9mm S&W Model 547

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I bid on one of those a while back…aaaand I was out of the running pretty darn quickly. Man, did that revolver go for a pretty penny! :what:

They are neat, and certainly uncommon, K-frames :thumbup:. Thanks for the suggested read.

Stay safe.
 
The 547's were fine guns, although today they are very heavy and bulky for a 6-shot 9mm pistol. But the no-moon-clip-needed extractor was a great design, IMO. I think it's a pity no one ever copied it, but it may have been a bear to manufacture. If you have a 547, I recommend NEVER disassembling the extractor. I did about 30 years ago, and I was able to find someone who could put it back together. Lots of luck with that now!
 
I remember trying to buy one over 10 years ago and they were priced just out of my reach then at around $1000

They really have not gone up that much since then considering other firearms have skyrocketed so much in that time and the 547s relative scarcity and novelty. I see they are around 1200-1500 on GB now.

Now, I can afford it but I just don’t care to have one anymore because my tastes have changed.
 
The Charter Arms PITBULL doesn't require moon clips. I'm not sure what people have against moon clips, like magazines, you load them up beforehand. Ejecting a moon clip and putting a new moon clip in is super fast. Loading each cylinder with a cartridge is super slow.

Still, I always wanted a 547.
 
Very nice read! I'm of the opinion that 9mm Nato would make the perfect K frame load. And being able to shoot it without moon clips is definitely an engineering feat (that also looks like something of an engineering nightmare, considering all the tweaks Smith had to use).

I don't know how the action would feel with all that clockwork movement, layered on top of the already-complex revolver internals, but my guess is "not good." That might be a dealbreaker, but maybe I'm wrong. I'd love to shoot one and find out.
 
The S&W 547 and Charter Arms Pitbull eliminate the best reason to chamber a revolver in 9mm, moonclips, thick robust moonclips! I like moonclips and would rather take a model 13/19 and convert it to 9mm and have a three caliber pistol that would be compatible with moonclips.
 
I remember back in the 90’s being in a gun store looking at revolvers and they had an almost brand new 547 for a reasonable price (in my mind at that time) but I passed on it as I really wanted a .38 Special. :confused:
I had no idea what I was looking at and passed up.
That was the first and last time I ever saw one in a store. I have seen a few in gun shows and online and always priced too high for me.
 
C0untZer0 said:
I'm not sure what people have against moon clips, like magazines, you load them up beforehand. Ejecting a moon clip and putting a new moon clip in is super fast. Loading each cylinder with a cartridge is super slow.
Click to expand...
One objection is the fear, valid or not, of them bending and thus being unable to load the gun.
The bigger issue, for me anyway, is that, thought it's true loading the gun with moon clips is a lot faster than loading individual rounds, the time it takes to load 6 individual rimmed rounds into the cylinder and then eject them is lightening fast compared to the time it takes to load the moon clips and then later demoon the empties.
I have a Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP and a Ruger SP101 9mm. I don't shoot ACP in the Redhawk due to the hassle of moon clips. When I carry the SP101 I carry it with moon clips and reloads in moon clips as well. At the range I don't use them. I prefer the inconvenience of plucking the fired cases from the cylinder one by one to messing with loading and demooning moon clips.
Just a random thought-
If when removing the empties from a moon clip you are "demooning" (often with a demooner tool) why aren't you mooning when loading them?
Just askin'........................................
 
Made $20 off a 547 owner in a bet.
We were chatting at a gun store and
he swore it was a 6-shot J-frame. I
said it couldn't be, for one thing the
9mm casing is actually thicker than
a .38's. He thought the 9mm was
just enough smaller to fit six in a J.
After checking he coughed up the $20.
 
Old_Grouch said:
One objection is the fear, valid or not, of them bending and thus being unable to load the gun.
The bigger issue, for me anyway, is that, thought it's true loading the gun with moon clips is a lot faster than loading individual rounds, the time it takes to load 6 individual rimmed rounds into the cylinder and then eject them is lightening fast compared to the time it takes to load the moon clips and then later demoon the empties.
I have a Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP and a Ruger SP101 9mm. I don't shoot ACP in the Redhawk due to the hassle of moon clips. When I carry the SP101 I carry it with moon clips and reloads in moon clips as well. At the range I don't use them. I prefer the inconvenience of plucking the fired cases from the cylinder one by one to messing with loading and demooning moon clips.
Just a random thought-
If when removing the empties from a moon clip you are "demooning" (often with a demooner tool) why aren't you mooning when loading them?
Just askin'........................................
Click to expand...

I have bent a fair number of moonclips but with proper checking after loading none of those bent moonclips have ever cause me issues. All my moonclips get checked after loading to ensure that they are ready for use. This is a quick and easy check. Moonclips for rimless cartridges are thicker and more robust than moonclips for rimmed cartridges.

With good moonclips tools most shooter can load and unload moonclips in roughly the same amount of time they can load a magazine with a similar number of rounds using a magazine loading tool. It takes me roughly 45 seconds to load a 20rd double stack 40S&W magazine with the aid or a UpLULA. I can unload and reload three 8-rounds moonclips (24 rounds total) in about 75 seconds using a BMT mooner (yes you are mooning when you load your moonclips :D). I am not rushing in either cases. That said I have enough moonclips to load and check more than enough rounds for a range trip or match before hand. I spend my time shooting and not futzing with moonclips. When I get home from the match or range I can take my time unloading and reloading moonclips at my leisure.

This is especially beneficial at wet and muddy matches where I don't have to worry about dropping speed-loaders or magazine in the mud and then having to clean them between stages. The muddy moonclips get set aside and then cleaned when I get home.

Even with a $90 moonclip tool and 100 moonclips for my 627 I have less money invested than 6 twenty round magazines and an UpLULA for my double stack 40.
 
Old_Grouch said:
One objection is the fear, valid or not, of them bending and thus being unable to load the gun.
The bigger issue, for me anyway, is that, thought it's true loading the gun with moon clips is a lot faster than loading individual rounds, the time it takes to load 6 individual rimmed rounds into the cylinder and then eject them is lightening fast compared to the time it takes to load the moon clips and then later demoon the empties.
I have a Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP and a Ruger SP101 9mm. I don't shoot ACP in the Redhawk due to the hassle of moon clips. When I carry the SP101 I carry it with moon clips and reloads in moon clips as well. At the range I don't use them. I prefer the inconvenience of plucking the fired cases from the cylinder one by one to messing with loading and demooning moon clips.
Just a random thought-
If when removing the empties from a moon clip you are "demooning" (often with a demooner tool) why aren't you mooning when loading them?
Just askin'........................................
Click to expand...
If the cylinder is step-bored so the case can headspace on the cartridge mouth (like the S&W M1917, or .30 Blackhawk), then you can still load and fire it without a clip, though unloading may require a stick to knock out the empties.

On my '17, the charge holes are rather generously dimensioned, I think, since I just shake it and the empties usually fall right out. I pretty much quit using clips on that one altogether, lol.
 
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I had heard that the revolver was commissioned by the Israelis not the French..

I wanted a 9mm revolver but I wanted adjustable sights. I passed on the 547 and the Ruger Speed Six in 9mm because I foolishly believed that S&W and Ruger would come out with versions that had adjustable sights. Instead, 9mm revolvers went away and I had to wait 28 years till S&W made the 929.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
If the cylinder is step-bored so the case can headspace on the cartridge rim (like the S&W M1917, or .30 Blackhawk), then you can still load and fire it without a clip, though unloading may require a stick to knock out the empties.
Click to expand...
Yes, hence my post.
BTW, the cartridge headspaces on the case mouth as it does in a semi auto, not a rim. The 9mm (with the exception of the obscure 9mm Federal) is rimless.
 
I owned two 3" 547s at different times. That expensive extractor worked as designed with any and all of the ammunition I used, even the heaviest reloaded or factory ammunition. I had HKS speedloaders for the 547, but never carried, competed with, or had to qualify with, the 547 and hence never worried about reloading the 547 at speed. Due to the wide variety of 9mm ammunition available, my 547s could have benefitted from adjustable sights.

My current Ruger SP101 handles all manner of 9mm ammunition as well as my 547s did, but it too could benefit from adjustable sights...
 
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