No Airweight 9mm snub? Why?

[jashobeam]

Did S&W drop their 9mm snubby all together?

Is there a reason they do not make this piece?

I'm in the market for a snub. Right now I'm mostly thinking about the S&W 442 or 642. I am really not considering the 340 because I don't intend on shooting .357's. I thought a 9mm Airweight or Airlite would be great. Any comments?

I've been reading the Snubby threads and found them to be very helpful in narrowing my options. I just can't decide. Originally, I had my sights set on a Glock G26, which I still feel a need to have. A concealed hammer lightweight revolver has some very unique and useful properties not found in an auto.

ALSO: Crimson Trace grips appear to add some length to the grip. Is this length a problem for concealment?

 

[Dave Dembinski]

I thought a 9mm Airweight or Airlite would be great. Any comments?

I agree! Not that I've ever tried it, but I'd think moon clips would carry as easily as a speedloader, should one feel the need.

Taurus makes a snub 9mm called the 905, but it's not exactly "Airweight". 22 oz is a bit of heft. Apparently they used to make a 905I-B, which were 1 3/4" barrels instead of this 2" and were around 20 oz, but they appear to have been discontinued.

 

[Brian Williams]

S&W only made 1 942. It was a 642-1 with a 940 cylinder installed and had a 2" ported barrel. It was sent to the writer Wiley Clapp and it was never acounted for.

I have a 9/642, I bought a 642 locally and a 940 cylinder from S&W. I had the cylinder installed by Mark Hartshorne from Pinnacle High performance.
It is a real kick in the pants to shoot, but it is real great for a carry gun.

 

[jashobeam]

Thanks for the responses!

That snub looks great. Hopefully, someday S&W will incorporate the 9mm in their Airweight or Airlite line up.

I hadn't considered a custom job.

 

[Boarhunter]

You ought to take a look at the Taurus 905, if you like the 9 mm/revolver combo. I own two of them and have been very favorably impressed with mine. Nice smooth light trigger pulls. Very accurate and easy to shoot. The Taurus moon clips are not particularly impressive and, as yet, Taurus appears to be the only source available for the clips. But I like the guns much. Without a jacket, I keep one in my pocket in a Safariland holster; with a jacket, I have one in the pocket and the second on my hip in a Fobus paddle holster.

Boarhunter

 

[mbr]

ALSO: Crimson Trace grips appear to add some length to the grip. Is this length a problem for concealment?

Crimson Trace makes two versions for the J-frame, one with a rubber overmold which is bigger than the factory boot grip, and a hard polymer that looks to be about the same size, (Even with the bottom of the grip frame).

 

[0007]

Taurus is bringing out a 5-shot 9mm revolver that has the cylinder sized specifically for 9mm. It's about a 1/4" shorter then a .38 spl. cylinder. Kind of like the difference between a .38 spl and the old .38 S&W.

 

[Shear_stress]

I just checked Taurus' website, and it says that the Instant Backup 9mm revolvers are "discontinued". Guess they never even got out of the starting gate with those.

They still make the 905, however.

 

[magsnubby]

S&W only made 1 942. It was a 642-1 with a 940 cylinder installed and had a 2" ported barrel. It was sent to the writer Wiley Clapp and it was never acounted for.

I have a 9/642, I bought a 642 locally and a 940 cylinder from S&W. I had the cylinder installed by Mark Hartshorne from Pinnacle High performance.
It is a real kick in the pants to shoot, but it is real great for a carry gun.

Now that's one nice little snubby. To bad S&W never started producing it. I'ld buy two.. If you don't mind my asking, how much would something like that cost?

 

[Brian Williams]

$320 for the 642
$142 for the cylinder and ejector stuff
$50 for the 'smith to fit the cylinder

a couple of years ago I originally bought a 940 for $300, sold it recently for $450 and it paid for most of the parts for my 942, just needed to pay the smith.

 

[Moonclip]

Neat concept, must kick a bit though! I like the match of the pre circa 1966 grips and the grip adapter look too. Did S&W sell you that cylinder knowing you were going to do such a conversion?

 

[Brian Williams]

Yep, It kicks like a mule...I still have the 38 cylinder and I pop that in for practice and I have shot a few cylinders full of my carry stuff to verify POI=POA, but running a few moonclips of reloads are a hoot.
I also like the grips that way they help it disappear in my pocket. They also look great on my 60-4, like a mini 66.

I told S&W it was for a 940 as I had a 940 at the time.

 

[Fingolfin]

Yep, It kicks like a mule...

Really? How does it compare to a .38 spl snub nose as far as recoil?

I would love to see them bring back the 940 and 547, as well as a SP-101 in 9mm.

 

[magsnubby]

Well i guess i've drooled enough. I think i'll build one.

Did i mention how nice it looks?

 

[Brian D.]

I cobbled together an Airweight J-frame too, and my name is also 'Brian'...cue Twilight Zone music.

Fitted up a 940 cylinder to a nickel Model 37, hence my creation was dubbed a "Model 937". My local 'smith/armorer was able to get the cylinder from S&W, and recommended that he do the needed honing and stoning. (Btw, if he'd known it was for an Airweight he might have turned me down, so I forgot to inform him 'til the project was done!) Told him I'd take my time and go slow, do it myself. Well, lemme tell you, a cylinder from the factory is definitely oversized in several dimensions, got 'er done but wouldn't care to fit up another.

Also bobbed the hammer spur and did away with the single action notch on the hammer while I was at it. Not pretty but just what I wanted. Also cleaned up the DA trigger pull a little, and polished and chamfered the chambers for ease of loading/unloading.

Have run maybe ten rounds of hot factory JHP's through the gun to make sure it worked and hit where the sights looked. Other than that light reloads are used for practice. Reasonably accurate and no extraction problems as the 940 is sometimes rumored to have.

 

[Greymoor]

My Dads Taurus 905b has a bit of recoil especially with the +p stuff. It's not real bad though. The 9mm para has a much sharper recoil than 38 spec. With a snubby weighing only 12 oz or so 9mm would give a bit of a poke to the paw. I have never had the desire to shoot 357 mag in a 12oz weapon.

 

[smince]

I just checked Taurus' website, and it says that the Instant Backup 9mm revolvers are "discontinued". Guess they never even got out of the starting gate with those.

That's strange. When I looked on the Taurus site last week the 905IB WAS listed (9mm, 17HM2, and .17HMR). You are right, NOW the 9mm IB isn't listed, but the 905B(slightly larger) is.

My dealer has just recently been getting them in (I bought one of his first ones, about a month ago), and GUNS Magazine just had a short piece on them this month. So at least a few reached the market.

 

[Jack2427]

Nice concept. I have 2 940s, and a couple of Ruger 9mm wheelguns. I do like the 9mm in a revolver. You can get near .357 performance out of the right load, and really fast reloads with the moon clips, much faster than with speedloaders(as with my S&W 547). And you can carry 2 loaded moon clips in a single speedloader pouch, so you can have 4 fast reloads with a double pouch.
Always thought I might like to have a M60 in 9mm, hmmmmmm...........

 

[gunfan]

If youre going to do that...

Why don't you have someone make you a 5-shot .357 SIG revolver! With that snubby barrel, it could kick some serious bootie!

Scott

 

[BluesBear]

Why don't you have someone make you a 5-shot .357 SIG revolver!

Because it's a very impractical idea.

1) There's not enough metal in a J-frame cylinder for five 40 caliber chambers.

2) The .357 SIG can't use heavyweight bullets.

3) You can load a standard .357 Magnum cartridge much hotter than you can a .357 SIG cartridge.

4) Bottlenecked cartridges don't work very well in revolvers.

5) Rimless bottlenecked cartridges work even worse in revolvers.

 

[smince]

I love my Taurus 905B. But, with the exception of the S&W 25/625/325PD, I have to admit these revolvers chambered for auto cartridges aren't very popular. S&W Performance has chambered various revolvers for competition in .38 Super and other calibers. S&W also made the 610 L-frame in 10mm/.40SW. Not to mention the 9mm snubs from SW and Ruger.

If these were popular items, they wouldn't keep getting discontinued.

Trivia question: Does anyone remember the 9mm Federal round?

 

[loose cannon]

9mm federal;a 9mm rimmed cartridge created in the 80s first chambered in a charter arms revolver(offduty or pathfinder not sure)faded away due to lack of shooter intrest in 9mm revolvers.

 

[smince]

Very good, class. It was also suppossed to be the 9mm version of the .45 Auto Rim, if I remember correctly.

 

[Brian D.]

smince..is this good for extra credit?

Another nail in the coffin of the 9mm Federal was the fact that this ammo could fit into older revolvers, including the pre-1900 breaktops, chambered for 38 S&W! Imagine the results of that combination, if you will.

 

[BluesBear]

Trivia question: Does anyone remember the 9mm Federal round?

You mean the .38S&W +P+?

It's downfall was not the lack of interest it was that it was only chambered in a Charter Arms revolver at a time that Charter Arms was in bad shape.
It was not (as it should have been) a 9mm Auto Rim. It is had been designed so it could have been used in other 9mm revolvers AND it would have prevented its chambering in older, weaker, revolvers chambered for the .38S&W.

As it was it was a dismal failure due to pi$$ poor design and development.

If a company would indeed develop a 9mm Auto Rim cartridge I feel it would sell very well.