My 659 was lonely, so I found it a companion

[DsGrouse]

I picked the 659 up a few weeks ago and need to find some time to take it out for final testing since I rebuilt the rear sight.. It had been on my list for a long time. The price was good, and i figured there would be a few things to fix. It is more than i expected, but over all i am happy. I will get the old gal back in to fighting trim.

It shot okay, but I found out that the rear sight and the extractor had some issues. I believe I have that sorted out right now.

What I am dealing with now is failure to extract. I have two blued replacement extractors coming, and replacement extractor springs. I need to find a stainless late version extractor.

Right now I am hounding numrich, ebay, GB and several other placed to find one. Anyone have a better idea?

I suspect that will solve my extraction issues, my next issues. This old one was in bad shape. It looked fine at the gunstore but once I got it home and cleaned I found it to be chipped.

I picked up some wolf springs for magazines, but I still need to find some used magazines. I also picked up new recoil springs and hammer springs.

12lbs
14lbs
16lbs respectively.

What rating do you all recommend I start with?

How it looked after giving it a good wipedown once i got it home.



After replacing the rear sight blade, screw (stripped), the missing nut, and the missing pin in the screw.





The damaged extractor.



I cleaned it up with a file. I know, i know, but it was broken. It now at least hooks onto the rim of the case. I have not fired it as of yet, but at least it hooks. Prior to this, it did not. Again i have two blued replacements coming.





Trying out a new pair of stocks that had to be fitted. They feel good, but not as good as the rubber pachmayr grips it had on it. That old pair is falling apart but i did get a set of replacements.








A friend had this up for sale, and I jumped on the opportunity.

[JEBar]

nice looking Smith .... looking forward to your continued reports

[North Country Gal]

Great report and appreciate all the pics. I know how much work is involved.

My suggestion for the springs would be to start with whatever weight the stock spring had and see if it works. Going heavier might produce more wear and stress.

[BigAl52]

Nice report and great pics

[fortyshooter]

Your project turned out great!

[DsGrouse]

I'll get a chance to take them to the range hopefully this week. Ill report back how they turned out

[Sir Henry]

Great post and I’ll be looking for the range report.

[BrokenolMarine]

One other thing you might check on extraction is take a hard close look at the chamber. If the previous owner was lax in cleaning their could be roughness, buildup, or pitting that effects extraction. The binding of the cases due to increased friction could be a factor if such a problem exists.

[DsGrouse]

One other thing you might check on extraction is take a hard close look at the chamber. If the previous owner was lax in cleaning their could be roughness, buildup, or pitting that effects extraction. The binding of the cases due to increased friction could be a factor if such a problem exists.

That i did do, i ran bore bright in the chamber of the original barrel prior to fixing the extractor. With the fixed extractor it had many fewer problems.

Now i need to see about getting to the range to shoot it and the 745.

[DsGrouse]

So, I made it to the indoor range yesterday.

The 659 parts kit I picked up has some issues. The barrel and recoil guide rod does not work on my 659 frame. The slide does, as long as I use my original 659 barrel, original bushing and original guide rod. It is not something I had experienced here at the house. But somehow at the range I got one of the four parts mixed up causing me no end of issues at the range.

Once home I was able to sit down and figure out what I had done. Long story short, the new barrel is keeping slide slightly out of battery, The plunger on the recoil rod is slightly too large to go into the hole on the 659 frame.

This means if I put the new slide on the gun, I need my original 659 barrel, bushing and recoil rod.

When using just the new recoil rod with my original barrel, the fact it does not seat properly keeps one from inserting the slide lock. It's a unique set of problems I had not expected. I am pretty sure I can figure out how and where the new barrel is keeping not locking up with the 659 frame. It's a matter of will to see it corrected if I can.

Now on to the accuracy tests with the gun, and both slides using the original 659 barrel, recoil rod, and bushing. The fucking same. Not a shits bit of difference between the two slides. Since I can't use the new factory barrel, it's somewhat of a useless test. It does prove one thing though, my 3rd re-assembly of the 659 rear sight fixed its drifting issues and my groups are now all within acceptable levels.

It also proves my first 9mm reloads were xxxx. I reloaded a number of 115-grain hap rounds prior to using a lee factory crimp die. Once I made it through those rounds the gun ran fine. Including my 147 reloads, factory 115, 124, and 147-grain ammo. The second magazine that was sent to me functions flawlessly with the new spring in it. So for now I will continue to use the pistol with the original slide, barrel, bushing and recoil rod.

On to the 745. I shot it here at the house using my 200grn LSWC's and felt it fired fine. At the range, it was a very pleasant gun to shoot. I with the indoor ranges would provide some lighting from behind to light up the front sight, but even with that caveat, the gun fired wonderful 50 cent piece sized groups. If I did my part, which, most of the time I did not. It is a fantastic pistol. Even the three promag magazines have failed to give me any kind of trouble. The trigger is a crisp 2.5lbs with a reset appropriate to that weight. I am quite happy with it.

The star of the day was my 115grn 357 sig, and 125grn 357 sig rounds. All of them functioned flawlessly and here I had no issues keeping the group sizes small. I had some concerns about setback with 357 sig, and as I didn't load these with a second crimp die (other than the integrated seating and crimp) I was a bit worried. The issue was moot out of the couple hundred rounds I fired.

[BrokenolMarine]

Very nice report. Sometimes barrels need to be fitted. I bought a 40 barrel for my 357 Sig SigPro to give me the option to switch calibers by changing barrels. Didn't drop in. My gunsmith fitted it to the frame and slide for a nominal fee and I have a two caliber gun in less than a minute to swap barrels. It may just be some minor issue.

Your post made me think back to MY dream smith auto, never obtained. A buddy had one years ago. a beautiful gun, on the cover of several gun mags when it first came out. Shot like a dream.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/archive-model-945

[DsGrouse]

Yep, that would be a nice model to be sure.

I have quite a few extra slides and replacement barrel set ups. (many of my guns are 40/357 sig combo's) So I am familiar with the fitting of the barrels. It was the odd combo of the barrel and recoil rod that threw me for a loop. It wasn't until I realized I had put the new recoil rod on the original barrel/slide combo that it all clicked.

I have been jonesing for one of these, but 2600 bucks is a bit out of my price range.
https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/archive-model-952

Here is one you might appreciate.



Top right is my fletcher custom 40/357 sig high power,
Bottom left is my Estate sporting limited (Ted Yost) High power.

Same guns, both sides.

[BrokenolMarine]

Sweet. The other one the guy had was a Sig P210 limited edition of some sort. It was engraved, but he shot the crap out of it. Very nice. My kids were still home back then. No way I could afford one, I stuck with the P220. Still have it.