S&W642 - I just removed my ILS lock. It was easy!

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Benelli Shooter

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Aug 16, 2005
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I have HATED the sight of this gun ever since I bought it. Every time I looked at it, I saw the stupid Hillary hole and the sellout lock. I only bought the gun because Ruger did not have an equivalent lightweight gun at the time. Then, I watched this youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVPYgohVCNM

The lock had to go! It took 5 minutes. Externally, you can't tell any difference. But, internally, it is gone.

Now, I look at the gun and feel a sense of pride knowing my Hillary hole is non functional. I did it myself.

If the Smith and Wesson guys had half a brain, they would be designing out this lock immediately. I will never buy another S&W as long as their guns are infected with the locks.

S&W - can you hear me now?
 
Since the abomination from Safety Wesson known as the internal lock, is not a safety, simply a storage device, I fail to see how it could be an "issue in a civil action". :confused:

Perhaps if one of the unknowing, who purchase revolvers so equipped, went out with it locked, and was killed by a BG with more firearms sense (ie their handgun had no lock) perhaps the survivors would bring a lawsuit. I can't see them prevailing, as their deceased loved one would have shown a careless disregard, and be negligent for buying such a handgun for self defense in the first place. ;)
 
I just hope that it never becomes a issue with civil action.
Click to expand...

Not likely... unless he leaves it loaded and unlocked in his kitchen and a neighbor kid blows their head off with it. As for a self defense situation, it is a non-issue.

I will be doing mine too. However, I don't want to remove it completely as to expose the hole in the frame. I will just hit the little lock post with the Dremmel.
 
Aren't you guys worried about the other parts of the lock working themselves loose? A member on another forum told me about this happening to him,he removed his gun's lock flag and the other pieces of the gun's lock the piece where the key goes worked itself loose and fell inside the gun.
 
I don't see how this could happen. The part you take out does not hold the other parts in place.

Do you have a link to the other forum where the person claimed to have a problem?
 
The lock looks like it is still functional. There is a very tiny hole that is unplugged. I plan to just leave it the way it is.
 
In theory, if the flag is removed it leaves a void in the frame where other parts could shift enough to block the hammer, under what must be called "unlikely circumstances." But it does leave a potential problem. If all of the lock parts are removed then this couldn't happen. Also if the flag is removed, the lug on it ground off, and then it's replaced to fill the recess in the frame the other parts can't move into the space the flag fills. But it must be remembered the flag can still be lifted to indicate the revolver is, safe-and-locked, when it really isn't.

The best solution is still to buy a revolver that doesn't have, and never had, a lock.
 
My S&W 438 has the ILS and rattles when you shake it the shop gun smith said its the ILS. So do you or did you have a rattle and does it rattle now? I want to remove my ILS too. Thx.
 
Old fuff, what is going to move? That does not make sense. It is not like there are loose parts floating around in the revolver.
 
At the 8:10 mark, the gun suddenly appears LOADED....... :eek:

this is not the smart way to do gun repair !
 
Can you please explain to me what the ILS is, what it does, how it came about, and if my new manufactured S&W 686 has one?
 
Not being a fan of an ILS on a handgun of any brand, I understand why you took action to get rid of that thing. I got lucky and came across a NIB condition 642-2 (no lock) and scooped it up. I prefer the black anodization of the 442 but the price was right on this model.
 
"My S&W 438 has the ILS and rattles when you shake it the shop gun smith said its the ILS. So do you or did you have a rattle and does it rattle now? I want to remove my ILS too. Thx."

I doubt that is the internal lock parts you hear. The rattle is probably coming from the hammer block, a safety device in all hammered SW revolvers for many, many decades. It tends to rattle in most Smiths. No big deal and the hammer block is one part you do NOT want to remove. Your shop smith probably knew what he was talking about, because it IS an internal safety device, just NOT the same ILS that gets so much negative attention. Totally different parts.
 
Old Fuff has me freaked out now about stuff rattling around in the revolver since I only removed the flag. If I remove everything, I will have a big hole in the side of my revolver that lint and dirt can enter.

Does anyone have any easy ideas on how to plug the hole if you take everything out?
 
This is why we don't remove the flag... just grind off the little stump and keep it. It will block the hole, and keep everything in place.
 
Benelli Shooter:

No need to freak out. What I posted was:

In theory, if the flag is removed it leaves a void in the frame where other parts could shift enough to block the hammer, under what must be called "unlikely circumstances." But it does leave a potential problem. If all of the lock parts are removed then this couldn't happen. Also if the flag is removed, the lug on it ground off, and then it's replaced to fill the recess in the frame the other parts can't move into the space the flag fills. But it must be remembered the flag can still be lifted to indicate the revolver is, safe-and-locked, when it really isn't.
Click to expand...

So, could it happen? Yes, but it's unlikely. As one of our pro-lock/pro S&W members put it in another thread, the possibility of a lock failure is “statistically insignificant.” That’s true, but it may not seem that way for those who turn out to be on the wrong side of the statistics.

After removing the sideplate and hammer, the lock mechanism is exposed. To remove it you lift it up and out. If the flag and hammer are in place the parts cannot be lifted out. If the flag is removed the parts – in theory – can wiggle outward a little bit because the flag isn’t there to stop them. Is this serious? Well only if something gets into the hollowed out part of the hammer’s side.

The lock’s relative complexity, contributes to various ways that it might cause the revolver to become non-functional. Each of these reduces the potential reliability of the gun, and in exchange you get nothing of substantial value, because the lock is not necessary to secure a revolver, or any other handgun.

So it boils down to a question of how much risk are you willing to take? Especially when you don’t have to take any? :uhoh:

The reason you haven’t gotten an earlier answer is because I’ve been busy, and I’m trying to find a way to explain without having to write a book.
 
Here are the choices the way I see it:

1. Leave the lock in - small risk of lock up.
2. Remove only the flag - small risk of lock up.
3. Remove everything - small risk of lint, dirt, ect.. causing a lock up due to big ugly hole.
4. Sell the thing and buy a Ruger LCR.

What would you do?
 
1. Leave the lock in - small risk of lock up.
2. Remove only the flag - small risk of lock up.
3. Remove everything - small risk of lint, dirt, ect.. causing a lock up due to big ugly hole.
4. Sell the thing and buy a Ruger LCR.
Click to expand...

none of the above

sell it and buy a prelock, pre MIM Smith or a Colt
 
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