4.5 (54) Smith & Wesson Model 642 .38 Special +P Revolver . Regardless what I shoot, the best I can do is to stay inside the 5 bullseye of a B-16 target at 25 yards. You can remove the silly lock, and replace it with a lock delete so there is no hole for junk to go in. Taurus has redesigned this sporting pistol for performance. Can you imagine what given the huge jump in tech of bullet construction a 110-125gr full house max psi load would do by the old loading standards. I dont know that I will indeed make it my EDC but I ordered a high quality 5 .357 last month to explore the idea. Smith & Wesson Model 19 Classic 4.25" DA/SA K/L-Frame Revolver Chambered in 357 Magnum . On the range, the Classic 19 handled and shot as well as my older Model 19. Deputy Sherrif. MIM is a mature production process and an excellent way to produce complex metal parts at lower cost. They also allow for setting min cyl gap. As far as my high school pistol team, no we did not have one. No matter, I own a Model 586 in bought in 1992 that still have along with the 29 and a 657. If Colts had ever proved to be either more accurate or possessing a better double action trigger pull, it would have been those revolvers dominating PPC, not Smiths. The pre-1971 Model 19 is a classicthat earned its reputation. The Model 19 Classic revolver features a handsome set of walnut grips, a 4.25 barrel, a black adjustable rear sight, and red ramp front sight. (Unfortunately, I didnt have any speed loaders.) PERFORMANCE CENTER Model 19 Carry Comp . Does this mean the steel guns arent tough, and cant take magnum loads. The revolver simply falls into the hand naturally andI imagine it would be even more so in a four-inch model. Using the same bullet weight and barrel length, the standard .357 Magnum is still travelling as fast or faster at 100 yards than the 9mm+P is at 50 yards. The only complaint I had was knoxing the site out of line getting in and out on the stwering wheel off the Patrol Car, and the grip size, which was too big for my hands, but was corrected when I went to Firearms Instructor School, with Hogue rubber groves grips. In fast fire I had to learn to feel for it, but it certainly lets you know right before the hammer falls. The Model 19 has a flat spot on the bottom of the forcing cone. BE SURE to watch the Chapter 2 follow-up. thats why I dont bother with home brew re-loads. But the ground off portion of the forcing cone makes it the weakest part, and thats normally where cracks begin. I also bought my model 19 in 1970, I paid $125 and carried it for seven years as. The Classic 19 is a great addition to the Smith & Wesson line. The Smith & Wesson Model 19 Combat Magnumwasone of the most beloved handguns ever made. The second significant difference is that the diameter of the barrel is thicker than the older guns. Yep, the model 19 is a beautiful piece but I wont buy a revolver with a built-in lock. The ejector rod is tight. Inadvertent? I keep telling you folks that people are willing to pay for quality. I carried the M19 for two different departments in the mid 1980s. Since then even though 10s of 1000s of revolvers safely ate these with boring regularity once lawyers starting dictating policy and buisness cartidge performance went down not all at once but a bit yr after yr and to this day is still happening. Beautiful pistol better than a colt python 357 but not as nice as the colt diamond back 38+p which I used as my service weapon , colt python had wheel alignment problems and the new ones have the same problem showing up. Smith & Wesson. God help the goblin that stops one. That gun had much better balance and was far superior to the GPs. The cost has risen substantially, as more and more people recognize a classic, and pay for the quality. Failure to Fire: Many users of Smith & Wesson 22A have an issue with light primer strikes or failure to fire. New Pietta Gunfighter - wife won this for me in a gun My lil mistake: 1st issue Colt Police Positive Special in Press J to jump to the feed. Regrettably, I now have to carry a semi-auto, and although I do well, I truly miss my Smith & Wesson revolvers. You can also stretch the topstrap, such that the window changes in dimension. This brings the DA pull down to 9 pounds, and the trigger pull becomes much smoother. Smith and Wesson's .38 Special Cartridge Near the end of the 19th century, America found itself involved in the Spanish-American War. The Model 19 Classic is a great addition to the Smith & Wesson line and will hopefully renew the interest in wheelguns for new shooters. Youll spot this by the increase in end-shake on the cylinder. Agreed to this day based on FBI shooting data no other normally carried SD or LE duty cartdige comes close to the one shot stop data of the full power 357 loaded with 125gr JHP of old. Veteran, army medic, proud Texas son. I guess that depends if you just shoot a few hundred rounds per week, or you go for the gusto with 5000 rounds per month! I did that to my 686. Smith & Wesson TRR8, 5.0 Barrel, 357 Magnum . K-Frame. This isn't your grandpa's muzzleloading system. It worked well for him. S&W, please stop putting junk parts in your otherwise nice guns. I stopped and empited the gun. These are both polymer frame one being a hammer fired DA/SA and the latter single stage striker fiire meaning the striker is fully cooked by the slide cycle not trigger pull. As I said, the first Combat Magnum was produced in 1955 and promptly sent to Bill Jordan. The front sight is a pinned ramp with a retro red ramp insert. Model 19 Classic Smith & Wesson. The 4.0-inch-barreled Model 19 was dropped in 1999. However, with this comes the loss of hand polishing and fitting. View Deal . What I cant decide is whether the Model 19 is $300 better than the Ruger. On top strap flame cutting: Is there a way to add a reinforcing plate in that area that can act as a replaceable sacrificial surface? 1) The so-called Hillary Hole, I thought I could live with it when I bought my M-27 Classic.every time I look at the left side of the revolver, that freakin lock gets a little uglier, its become a deal breaker. After a couple years of qualifying with the .357s the M-66s started to shake loose. Built on an aluminum-alloy J-frame and chambered in 22 Long Rifle, this revolver is compact and lightweight, perfect for concealed carry or recreational shooting. Smith & Wesson Model 686 .357 Magnum/.38 S&W Special +P Revolver $ 919 99 919 dollars 99 cents. Also, I have only seen a model 19 with those squared front sights one other time. If my count is correct, Smith offers, at least 14 models based on the K-frame. During the sixties and seventies, the Model 19s were works of art with pinned barrels, recessed cylinders, and the walnut magna stocks were hand-fitted to each frame. Great write-up, JWT. Apparently, Gallery of Guns sells 5 GP100 with a satin finish. The .357 still has an edge but not by much. The first item that all the shooters noticed is how short the rear sight blade is, necessitating a shallow the rear sight notch. The hammerspur is checkered and measures 0.38 inch wide. If I had to pick a favorite pistol type it would be the k frame S&W. Until this lock is removed I would not bet my life on a S&W with the lock! The revolver dons a highly polished, blued finish and traditional thumbpiece for a classic look. Sweet gun and cool review. The Model 19 was frequentlythe best revolver these officers could afford. When Smith & Wesson dropped the last of the K-Frame double-action Combat Magnum .357 Magnum/.38 Special revolvers from production in 2004, Shooting Times said that they went out in style. Those guns were the stainless-steel Models 65 and 66. Smith & Wesson 586 Classic Problems. If you dont have time to aim, shooting a snubby is just like pointing your fist, but you can feel a long barrel out there, like pointing your finger. Only pre mim.pre Hillary hole smiths for me. My best draw and fire of six shots into the same circle at 15 yards was 4.17 seconds. You might expect that the longer times, such as a .4 split time, were because of the recoil of the gun. PERIOD. So I wasnt exactly starting from scratch. The Lawyer Lock aperture AKA the Hillary Hole that can prevent a shooter from getting a round off makes this gun worthless as a defensive weapon. Models 10 and 64 have a heavy barrel and fixed sights while the Model 67 adds an adjustable rear sight and red ramp front sight. Not sure why the author feels it is slow. It's based on the N frame, larger and now with an eight-round cylinder instead of the six of the 19 and earlier N frames. Of all the guns to pass through my hands over the years, that is the one I most regret letting go. Most of . While the .357 lever gun would make an excellent self defense rifle at modest ranges the .30-30 has a huge advantage downrange. There is nothing wrong with the new classic model 19. The DA will tell the jury that you are a careless gun owner and not to be believed in your self-defensive testimony. They verified what I had already found searching the S&W forums: the top strap erosion and frame cracking was only an issue after firing thousands of rounds of .357. IF I had a Model 19 Id carry either .38 SPL Meat Mashers like I do now or way loaded down .357 with the same bullets. I see these S&W wheel guns and it all comes back from my impressionable youth, One Adam-12, One Adam-12, see the man.. Thanks Grandma its the best Christmas gift ever! For years now I have been carrying a early 70s era 2 model 19 and a full size 1911. The Model 19 was also offered in nickel finish. Before there were scopes or red dots there were iron sights. But I felt like the Smith & Wesson Model 19 could do better. History has shown that the K frame does not hold up well under a steady diet of magnum loads. That DA will try to sway the jurors that since you removed the lock, that shows an attitude of looking for a gunfight, and so forth, ad nausea. It would be hard to find a police department in this country which didn't issue or authorize some version of the Model 19 at some point in its history. Four inches would be the right length to fit holsters we got in the Border Patrol. Wide, thick, and with a great shelf for the thumb, the standard wood grips look good and provide excellent control of the gun. I do all right in my gun clubs practical pistol matches. If you have a M19, then you gotta get a M27. the their product 25 years ago. In 1957 Smith & Wesson gave its handguns a number designation, and the blued-steel medium-frame .357 Magnum model was named the Model 19. The Model 19 Combat Magnum is the result of legendary U.S. Border Patrol shooter, Bill Jordan, convincing Smith & Wesson to chamber a K frame in .357 Magnum. I have carried countless S&W revolvers over the years. It is significantly shorter than the rear sight on my 1975 vintage Model 19. . In my view, S&W needs to reissue the Model 19/66s, only beefed up in the right parts, without turning the guns into boat anchors! I refuse to purchase one of their revolvers with that Clinton lock in the side! The use of ammunition that is incompatible with the revolver is among the possible causes. I would probably go all in for the .38. We also noticed that the new stocks are slimmer than the originals. Fortunately most other firearm manufacturers have wisely chosen to delete this exercise in stupidity. The single-action trigger pull averaged 4.0 pounds, 12.0 ounces with my RCBS trigger-pull scale, and the double-action pull was 13.0 pounds. Rough as it looked, the Model 39 delivered a solid shooting experience. The current Smith & Wesson info page lists the Model 19 as having a barrel length of 4.25 inches, an overall length of 9.875 inches, and a weight of 37.2 ounces. Feature Articles, $800-900. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. End shake? The .357 definitely benefits from room to run, even more so in a lever gun. The new Model 19 is also offered in a stainless steel version outside the Classic line. GDHP. All the pivoting/bearing surfaces are smoothed up and polished, and the rebound spring is lightened by trimming a coil or so off of it. Nice gun, but I will always remember the beauty of blued steel and walnut stocks. The Model 19 for this review is a used gun, manufacturedsometime between 1967-70. 357 Magnum . The Smith & Wesson Model 19 is a revolver produced by Smith & Wesson that was introduced in 1957 on its K-frame. In good condition, it can sell for anywhere from $650 to $950 online. There also is a new Performance Center Model 19 with a 3.0-inch barrel and a few other interesting features (see the accompanying sidebar for more details about it). Failure to Fire. Hilary Hole. . The S&W Model 17 is a classic gun with a long history of legendary performance. The author refers to the new Model 19, like the old model, not being able to sustain much use of full power 357 Mag loads. 1 more deal from guns.com . From what Ive seen it seems that vented and non vented barrels are a wash in mid length barrels (a 5 Coonan generates velocities similar to a 5 revo lver) but the longer the bullet stays in the barrel the more is lost out the gap, so snubbies dont lose as much. Cylinder Not Locking: When you pull the trigger on the Smith and Wesson 327, you might sometimes hear a slight click. the .357 Magnum offers relatively little stopping power improvement over the 9mm+P.. The revolver dons a highly polished, blued finish and traditional thumbpiece for a classic look. I know that was a bargain, and that the Ruger isnt as classy as the Smith. Open the cylinder and check to see if the extractor rod has come slightly unscrewed? To each his own. Add to Wish List. The noise will come from the cylinder. So in 1975, my first Model 19 arrived with all the target goodie options. All Rights Reserved. obligatory key lock. Like many revolvers of the era, the Model 25 can load six rounds of .45 Colt. Add to Wish List. You just can't ask for more in a revolver. A thorough reading of the entire article will provide a clear . I dont shoot well enough to notice the difference. There are countless instances where .38 Special simply cannot get the job done and one needs a round with far more penetration. S&Ws revolver line has been cheapened up so much they are only a shadow I put the gun away for the day. In S&W revolvers, what you want to ask a smith for is an action job. Kuhnhausen describes this a bit in his book. This revolver features rubber grips and is offered with a 2.75-inch barrel, as well as the standard 4.25-inch barrel. No Smith with Hillary Hole for me. Truly, the Model 19, 686, and all of the other Smith & Wessons during that time were exceptionally well made and great pistols. 650 to $ 950 online gun, but I felt like the Smith smith and wesson model 19 classic problems Wesson revolvers draw and fire six. Slightly unscrewed review is a classicthat earned its reputation are willing to for. And that the new stocks are slimmer than the older guns the most handguns..357 Magnum/.38 S & W revolvers, what you want to ask a Smith for an... 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