Will Smith and Wesson ever get rid of the internal lock on their Revolvers?

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This question has been asked for decades. S&W does offer a lot of models that no longer have the lock. I wish that they eliminated the lock on their newer line of "classic" revolvers. Sadly they do not.
That said, I work in a range where millions of rounds have been fired through S&W revolvers that have the dreaded lock. Never have we seen even one failure attributed to the "hillary hole", and this includes hundreds of airweight snubbies firing .357 magnums.
Fro legal reasons I leave it alone and it no longer bothers me, bothers me, bothers me.
 
My 686-6 has north of 12,000 rounds through it with at least half of them full magnums. Have never had an issue with the lock yet. I don’t use the lock as up here it is not recognized as legal and must have a trigger lock installed when transporting. It’s the only S&W revolver I have with it as all my others do not. It bothered me at first but don’t even see it anymore.
 
On the other hand me removing it gives S&W yet another excuse not to honor their lifetime warranty, and potentially a prosecuting attorney could tell the jury that this "homicidal maniac" (defending his home or his life) was so eager to shoot someone that he removed the safety lock on his gun!

I'll never buy another one with a lock, and after my recent S&W service dept. experience will never buy another S&W either, except maybe an old one when they were built much better.

It is not a “safety.” It is intended to prevent unauthorized parties, mainly children, who may discover the gun from being able to shoot it.

I also have taken a lack of interest for a long time in new S&W handguns. However The Lady has adopted the M&P 1.0 and the Shield 9mm’s as her ideal defense guns. I remain uncommitted to plastic striker fired semi-autos but my excuse for allowing them in the house is they belong to her.

As much as I want to hate S&W’s new revolver features such as the lock,
MIM parts and two piece barrels my resolve is weakening with the Model 69.
 
I do not care the the S&W internal lock, primarily an appearance thing. But if S&W introduces an interesting revolver, I frequently bite regardless of the lock.

I'm disappointed that the square frame has mostly disappeared and Pachmayr has discontinued the N-frame Presentation grips.
 
It's not going anywhere until someone new owns S&W.

That said it has never bothered me. Remove it if it does. It is all of four parts. Plug the hole and forget about it.
We should all pool our cash and buy S&W , we could fire all the turds in management and build all the guns we really want not just the ones they want too sell to us....imagine that take back corporate America , pay the corrupt CEO's minimum wage, and pay the workers a good wage , talk about rebuilding America...
B.B......
A premier gun manufacturer owned by gun owners....that's the way it's supposed too be....
 
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The locks will stay because the legal climate that brought them into being in the first place has only gotten worse. Until the danger of being sued into Oblivion ceases to exist, look for more of this crap, not less. And it won't matter who owns S&W.
 
I personally don't care for them. I keep thinking if you do use the lock, and the key somehow breaks. Well you have a $500 paper weight. Yes you can send it back. They will fix it. It would be a hassle. That and I think they are ugly. So I don't buy them. And pay out the nose for pre lock.
 
I don't care.

I checked this one very closely and could not find a lock on it anywhere.

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The same with these.

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Can't find a lock on this one either.

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This one is much newer, but I can't find a lock on it either.

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This one is much newer than any of those others, but still no lock.

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OK, I finally found one with the lock in it. To tell you the truth, the lock does not bother me half as much as the inferior workmanship when compared to the Model 19 above it.

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Oh, here is another one. Frankly, I think it is butt ugly with the full length under lug.

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I think this one is much prettier.

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So I really don't care if S&W ever removes the lock or not. There are so many great old Smiths out there that don't have it, that I have no intention of buying any more that do have it.
 
The locks will stay because the legal climate that brought them into being in the first place has only gotten worse. Until the danger of being sued into Oblivion ceases to exist, look for more of this crap, not less. And it won't matter who owns S&W.
And yet Ruger stopped doing theirs and no one even noticed.
 
What lock???

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I don't like the lock either, but if'n a fella wants a Model 21 with combat sights for less than $3000 or so, the 21-4 is the only choice. I bought a "Lock Delete" plug from Original Precision. Although it served the purpose, I think with a but of tweaking of his machine he could make them fit a little closer. It's also a shame he doesn't make them in polished blue. I removed the matte black finish from mine then polished it and cold blued it, but it doesn't even come close to matching the revolver finish. But again, it serves the purpose.

35W
 
Another thing is the fact double action revolvers have no "safety" so to speak. (I think High Standard or someone tried it in the 70's). It lasted 5 minutes. Because of that, the legal community and the anti's look at it as simply too dangerous. I mean really, they got rid of Lawn Darts to, "save the children", so there was no way they were going to leave this alone.

Forget the fact double action revolvers have been successfully manufactured and used the same way, since they were first introduced in 1851, 169 years ago. If there is ammunition in the cylinder, and you pull the trigger, it goes bang. In today's world that is deemed much too dangerous.

Today we must have cars that drive you crazy, dinging and beeping if you drive 2 blocks without your seat belt on. Or will lock the doors automatically as soon as you do the same. And of course now you cannot put your vehicle into drive, or even start it without pressing the brake pedal first. Because no one did that before they made it so you couldn't.

Can you go anywhere today and not hear some type of, "backup alarm" beeping somewhere? So this idea of a loaded weapon going bang by anyone simply picking it up and pulling the trigger, seems preposterous to a modern, liberal thinking society. Most of which has been convinced that we MUST be protected from ourselves. Because we are just too irresponsible.

And for the anti's, it's just another way to attack the gun industry. How many here actually use that silly, cheap, Chinese lock every gun gets shipped with? I had 2 drawers full of them when we moved. I ended up tossing them. I'm betting most people do the same. It's sad we as a society have allowed ourselves to evolve into this.
 
Smith has deleted some of its locks on new revolvers? Now that floors me. There is some hope.
 
Colt is making revolvers again. With one piece barrels that are properly aligned and decent triggers on them. No idiot lock either.

Who cares what the company calling itself s&w does? Ruger makes nice revolvers too! :)
 
Is that hole and pin for a lock or the optional thumb safety?

Dave

Can't speak for @Bama59 but 99% sure that's a lock hole. First I've ever seen on an M&P. My M&P .45 has no thumb safety but there is a molded square area forward of the aft roll pin where it would be if they installed one. Also his pistol has the directional arrow that the revolver internal locks also have.
 
They might. Some j frames are available either way. If they do, revolvers with locks will probably bring a premium.
 
So do the new guns come with instructions on what to do when you've misplaced the key?

Are there detailed diagrams on how to properly throw the locked gun at your attacker, where to aim for to cause the most damage?
 
As long as they keep selling, the lock will remain.
When it is obvious that the lock id killing sales, it will be gone.
 
The lock is a liability, I am surprised that they have not yet been sued because of it. Imagine an owner gets comfortable leaving the loaded gun lying around locked.
One day they forget to lock it, and because of the careless gun handling the lock encourages, bang they shoot themselves or someone else.
They could easily argue to a jury that the design encouraged poor gun handling and that people came to rely on a lock and the lock was deficient because the flag was too small, the lock too hard to manipulate, or even that the gun should lock itself...
 
The lock is a liability, I am surprised that they have not yet been sued because of it...... One day they forget to lock it, and because of the careless gun handling the lock encourages, bang they shoot themselves or someone else.

I would argue just the opposite. Forgets he had it locked, or else can't find the stupid "key", and ends up getting shot because he cannot return fire with a loaded weapon.
 
The lock is a liability, I am surprised that they have not yet been sued because of it. Imagine an owner gets comfortable leaving the loaded gun lying around locked.
One day they forget to lock it, and because of the careless gun handling the lock encourages, bang they shoot themselves or someone else.
They could easily argue to a jury that the design encouraged poor gun handling and that people came to rely on a lock and the lock was deficient because the flag was too small, the lock too hard to manipulate, or even that the gun should lock itself...
Well, I'm a member of three gun clubs/ranges, several other RKBA and firearm-related organizations, consider myself somewhat wired in to the greater shooting community, and know hundreds of folks who own S&W revolvers -- and I've never, ever heard from any owner of the newer S&Ws w/locks -- who uttered a peep about actually using the lock. Even the folks on the brand-specific forum talk about leaving the key(s) in the box and never using 'em.
 
I looked at a new Model 10 a while ago - just to see how similar it was to the one I have from the 70s. It was amazing to me how it was just the exact same; only that it was perfect and just amazingly good condition. If it did not have the lock, and the extra expense of one, I imagine I would now own it or a couple of them; but, the lock was a hard pass. I'll keep looking for used ones with no lock in good condition.
 
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