smith 645 gurus?s

[tbreed725]

i just got a very well taken care smith 645 with one 8 round mag for christmas and i love it is it ok to shoot +p ammo out of it? it feeds reliably from the mag but ive had yet to shoot it( its raining ) any one use or carry a smith like this?

 

[Lightsped]

I'd like to have either a 645 or 4506 for the simple reason that Sonny Crocket carried one in some of the later episodes of Miami Vice.

 

[isp2605]

When I was commanding a couple of drug task forces I carried my 645 pictured below. The 645 are known for feeding anything you can stick in the mag, including empty brass. Accuracy is well within what's considered defensive accuracy of 4" at 25 yds. Different loads may print different groups but it's very doubtful that as long as you do your part that your 645 won't do 4" with any factory ammo. +P ammo is fine in the 645. The 645 is a heavily built gun which you'll find after carrying it 14-16 hrs at a time for several days in a row. The extra weight does have its advantages tho. The hottest +P loads shoot like light target loads and the weight allows staying on target a lot easier in rapid fire.
I swapped out all the springs for Wolff springs which really smoothed out the entire operation.

 

[tbreed725]

mine looks just like yours except the sights mine has a dovetailed in front sight with a dot and the dovetailed in rear with 2 dots just like the smith 3rd gen sights on a 5906 i used to own before they went to the novack rear. is mine a transition gun?

 

[tbreed725]

also will 1911 holsters fit this gun?

 

[SwampWolf]

Unless a holster for a 1911 is made very sloppily, holsters tailored for a 1911 will likely not fit your 645 well, if at all.

IMO, 645s and "Third Generation" Smiths in general are very under-rated pistols.

 

[tbreed725]

thanks for the info on the holster.

 

[isp2605]

Can't help you on the info on the sights. Might check over on the S&W website. Some pretty guys over there are pretty well up on the variations.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/forums

 

[Brian D.]

tbreed725, I was "the first kid on the block" to buy a model 645 when they came out. Until the holster companies made rigs specifically for them, I got by pretty well with holsters made for the Beretta 92 series.

 

[Tom Fury]

Holsters for the 645

Everybody (Bianchi, Galco, Sparks, Minute Man) used make them, but not anymore with the hooked trigger guard; I find them on ebay every once in a while: They may or may not fit in something made for CZ 75 or Beretta 92, or for the Colt Double Eagle (Bianchi used to make theirs to fit 4506,1006, and the Colt DE; There has been a lefty Avenger on Gunbroker for a while, I think) much more likely to find them molded for the round style guard.
Might try the custom guys; I have a Milt Sparks Roadrunner, Alessi DOJ, and an El Paso Saddlery Street Combat and have considered a Bulman leather. The ones I've found are pricey ($75 or so, so far) But there was a brown Sparks on Ebay as recently as two weeks ago, and a black one a couple of weeks before that (I won that one), but I hadn't seen another for almost a year.
Good luck, but I think the Custom option might not be so bad; Sparks or Bulman might do it for around the price of a new Concealeable. Bianchi Pinch is still around and fairly inexpensive; not exactly what I would like, but better than nothing and open topped.
Cheers, TF

 

[tbreed725]

thanks for the info on holosters i would love to find a paddle holster for it made from leather.

 

[Bailey Guns]

Ah, fond memories. The 645 was my first semi-auto duty gun. Got mine in 1989. Never, ever a malfunction, extremely sharp front-strap checkering, extremely uncomfortable to carry for 10-12 hours a day, big, heavy...I really miss that gun. I never really liked the Smith autos of that period but after seeing all the plastic fantastic stuff come out the last several years, I appreciate an all-steel gun like the 645/4506 now more than ever.

It will most likely never fail you.

BTW: Don Hume still makes leather for them, I think.

 

[whitebb]

I have both a 645 and a 4506-1. These things are tanks and will shoot +p without issue. At least if you run out of ammo you have a heavy club.

 

[Joe Leland]

i just got a very well taken care smith 645 with one 8 round mag for christmas and i love it is it ok to shoot +p ammo out of it? it feeds reliably from the mag but ive had yet to shoot it( its raining ) any one use or carry a smith like this?

Mine shoots any shape bullet design. Even the nasty Cor-Bon JHP Sierra bullets. Ken Null made me an IWB holster for the 645. There were 4 generations of magazines for the 645/4506, all with different color followers. Except for magazine spring fatigue,(Wolff +10%), they all have worked in my 645. If the barrel is crowned to 11 degrees, they shoot extremely accurate with 230 gr. .45ACP ball/JHP.

Enjoy it man, it's one of the best .45ACP DA autos made that nobody talks about.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Really heavy use of hotter ammo will increase wear on springs and other small parts, but should not affect major components of this big ol' hunka steel one bit.