New to me Smith and Wesson Model 625 45acp

[Master Blaster]

Congrats on the new revolver is it marked Model of 1989 on the right side of the barrel?


<q> Nice revolver for sure-but not nearly as nice as a 1955 Target Smith.
</q>


I love Smith and Wesson .45 acp revolvers, I have a 625 Model of 1989, A model of 1955 Target 25-2 made in 1978, a 22-4 model of 1950 made in 2006, and a 625-8 performance center made in 2017. The model 25-2 which is the 1955 Target Smith, is very accurate with Jacketed round nose bullets, match Semi wadcutter jacketed bullets, and does OK with plated bullets. It hates 200 grain LSWC. I have read numerous threads where folks say that the 25-2 they own does not shoot lead bullets well. The later model smiths, the 22-4, and both of my 625 revolvers are accurate with either lead or jacketed bullets. But the 25-2 is the smoothest action and the best feel, not to mention the good looks. When I bought the 25-2 it had a very light trigger and would not reliably fire any of my handloads. The mainspring had been filed until it was half the width of a new mainspring, so I replaced it with a wolf reduced rib spring, after that it was 100%. Moonclips are great for carry or competition, but I am lazy so when I just go range plinking, I don't bother with moonclips. I use my finger as an extractor

Rimz plastic moonclips came with the 22-4 but I found that they would cause light strikes from time to time. Ranch products makes very good steel moonclips.

I made my own moonclip loader for about $4 in hardware store parts and a piece of 2x4, it loads both .45 acp clips and 8 shot 627 clips.

 

[thomas15]

Enjoy your new revolver!

 

[SwampWolf]

When I bought the 25-2 it had a very light trigger and would not reliably fire any of my handloads. The mainspring had been filed until it was half the width of a new mainspring, so I replaced it with a wolf reduced rib spring, after that it was 100%.

Because the 1955 Target (25-2) revolver was developed mainly to compete in Bullseye matches, there's a good possibility that some target shooter made some ill-advised attempt to "improve" an already superb single-action trigger pull. Glad you were able to bring it back to where it should be.

 

[Tallball]

It says "Model of 1988" on the barrel. I'm very much looking forward to shooting it on Saturday morning. My inexpensive half-moon clips already arrived in the mail. I will load some up tomorrow or Friday. It will probably just be a range gun, so poking out the empties with a pencil or something wouldn't really be a problem, but I thought it would be interesting to try the clips. I might bring my Blackhawk with its 45acp cylinder to the range on Saturday, too, just to enjoy the comparison.

 

[Merle1]

It says "Model of 1988" on the barrel. I'm very much looking forward to shooting it on Saturday morning. My inexpensive half-moon clips already arrived in the mail. I will load some up tomorrow or Friday. It will probably just be a range gun, so poking out the empties with a pencil or something wouldn't really be a problem, but I thought it would be interesting to try the clips. I might bring my Blackhawk with its 45acp cylinder to the range on Saturday, too, just to enjoy the comparison.

My 625 would only fire about half of ACP rounds without a clip. When I miked the fired cases I learned many of them were WAY below "trim to" length, so it turned out to be an ammo problem - not a gun problem.