S&W Rebound slide springs - when did they change?

[4V50 Gary]

My friend brought over his wife's gun. She wanted the DA trigger pull lightened and so I figured, no problem. One snip and he's gone. Pulled out the old Klein wire-cutters and ughhh! Give it to my buddy and he goes ughhh! Neither of us can cut the darn thing. Took it over to my uncle's house and got the dremel with a cut-off bit and removed one coil that way.

So, when did S&W change the material of these springs and color them blue?

Also noticed that the hammer, sear, and rebound slide are now MIM instead of forged. No complaints as the quality seems there. The trigger may be too, but I didn't look too closely.

[James K]

Oddly enough, I don't think the hammer or the trigger have been forged in recent years. AFAIK, they are blanked out of a heavy piece of steel and then the wider parts formed by cold forging. Both were rather soft steel, which S&W used to prevent breakage, which is why they needed case hardening. If you cut through the thin case, the part will wear rapidly, as many an amateur S&W "gunsmith" has found out.

MIM should be OK for the trigger and rebound slide; I don't know about the hammer, but we will see.

Jim