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586-4 help

riflemikeriflemike Member Posts: 10,599 ✭
edited October 2009 in Ask the Experts
Someone interested in purchasing mine is asking about MIM parts on it and I dont have a clue what he is talking about can anyone help me out on MIM
thanks
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    beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by riflemike
    Someone interested in purchasing mine is asking about MIM parts on it and I dont have a clue what he is talking about can anyone help me out on MIM
    thanks


    MIM is "metal injection molding".

    The newer made Smith and Wesson guns (eg all of the ones with the key locks) are made this way, as opposed to old fashioned forging and/or machining. MIM parts are cheaper to make and can be manufactured to extremely high tolerances, effectively eliminating hand-fitting.

    The purists and chattering internet classes don't like MIM guns, feeling that they are somehow inferior.

    Whether or not these parts make any real difference to the function or longevity of the gun is debatable. I'd bet cash money that not only would 90% of shooters never be able to wear out a Smith revolver with MIM parts, 95% of them couldn't tell the difference blindfolded.

    If done RIGHT, MIM parts should be extremely tough.

    Anyway, I don't know if your gun has MIM parts or not off the top of my head, though you could check the Nahas and Supica Smith reference book to see when your particular -4 variation was made. I suspect your gun is pre-MIM.

    Smith has discontinued the 586 (and just about all of its blued steel guns), but I do know that at least some of the last-run 586s did come with keylocks and probably do have MIM parts.

    I think Smith started using MIM in the early-to-mid 1990s. If this gun was made before that it shouldn't have any.

    Edit: By the way, if whomever is interested in your gun were actually serious, they could look this up themselves (and they probably should be doing just that). I don't think its realistic for a used gun seller to know exactly what manufacturing processes were used to make the gun in question!

    If your gun doesn't have a lock on it, you could fairly call it a "pre-lock" and that's probably good enough.
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    riflemikeriflemike Member Posts: 10,599 ✭
    edited November -1
    mine does not have a key lock serial #CBJ0258
    thanks
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    nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,880 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    According to SCSW, yours was made in 1993 & has no MIM parts.

    Neal
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    riflemikeriflemike Member Posts: 10,599 ✭
    edited November -1
    thanks so much
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    BoomerangBoomerang Member Posts: 4,513
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by riflemike
    Someone interested in purchasing mine is asking about MIM parts on it and I dont have a clue what he is talking about can anyone help me out on MIM
    thanks
    MIM parts began at the -5 engineering update. To me the -4 is the best version.
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