Smith & Wesson Airweight light primer strikes

Spring is the first thing that comes to mind. Close examination of the firing pin and the amount that it protrudes through the standing breech is a simple thing to check.

Lafitte

First thing that comes to mind would be that someone replaced the hammer spring at some point before it got to you. It's very unlikely to be a bad firing pin or hammer, but very likely a spring issue.

Smith and Wesson has spectacular customer service, and often fixes things for very little. You might try calling them, but I imagine they would charge to fix something someone modified. Who knows.

If you want to know what you're getting into before attempting a DIY, Apex has a decent video on it. It's only a DIY if you have a good set of gunsmithing screwdrivers and are mechanically adept. I usually discourage kitchen table gunsmithing because I work on botched guns all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATrz7SSbpAk

Check the hammer spring bushing also - some people lose it when disassembling the gun while some others remove it in order to lighten the trigger pull. And DO clean thoroughly your revolver and change the hammer spring before sending it to S&W and spending money and time on that specific complicated, top-level-gunsmith-only job...

OP, can you tell us a little bit about your experience working on guns or other fine equipment? As other people have stated, the mainspring and possibly the firing pin are likely causes of light strikes. These are pretty quick fixes for someone who is familiar with working on revolvers.

However, I do not recommend anyone to even take the sideplate off a Smith & Wesson revolver unless they are mechanically inclined and own a quality set of gunsmithing screwdrivers. It is very easy to mess up the screw heads or even the sideplate itself if you are not familiar with revolvers. Note that you must have screwdrivers designed for gunsmithing to take the screws out without marking them.

So overall, I do not consider any work on revolvers to be easy. If you are experienced working on guns, or if you want to spend some time learning, then I can provide suggestions about diagnosing this issue. But if you are not already comfortable with mechanical projects, then I would recommend taking the revolver to a professional. For a problem like this, S&W service is a fine choice, or you could talk to a local gunsmith who knows revolvers.

If you are inclined to work on it, then I could offer specific suggestions, but I will await your reply before speaking further.

Also, you did not mention if this revolver is intended for carry. If it will serve defensive duty, then it is especially important for it to be carefully checked out.

As others have mentioned, the most likely cause of light strikes is the mainspring (hammer spring). I would replace the mainspring with a factory stock spring. If it has a frame mounted firing pin, you should measure the length of the pin. There have been several versions of the firing pin, and some of them were short and could cause problems. If the firing pin is less than .492", then you should replace it. A new factory firing pin should be fine. All the recent S&W firing pins I have seen are at least .493.

However, I am concerned that this gun has either been worked on by an amateur or might be broken in some way. If you do some simple parts replacements and it runs 100%, then I would probably trust it. But if it is going to be carried for duty, it might still be worth the money to have it inspected by a professional.

Good luck.

Return to seller for a refund.

If the firing pin does not protrude at all, the problem is not likely due to the spring. I'd check the rebound slide; it sounds like it's in the "safety" position, preventing the hammer from moving fully forward. Since you plan to carry the gun, it might be a good idea to have S&W check the gun over completely anyway.