Did anybody see the new S&W wheelguns yet?

[Gewehr98]

S&W ain't exactly doing much to help themselves, are they?

They took a big hit in sales after The Agreement, then they Kill off the K-frame .357's, the L-frame 696 (which now has a cult following), throw MIM bits into the mix, and move the firing pin to the frame. Yippee.

Then there's the hole-in-the-sideplate key lock. Remington tried the same thing with their rifles, then wisened up. Savage must've talked to the Glock and S&W lawyers with their AccuTrigger abomination. At least they can sell guns to liability lawyers.

 

[tomkatz]

I thought the guy who bought S&W made the locks and when he bought the company, in they went.

The locks were already there when saf-t-lock bought the company....I'm hitting the back button as soon as I post this so as not to offend anyone that can live with the ridiculous lock ......tom

 

[Titus]

Were they? Everything I've seen seems to indicate they weren't. When were they introduced?

 

[tomkatz]

Were they? Everything I've seen seems to indicate they weren't. When were they introduced?

I know I remember when the new owners took over everyone was speculating whether they could go back to guns with no locks, unfortunately it soon became apparent that they either had no desire to do so or were just plain stuck with the agreement made by the previous owners, I seem to remember it being the latter.....someone with a better memory of this than me please give us the whole scoop.......tom

 

[Dr.Who]

Hit Back today.... Locks still there.... :banghead:

 

[magsnubby]

The little pimple looking lock i can live with. They can be easily deactivated. BUT $980!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[another48hrs]

Took a look at the 57 mountain gun, did anybody else notice that in the picture it looks like it has a 5" tube and no pimple? Or am I just seeing things that I wished were there?

 

[pezo]

The "saftey manual" written on the side of a ruger, however wont get you killed do to a mechanical failure when weapon is needed for defense.

 

[Master Blaster]

but still prettier than printing the entire safety manual on the side of the barrel.. What am I gonna do? I love wheelguns - and it's nice to know I can take my Vaquero into the can with me if I can't find the newspaper..

All you Ruger fans, Dont Worry Ruger is putting a lock on all its new revolvers too so you dont feel left out.

My New Vaquero has one, and it came with two keys.

 

[cortez kid]

No locks, no MIM, No frame mounted fire pins, no new and improved nothin. Give us back carburators, propeller airliners, lead in the gas. Only sissies need heart bypasses and statin drugs. While we're at it, what ever happened to the company store. Ahh... the good ole days. Now that I got that out of the way. I want my .460. Iwant it, I want it. I want it.
good shootin
kid

 

[HankB]

No locks, no MIM, No frame mounted fire pins, no new and improved nothin.

Except that while these are new, they most certainly don't constitute improvements in the eyes of many (most?) end users.

 

[jdberger]

Just curious, has anyone personally had one of these locks fail? Not a friend or saw it at the range or their sister's husbands third cousin had one fail. Had a lock fail on their gun?

 

[prisoner6]

They're an insurance dodge that Smith's lawyers dreamed up to mitigate any potential lawsuits stemming from some idiot shooting themselves with a Smith and Wesson revolver.

Perhaps, and while I personally would choose guns without them, at the gunshop its amazing how many seemingly normal people who buy these actually because they have the lock. Far more than the few who complain about them. I would love to see statistics on how the full range of buyers react, and not just the hobbyists.

 

[cortez kid]

Your right, HankB, probably not any new improvements. Just wanted to rant about any change being no good. Sometimes things change for the worst. But things do change. Most of the time they change because it's cheaper, and I will agree that's no good in most cases. It's just gets a little overboard, when you cant discuss an item without the usual chime ins. We got locks.I don't use them. I think they are pointless. I won't use a firearm to commit a crime. Neither will you. But we got them locks anyway. MIM has been around for a while.I dont hear anything about massive failures. I'm sure we would. I'm shootin 3 different 500's no lockups at all, not even close. I'll still buy new smiths. The more I get into guns, the more I want Smiths. Locks and all.
good shootin
kid
PS nothings more sexy than an old Smitty

 

[Boats]

So do we have official permission to laugh at the following ugly lump?

And lock or no, every Ruger lock will be totally invisible to the owner, unless one wants to activate it after taking off the grips, and the Ruger lock is well away from recoil forces.

The next new Smith revolver made that I want will be the first. Good thing autos put a lot of police trades on the market.

 

[No_Brakes23]

Still not totally sure how the locks function, but it sounds about as popular as the silly J hook safety on Remington's 870. At least you can take that out.

Damn...Ruger, Colt and S&W have all "sold out" to the antis in one form or another, or disenfranchised their customers with unpopular modifications. Who else makes a good DA/SA revolver these days? I guess I should have bought a wheelgun 9 years ago.

 

[jdkelly]

Unfortunately is has that God awful...

The new 629 Mountain Gun is exactly what I've been looking for the last several years. Unfortunately is has that God awful....(back button hit per your request).


Respectfully,

jkelly

 

[P. Plainsman]

So do we have official permission to laugh at the following ugly lump?

Saw one of those in the flesh -- er, steel -- er, whatever, at the gun store the other day. Didn't look any more dignified there than it does here.

Believe they wanted about a grand for it.

 

[ChristopherG]

SnWnMe,

Thanks for the heads-up. The two .41's in particular are great additions. The 357 would make a great big brother for my little 340.

A couple of notes for those who don't know any better:

MSRP is higher than the price that actually gets paid on the ground;

and S&W continues to dominate--I mean, dominate--practical revolver shooting competitions (IPSC/USPSA, IDPA, ICORE). If you want to go on thinking you know better than the all the best DA revolver shooters in the world, have at it; but if you want to pay attention to their experience, you'll see the lock does not cause problems, and S&W's continue to be some of the best handgun values on the market.

 

[billwiese]

I want either a

627, 8x357, 3"-4" barrel, unfluted cylinder

327, 8x357, 3"-4" bbl, unfluted cylinder

I don't like the pimpy radical bbls on current 627 or the new 5" 327.

Take the 627 and get it out of the Performance Shop and into regular N-fram production line.

Bill Wiese
San jose CA

 

[Hawk]

I can take my Vaquero into the can with me if I can't find the newspaper..

Well, that's really not the WHOLE manual. Now, if the rumors about a Ruger 1911 clone have any validity... there could be a slab-sided billboard if ever there was one. Might be enough room for the text boxes and red warnings with international symbols.

Having followed the link to the new stuff, I've got what is likely a bone-headed question: What's that harmonica-looking affair pictured over the black .500 compensated hunter?

 

[Majic]

What's that harmonica-looking affair pictured over the black .500 compensated hunter?

Looks to be a scope base.

 

[JohnBT]

"So do we have official permission to laugh at the following ugly lump?"

Have at it.

Yesterday evening I glanced at a shelf full of guns that looked pretty much like that (MY EYES, MY EYES.) Then I saw one price tag on a .357 that said $1099. I went back to buying 28 ga. accessories and fiddling with a used 12 ga. Superposed that was only $999.

John

 

[patentmike]

I think I will like the 431/432. Light and shootable, what a concept! I think I can ignore the lock can't I? I haven't seen any objective info about what's wrong with the lock's engineering.

 

[jdberger]

627, 8x357, 3"-4" barrel, unfluted cylinder
327, 8x357, 3"-4" bbl, unfluted cylinder

Bill,

Why the unfluted cylinders? Aesthetics?