[jc]

i read it on here i think that a 642 or 642-1 had a cracked frame? i just bought mine should i have to worry about this? ps: they said they used non plus p ammo.

[pinkymingeo]

There's always been some of that with S&W Airweights. The steel barrel is screwed into an aluminum frame. Overtorquing has resulted in cracked frames. In the long term different rates of expansion and galvanic corrosion might also play a part, though nobody seems certain of that. S&W won't refinish them, because they don't want to pull the barrel. Not worth the risk. My solution has been to purchase Airlites, with scandium alloy frames and two-piece barrels that aren't prone to problems. If your frame is cracked (unlikely) it'll show up pretty soon, and S&W will replace the gun.

[Hawk]

is it true that a s&w 642-1 had a cracked frame?

I'd suppose so. I believe I've heard of one such myself.

However, ever since I've started poking about in production figures I've been taken aback by how little one hears of S&W defects in relation to the amount of product they put out - like 430,000 handguns in 2006. They do, of course, manage to irritate some folks quite well.

You did know that in 458 BC Aeschylus, a Greek playwright, was killed when an eagle dropped a live tortoise on him, mistaking his bald head for a stone. The tortoise survived.

Frames crack and eagles drop tortoises on heads. The former is slightly more common but life is too short to worry about either.

[pps]

Is this cracked enough? No bulged barrel (squib), no bulged or kb'd chambers/top strap (overcharge) Granted this was a 442, but overtightening the barrel could do the same to a steel frame, though not as likely.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l96/pps_2006/Kaboomed340pd.jpg

Hare's another

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l96/pps_2006/442withcrack.jpg

[scbair]

PPS, that photo is NOT a 442 . . .

[pps]

sorry, my bad, top is/was a 340

[pinkymingeo]

I've heard of a couple of those with the Airlites, but I kinda doubt it's a torquing issue. The barrel tightens against the shroud, and cracking the frame without noticeably deforming the shroud would be a good trick. More likely a foundry error, coupled with S&W's far less than perfect quality control. Okay, actually their QC is horrible these days. I asked a Customer Rep how they stay in business, considering their warranty costs. He just gave a telephone shrug.

[Schofield3]

As Hawk said earlier, I don’t think this is a matter you need stay up at night worrying about, I am a S&W fan but as pps photos clearly show things do happen. I still carry and trust my 340pd…

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it and it would not influence me either way to buy or not buy said gun.

We could die in an automobile, plane or train crash, or an unknown asteroid could suddenly destroy Earth. An earthquake could suddenly cause my roof to cave in with me under it. A meteor could destroy my house or my car while I'm in them.

I suppose if I was worried enough, I could just sit in a concrete room with an iron door and not go anywhere out of fear something might happen.

More importantly than something happening is that I am certain where I will be when this body has ceased functioning.:)

[JCMAG]

Aluminum framed guns are extremely common. 642/442 production numbers have got to be in the high multi-hundred-thousands. They've been produced by the tens of thousands for years and years--or at least I imagine.

With that many guns, were cracked frames a concern worth being concerned about, you, me, and everyone else would be well aware of it.

Can it happen? You bet. Is it more likely to happen to an aluminum or scandium or titanium gun than a steel one? Common Sense dictates yes. Is it going to happen to you? I highly doubt it.

Sleep easy. Your 642 is good to go.

[boomcrash]

I would say dont worry about it.

My 642 no dash from 1995 or 96 cracked, and I dont know how long it was cracked before I discovered it, since it always shot just fine.

I saw a post on a forum about N frames in alloy having problems, I checked the 642, and low and behold, there it was. The crack was in the frame, under the barrel, where the barrel is inserted into the frame. Pretty good chance it was a manufacturing glich, and pretty good chance it had been cracked a long time.

S&W sent me a label, I sent them the gun, and a brand new one was sent to my dealer to replace the defective one. I replaced that one with a 640 from 1996, but I might pick up another one now that i can get one w/o the blasted lock.