if there is one universal complaint about S&Ws, it's their cost
when all of your major competition is building cheaper guns, you better do "something" about that
S&W is not exactly world famous for giving a hoot about what their customer base thinks about what they do with their gun designs, they care about cheaper cost of manufacture, same as Glock and KelTec and Ruger
if customers don't like the esthetics of that side hole, S&W will stop making guns with that hole in the side ?
if customers rant, rave, fall down on the floor and kick their heels, and get all red in the face over MIM parts, S&W will stop using MIM parts ?
if customers whine and wail and gnash their teeth about the bass-ackwards poorly engineered ILS, S&W will eliminate or redesign ?
not hardly
today's S&W does not hesitate to put barrel liners in brand new 357s
that speaks volumes
and they are returning to aluminum cylinders in 22s
who ever woulda' thunk it
cosmetic, yes, any eye that is paying attention can see the obvious difference between aluminum and steel, blue or SS vs anodized or whatever - which ought be a 'flag' to anybody who grasps the difference in properties of the metals - unsurprising that people complained
Far less obvious a flag if frame and cylinder match, of course
S&W dropped aluminum K cylinders because it was so clearly is a bad choice for cylinders; only worse thing they could have done worse is put an aluminum barrel on it, lined or not
yeah, you can shoot mild mannered 22LR thru aluminum cylinders
no, the ILS hardly ever actually fails, if you don't really stress it too hard
no, MIM parts don't often break, quite rare in fact
they mostly just work, but "mostly just works" doesn't make 'em in any way better
they mostly all go bang when you pull the trigger, including those infamous old pot metal Saturday Nite Special guns
(best not get overly enthusiastic about running brass/bronze bristles through aluminum cylinder holes though)
lighter = better according to Sales & Marketing
just ask any glockster
but if you stress your handguns, and run high round counts thru 'em, you best have steel in the component parts that really really count most
Will a K or J aluminum cylinder hold up ok for the vast majority of 22 rimfire shooters ?
most likely yes
will it ever go head to head on round count with a steel K or J that has already handled steady use by more than one generation of shooters ?
not hardly
but I guess we will have to wait 10 years to see what we see
(they will all be mostly tupperware by then anyway.. me, I can hardly wait for the new & improved All-American-All-Aluminum 454 Casull ... finally, one light enough I can hold it up one handed)
:banghead:
