Barrel Bushing Plunger Removal S&W 52

Does anybody know how to remove the plunger and spring that holds the barrel bushing tight on the Smith & Wesson Model 52-2? Thanks, Paul

The wrench presses it down, or use a flat ground socket.

I just use a thumbnail to hold it

Hi Bruce, I guess I wasn’t clear. I don’t want to loosen the bushing nut per se but need to replace the plunger and spring that secure it in the notch in the bushing. A friend bought a 52-2 that had been altered. One notch on the bushing was enlarged and an oversized plunger was inserted. He wants to replace both but he can’t figure out how to remove the plunger and it’s spring. Paul
Ps I love your book!

Hmmm, I never thought of doing that. It isn’t really necessary so if it works or isn’t a problem, I would leave it alone . Probably staked in to a blind hole. Glad you like my book, I’ve sold QUITE a few of them now.

Once you unscrew the bushing, underneath it is a plate, Part 3 in the diagram.  It holds the plunger, Part 4, and it’s spring, Part 5, in the hole in the slide nose. (plunger has a shoulder - the thin “head” pops up through the plate).  Remove the plate and it should all come out. Might need tweezers.  I’ll confirm when I get to my pistol.

Wrong-o on my part.  Hmmmm…

Okey doke.  99% certain that the plunger is staked in.  On the muzzle, there’s a small stake mark, kind of semi circular, from about the 6 to 9 o’clock position. When I look from the side, the shoulder of the plunger is depressed maybe 0.005” or so below the muzzle surface.

Given that the plunger has an important role, I think it shouldn’t be staked in place.  I’d want to keep that thing clean and moving freely.

Must have been someone that almost put out an eye, and OSHA or the CPSC demanded the staking.  

Smarter people will have a thought as to how to “unstake” it.  Maybe a mini lathe and a mini / nano sized cutter.

I'm looking at my M52 right now and yes, looks like when it was installed at the factory, it was just pushed into the blind hole and then the edges of the hole were peened slightly (apparently by a special-made tool). So there seems to be no clean way to remove it, one option might be to carefully drill it out and then make a new plunger and spring. I wouldn't dare doing it though...

Dremel?    

Take a small tapered pin punch or perhaps a center punch and GENTLY tap the tapered end into the hole until the stake is swaged far enough to allow the plunger and spring to be removed.  Then to reform the stake, use a sharp center punch adjacent to the hole and tap LIGHTLY to move a small dimple of metal to form a “dot stake” and I’d do it in three places.  The hole is small and the area of the slide is thin… so be cautious on the amount of force used.  This is not the place to be heavy-handed.