I used to have a Taurus 605. It functioned ok, but the timing was off and it would shave lead really badly. My buddy was shooting with me one time and took a piece to the back of the head. I got rid of it after that and replaced it with an S&W 360J.

The 360 is a nice little gun. Scandium frame, steel cylinder, chambered in .38+p. I bought it new and have never even had it apart....I think the only thing I've done is replace the grips from the three-finger ones it came with to a set of S&W boot grips. I use it for a pocket gun when I can't carry anything else...like dressy events or exercising.

Today I was out running and I had the 360 in my hoodie pocket. I heard something hit the ground and I felt my pockets and my gun and garage door opener were still there, so I figured I'd just kicked something on the ground and kept going. When I got home, I took the gun out of the holster to put it away, and the cylinder release thumbpiece fell off and hit the floor. Apparently what I heard hit the ground out on the road was the screw that holds it on.

It doesn't look like S&W used any thread locker on this part...that's gonna change when I get a replacement. I called customer service and talked to a very nice lady who told me they can ship me a new screw....but they're on backorder. Figures. Just my luck. Supposedly it's not a "very long backorder"...not sure what that means...hopefully I'm back up and running before too long.

Argh - sorry that happened and that the replacement is on back-order.

I had that screw turn almost all the way loose on my 642 a while back. I can’t recall now if it was following a range visit or just when checking the gun at the start of the day, but the latch felt odd and I found that the screw was loose enough to just pull right out. I was thankful to be able to get it before it got away.

Jog back up to where you heard it drop, might just be sitting there waiting for you!

Could you source a local replacement for the screw?? (Home Depot/Lowes/ACE etc.)

I have an older Smith that some jackwagon had cut the strain screw down for a "better trigger pull" and I was getting light strikes. I was able to source a screw locally to replace it.

Numrich has the nut in stock for the model 36, but I don’t know if it’s the same as for the 360.

LINK

I had to order some parts from them this summer and it took a little longer than normal due to ‘rona backups, but I had them within two weeks.

I went back twice to look...once before and once after calling S&W. No luck. It's an old county road and the shoulders are swampy and covered in dead leaves. It's gone.

I'd grab one locally, but it's not really a screw...more of a cup with female threads that goes onto a stud. Not something you're going to find at the local ace hardware.

I found one on numrich...under $12 shipped. I may order one just to get things moving, and then I'll have a spare when the warranty is part comes. CC got compromised earlier this week, though. BOA flagged it...no big deal, but I have to wait for the replacement to come in the mail before I can order anything.

None of this is the end of the world...just inconvenient.

Yeah, that cup screw does benefit from some of the proper LockTite.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
more of a cup with female threads that goes onto a stud.

Yes, I wouldn't call it a screw at all, but whatever it is, in decades of owning S&W revolvers, I have never seen anything else like it.

Threads like this make me think about marking all my firearm screws with a paint pen.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Threads like this make me think about marking all my firearm screws with a paint pen.

I did that on a Lee bullet seating die that I discovered was backing out over time with the vibration of my progressive press...which was increasing the OAL of my reloads. I marked it and within 100 rounds was able to clearly see the issue. I loctited it and it hasn't moved since. I'm a big believer in blue thread locker...I have yet to have a screw back out that's had it properly applied.

I had the same thing happen to me years ago. Bad luck but not a biggie. The latch still works with no thumb piece installed. Trying to do a speed reload might be a little painful though.
It seems that if you spend a lot of time in the shooting sports you run into odd happenings. S&W probably has the best service available.

I have often seen S&Ws with the loose screw on cylinder release. Mine and others. Purple LocTite (made for small size threaded fasteners) has worked well for me.

I've got a dozen or so spare S&W thumbpiece nuts. Send me an email and I'll give you one.

You sir, are the man, again! Thank you very much for the generous offer! E-mail inbound.