v8stang289
Member
My wife has a 637 with Hogue bantam grips and she handles it quite well. I personally find it pleasant to shoot with less perceived recoil than my steel S&W 36 with the factory wood grips. I'm hoping a T-grip will help with the 36.
S&W Alloy Frames??....
- Thread starter GZOh
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hAkron
Member
I carry a 642 in a pocket holster every day. Great gun! No fun at the range though.
edmo01
Member
I have owned two 642-1 "Airweight" 38 Special +P revolvers.
Great pocket guns. Recoil is fine with standard 38 rounds and a little snappy with +P rounds, but still manageable. These are good little revolvers which are very accurate and reliable, however they require a level of practice to gain proficiency. They are not really "fun" range guns, but rather dedicated defensive guns.
One of my 642s has been flawless and gets carried often while the other began misfiring and was replaced with a different model.
Below is the "good" one...
Edmo
Great pocket guns. Recoil is fine with standard 38 rounds and a little snappy with +P rounds, but still manageable. These are good little revolvers which are very accurate and reliable, however they require a level of practice to gain proficiency. They are not really "fun" range guns, but rather dedicated defensive guns.
One of my 642s has been flawless and gets carried often while the other began misfiring and was replaced with a different model.
Below is the "good" one...
Edmo
ArchAngelCD
Member.
Tyler T-Grips do help when using S&W factory service grips. They protect your knuckle and help steady the revolver in your hand when recoiling.
This is the same revolver I posted above but with the T-Grip installed. I think that model was made for a round butt revolver and mine is a square butt so I think that's why the fit isn't perfect at the back of the trigger guard but it doesn't interfere in the function at all. I could only find a Silver T-Grip so I painted it Black! LOL
v8stang289
Member
Thanks for the info ArchAngel, I just sent off the order form for a Tyler T-grip yesterday. My 36 is a square butt as well so I may have the same issue. It seems the majority of these are round butt.
ArchAngelCD
Member.
I bought my T-Grip second hand so yours my very well fit better but like I mentioned, it does not effect function.
edmo01
Member
Since ArchAngel broke out his Tyler T-grip, I thought I would share mine.
The OP asked about a comparison between steel and aluminum framed guns. I like my 642-1 Airweight, but I like the steel J-frames too.
Below is my square-butt model 60 no dash which I bought back in the mid-80s. It isn't rated for +P, but still gets carried a lot. The Tyler T-grip makes it handle and shoot great.
You can see the replacement hammer pin S&W pressed through the frame just below the cylinder release. The original broke and the repair was done several years ago.
You'll note this one is loaded (like most of my pics). It came out of the holster, got a quick wipe down, posed, and is now back in the holster.
Edmo
The OP asked about a comparison between steel and aluminum framed guns. I like my 642-1 Airweight, but I like the steel J-frames too.
Below is my square-butt model 60 no dash which I bought back in the mid-80s. It isn't rated for +P, but still gets carried a lot. The Tyler T-grip makes it handle and shoot great.
You can see the replacement hammer pin S&W pressed through the frame just below the cylinder release. The original broke and the repair was done several years ago.
You'll note this one is loaded (like most of my pics). It came out of the holster, got a quick wipe down, posed, and is now back in the holster.
Edmo
A fellow once posted that in his area used gun sections were full of Scandium J frame .357's, each with a box of 47 rounds of ammo included.
He said the three fired rounds represented:
WOW! WAS THAT BAD!
IT COULDN'T BE THAT BAD!
YEP, IT IS THAT BAD!
Jim
He said the three fired rounds represented:
WOW! WAS THAT BAD!
IT COULDN'T BE THAT BAD!
YEP, IT IS THAT BAD!
Jim
ljnowell
Member
I carry a 637 on a daily basis. Even shooting +p it isn't bad, though I carry a handload that is right at max but not into +p.
bannockburn
Member
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I have a Tyler T-Grip adapter on my Model 649; the polished aluminum goes nicely with the polished stainless steel look. Even with my small size hands the factory wood stocks were just too small and uncomfortable to get a decent grip with on a round butt J frame. The T-Grip has been the perfect solution as they fill out the grip frame just enough and don't add any additional bulkiness for concealed carry.
Probably has a factory tuned trigger from their custom shop. It's a lighter and much smoother pull than their standard production guns.
Pros of alloy guns:
They are lighter than steel guns.
Cons of alloy guns:
They are lighter than steel guns.
This means they will recoil more.
They won't hold up for as many thousands of rounds as a steel gun, nor will they tolerate as many +P loads as a steel gun.
If you need a gun that's going to hold up for many, many rounds, go steel.
If you need a gun that's going to be carried a lot, go alloy.
Of course, if you aren't looking for a gun to carry, why look at a snub nose?
They are lighter than steel guns.
Cons of alloy guns:
They are lighter than steel guns.
This means they will recoil more.
They won't hold up for as many thousands of rounds as a steel gun, nor will they tolerate as many +P loads as a steel gun.
If you need a gun that's going to hold up for many, many rounds, go steel.
If you need a gun that's going to be carried a lot, go alloy.
Of course, if you aren't looking for a gun to carry, why look at a snub nose?
ljnowell
Member
I'll disagree with the holding up well statement. Today's alloy S&W will hold up to many of thousands of rounds and then sone more. +p isn't going to hurt them either.
I carry a 360SC as a "Sunday go to meetin" gun. Love the weight and ease of carry. I carry it with 125gr .38 SP Nyclads. It has hundreds of .38 SWC thru it.
I must be a quick learner. I traded 48 rounds of .357 158gr JHP For 5.56 to a neighbor.
v8stang289
Member
A friend of mine has a scandium frame airlite S&W 360 that weighs in at a little over 11 ounces unloaded. With standard .38 special defense loadings and 125gn+P loadings it's really not bad to shoot. The last time we were at the range I decided to try out 158gn 357mag round in it. It was unpleasant to say the least.
Please note that I said "They won't hold up for as many thousands of rounds as a steel gun, nor will they tolerate as many +P loads as a steel gun."
You can shoot an alloy frame gun quite a bit without undue wear, but not as much as a steel gun. For normal use it won't be an issue, but if you're going to shoot hundreds of rounds of +P every weekend you should consider a steel gun. Otherwise alloy is fine.
I used to get this question quite a bit about an O/U shotgun that came in both steel and alloy versions. I told them "If you're going to shoot competitive skeet where you'll shoot thousands of rounds a year, get the steel because it will hold up better than alloy and you won't mind the weight.
If you're going to hunt with it, get the alloy. You'll appreciate the light weight and you won't hurt it shooting a few hundred rounds a year."
Same thing with revolvers.
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