a great shot. Still, I’ll keep enjoying each one.

RCBS 45-230-RN bullets before lube/sizing.