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I love old S&W’s. I panic when I see one being sold or traded....:o)

I'm doing a complete teardown on Little Smith right now. OMG, every part is either investment cast, or sintered metal!!!!! Yeah, there's still a lot of machining inside, but so much of the internals are redesigned, and take advantage of some sort of short cut.

The operating principles are still the same, except for the damn hammer lock, but the change over the last 30 years is hugh. True, most of the manufacturing used today was just a lab curiosity back then, and the finished product probably works just as well, but it's not quite the same weapon.

It's just as well that I'm pretty well revolvered-out, because I doubt any dealer would let me remove the side plate to check out the quality of construction. The modest skills my father imparted to me can sometimes cause results similar to learning there is no Santa Claus.

Tonight's Saturday Night Gun Pron looks at some of the testing I got done at my last range session. First, some quality trigger time with "Little Smith".

I quit after 18 rounds because I felt a sprained wrist coming on. I'm glad I put on the bigger Hogue grips before firing it, because not only do they look nice, but there was no chance of losing my grip, despite the awful recoil. At least I know I can either hit the target, or set it on fire with the muzzle blast. The "gunsmith's" 7-pound trigger pull was waaay too light for my peace of mind, so I replaced the trigger rebound spring with a stiffer version, and brought the pull up to a more sensible nine pounds.

I then switched to my Glock 21 in .45ACP. What a creampuff, compared to the .44Mag! I know this is heresy, but I feel the Glock design is even more comfortable to shoot than a M1911. Maybe it has something to do with the locking system, and the flex that's inherent in a plastic frame.

Anyway, I wanted to see how the new Bar-Sto semi-drop-in barrel would perform. Its dimensions, internally and externally, are more stringent than the loosey-goosey Glock factory barrel. The Glock feed ramp and chamber specs are vey generous, which is probably why a Glock can digest almost anything. The new barrel corresponds to "middle SAAMI" chamber specs, which is one step above minimum safe specs for a match barrel. The base of the cartridge is also supported much more completely with the new barrel.

I fired three mags with the new barrel first, them three more with the original barrel put back in. I was rather sloppy with my own shooting discipline, although I started to remember about all my shortcomings as I was finishing up with the factory barrel. My own vey unscientific estimate is that I was shooting at least 25% tighter groups with the new barrel, without changing anything else in the equation.

If I'm still this satisfied after a couple hundred more rounds, including different kinds of defensive ammo, I'll think about a barrel upgrade for my Glock 36. I may never carry either one concealed, but it's nice to know that I've improved a weapon's performance with a couple hundred bucks, and a couple hours of my labor. As a shooter, I know I can never be perfect. But that doesn't stop me from working towards perfection with my firearms. I'll do any little, or big, trick to shade the odds in my favor. If I would obsess over anything, this is it.