S&W 6946 DAO Jamming

[s&w3913]

I have an S&W 6946 9MM. It was my grandfathers First semi automatic duty pistol. I replaced the recoil spring and cleaned the weapon. I also replaced the stock grips with new stock grips. Originally I thought it was a specific problem with the 15 round S&W 5906 with spacer magazine jamming. I ran the original 12 rd mag with No jamming issues the first 12 rounds.. Switched to the 2nd original mag jammed on the 3rd round.. Switched back to the 1st magazine and started jamming on the third round also. I tried multiple types of ammunition including Winchester White Box still jammed... the jamming became progressively worse as I shot more rounds..

I am well aware of the DAO trigger system..

I checked the extractor with a dummy round the extractor holds the dummy round without issues.

Could it be the 30 year old magazine springs?

 

[whatluck]

Detail strip and clean, if that doesnt work check extractor and ejector.

Def looks like a FTE

 

[Retired-LEO]

Detail strip and clean, if that doesnt work check extractor and ejector.

Def looks like a FTE

AGREED

 

[jdesro]

Even though the extractor holds a dummy cartridge, it still could be an extractor issue. The extractor is a bit of a weak spot wit the 3rd gen. pistols. It may not have the correct tension, or the claw may have been chipped.

Take a really good look at the extractor and check for damage. If there is no visible damage it may still have improper tension. S&W used to use a special gauge to check extractor tension, though I am not sure if S&W will still do service work on the 3rd gens. anymore.

Less likely but also possible is that the ejector is not rising up enough to kick out the empty. A very basic explanation is that the ejector is spring loaded and as the slide comes back the ejector "pops up" and the case will hit the ejector when the slide comes back far enough. It is possible the small spring that keeps the ejector under tension has weakened, but that is a very rare failure part.

The way you describe it as getting worse as you were going along makes me think the most likely culprit is the extractor.

 

[s&w3913]

All though this photo doesn’t show much I took my 3913 slide and a dummy round for comparison places it in the extractor the 3913 holds the round tight and almost 100% straight as an arrow (visually).

The 6946 slide’s extractor holds the dummy round sort of lose and the round sort of tilts down. It appears to be the extractor.

S&W no longer supports the 3rd generation pistols.

I have 3 options.

1. Make the gun a safe queen

2. Find a used 6946 slide with the sights and extractor still in tact (hoping that one doesn’t have a bad extractor) and rebuild the slide with the parts from the 6946 I currently have. However, I have no idea how to get the “firing pin retainer out”( cylindrical like part pictured below) . Which is a installed in place of the safety would be on say at 5906.

3. Out source the whole thing to a gun smith and hope for the best. I heard it is a bear to replace an extractor on one of these. That is if you can even find an extractor now a days.

 

[straightshooterjake]

I have never been particularly interested in the S&W auto pistols, but I am a big fan of revolvers, so I read some S&W specific forums. And on those forums, I have learned that the S&W auto pistols have a lot of fans. There were also a lot of armorers trained on these pistols, and a lot of factory new replacement parts issued to those armorers. As a result, these pistols are still surprisingly maintainable, even though the spare parts and training started to wind down decades ago.

You could look on one of the S&W forums to find a gunsmith who works on these pistols, and I don't think you will have a problem getting it running right. And when these guns are running right, they do work very well.

 

[whatluck]

All though this photo doesn’t show much I took my 3913 slide and a dummy round for comparison places it in the extractor the 3913 holds the round tight and almost 100% straight as an arrow (visually).

The 6946 slide’s extractor holds the dummy round sort of lose and the round sort of tilts down. It appears to be the extractor.

S&W no longer supports the 3rd generation pistols.

I have 3 options.

1. Make the gun a safe queen

2. Find a used 6946 slide with the sights and extractor still in tact (hoping that one doesn’t have a bad extractor) and rebuild the slide with the parts from the 6946 I currently have. However, I have no idea how to get the “firing pin retainer out”( cylindrical like part pictured below) . Which is a installed in place of the safety would be on say at 5906.

3. Out source the whole thing to a gun smith and hope for the best. I heard it is a bear to replace an extractor on one of these. That is if you can even find an extractor now a days.

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[jdesro]

It would be a shame to have it suffer the fate of being a safe queen for the rest of it's life. I'd say get a hold of S&W first and see what they say about fixing it.

If they are not willing to touch it, you could try your option #2 - though I don't believe the 6946 was a huge success so finding a replacement slide in good shape for a reasonable price may be an issue.

Your option #3 maybe your best bet. Yes, the extractors are a bear to replace - if I remember correctly S&W used a hydraulic press to press the extractor pin into place, so trying to remove it with hand tools can be difficult if not impossible.

The poster above linked a discussion over on another forum. The poster over there Fastbolt was a S&W armorer for a while and he knows his stuff, so maybe you might get in contact with him over there and see if he might have any suggestions.

I used to be heavily into the 3rd gen. pistols, and I still have a bunch of parts for them. I was able to find an extractor that appears to be new/unused, and I believe all the 3rd gens used the same extractor. I was also able to find some new extractor springs, a red, blue and yellow, to provide different tensions on the extractor. If S&W will not help you out you are welcome to have the parts I have to maybe try to fix it yourself or find someone willing to tackle it.

 

[s&w3913]

Thank You all. The S&W 6946 is on its way back to S&W Springfield. I expect a wait before I get information on the repair, etc.

I shipped via Fed Ex with a label provided by S&W

 

[s&w3913]

Up date on the S&W 6946. S&W reported no jamming or issues with the weapon. So I rebuilt the 2 12 round magazines and the 15 round 5906 magazine (with base plate cover so it fits evenly in the 6906) with new springs and followers.

Unfortunately the two 12 round magazines keep jamming. These 2 Magazines for years were stored in the double mag pouch on my grandfather's duty belt..

The good news is my Clinton era 10 round magazine works flawlessly and the weapon is super light with 10 + 1 rounds to carry.

The 15 round magazine works flawlessly also and was the primary magazine in the weapon when my grandfather carried it openly in a retention holster while on duty.

Also I think S&W did something to the trigger... it preforms even smoother now! Or maybe it is because the gun isn't jamming on me anymore. You have to admit.. before 1994 and the Glock 26 it was ahead of its time.

This weapon could easily be carried off duty with a 12 round or 10 round magazine concealed and on duty with a 15 round magazine from the 5906. This was the only gun my my grandfather carried for years until he was in his 70s and switched to a Ruger LCR which he carried until I took his guns away after his stroke.

 

[s&w3913]

Up date on the S&W 6946. S&W reported no jamming or issues with the weapon. So I rebuilt the 2 12 round magazines and the 15 round 5906 magazine (with base plate cover so it fits evenly in the 6906) with new springs and followers.

Unfortunately the two 12 round magazines keep jamming. These 2 Magazines for years were stored in the double mag pouch on my grandfather's duty belt..

The good news is my Clinton era 10 round magazine works flawlessly and the weapon is super light with 10 + 1 rounds to carry.

The 15 round magazine works flawlessly also and was the primary magazine in the weapon when my grandfather carried it openly in a retention holster while on duty.

Also I think S&W did something to the trigger... it preforms even smoother now! Or maybe it is because the gun isn't jamming on me anymore. You have to admit.. before 1994 and the Glock 26 it was ahead of its time.

This weapon could easily be carried off duty with a 12 round or 10 round magazine concealed and on duty with a 15 round magazine from the 5906. This was the only gun my my grandfather carried for years until he was in his 70s and switched to a Ruger LCR which he carried until I took his guns away after his stroke.

Follow up... I moved and found the original Recoil spring.. I labeled it in a plastic bag 6946. This gun was carried a lot fired little as most police guns. The 12 round magazines work perfect now. I guess the 3913 type wolf trigger spring was causing some issue.