The 642 club

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Pictures at last...

Finally, I have some pictures to post (no, I don't have a digital camera, yet). These were taken while we were on vacation in San Antonio.

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Well, you can count me in the club now. Just bought a 642 this morning, along with an Uncle Mike's in which to carry it. As a matter of fact, it's sitting in the front right pocket of my jeans shorts right now, just to see how it feels. It doesn't seem significantly more noticeable than the P32 that normally resides there.

I haven't shot this one yet, though I did rent one at the range a couple of weeks ago when considering the purchase. I think I'm going to like it. :cool:
 
May I join your club? I just bought an unfired prelock electroless nickel plated 442. When I first looked at it I thought it was a 642 but upon closer examination it turned out to be a 442.
 
642, 442, 42

There all 42's and hammerless (I think), so I deem all welcome.


HighVelocity: I am really enjoying my Extreme Ops knife.

r/fiVe
 
I joined the club

I got a NIB 642 for $310 today at the San Antonio Saxet show ($334.80, incl. tax). A big part of the reason that I got it is the posts on this thread, so thanks very much for all of the advice and information. I know that I'll be checking back onto the thread for holster and ammo choices (I had to rush out of the show for an appointment, so I just got the gun and 100 rounds of .38 +P ammo).

The lock seems to work fine (i.e. it is in the off position and I can dry fire without any hangups). I look forward to putting a few hundred rounds throught the gun to get a feel for it, and to break in the trigger. More than that, I'm looking forward to carrying far more often and in far more places because of the ease of concealment. I'm also looking forward to surprising those who know that I carry when I meet them somewhere in just a tucked-in shirt.

I'll also have a good answer for the question "Is that a gun, or are you just glad to see me?" Depending on who it is, and if the wife is present, the correct answer is "Both."
 
Newbie Question on Locks

I have a 642 with the key lock in the frame. I've seen a lot of posts suggesting that there is something wrong or negative about the locks. From the time I bought the gun, I've just kept the lock off all the time. Is there some weakness or potential problem with how the gun functions that I'm not aware of? (The gun is normally kept in a safe during the day and there are no children in the house.)

I'm not interested in rants about the questionable nature of government regulations - only about the impact of the lock regarding how the gun functions. Why would lock or prelock be a factor in purchasing a handgun if you can just leave it turned off?
Paul G.
 
pfgrone: As I understand it, on certain S&W Models, the locks were self-engaging and could not be unlocked until the key was turned to the lock position and then to the unlock position. I think these were autoloaders and not revolvers. Someone in the know, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm like you. I intend to keep it unlocked and basically forget about it. So far the 642 is the perfect carry gun for me.

There has been much discussion here on THR and on the S&W site. Here are some links:

link1

link2

link3
 
Finally got to the range yesterday for my first session with my 642.

Overall, I was pleased. It has a stout recoil with the +P stuff, but not unmanagable. (After 125 rounds, I was feeling it in the web of my hand between my thumb and fore finger) ;)

I had read somewhere that Speer Gold Dots(135 gr. +P) are the best for this model, but I found that I shoot the Remington & Federal 125 gr. +P ammo better. Has anyone else had similar results?

Now, I'm even more convinced this is the better carry piece.

Regards,
fiVe
 
fiVe,

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling it. I'm used to going to the range and burning a couple hundred rounds through the 1911. I put a 100 through the 642 and my hand is feeling it like yours. Over all, I was very happy with the trigger and feel of the gun. I was shooting mostly 10 yrds or less and it was grouping nicely.
 
just got a camera and was trying to post my 642 so i can be in the club...... OH YEA BABY!!
 

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Navy joe


"Got mine about 3 weeks ago, very happy. I think that since it was about half price of the 340PD there is no way I could justify one of those just for the chance to fire .357 out of an even lighter gun. The 642 has given me all kinds of carry options, but there is no way I'd carry it as a primary. This is my first speedloader gun and I hate them, give me more moonclips!"
__________________



Hey Navyjoe, you can have the 5 shooter Smiths set up for moon clips. TK Custom/moonclips.com can do it. I've seen one he did.
 
since ive gotten my post-lock 642, my sp101 has been in the safe.

ive tried to get rid of it here but no takers. ...........oh well. i'll take it back out for a cooler weather BUG.
 
I joined the club today. Picked it up on the way home from work. Hope to hit the range with it this weekend.

Any recommendations on ankle holsters and pocket holsters for it?
 
Shot One Just Today (Model 642 minus "-1")

Hello. I've used a Model 642-1 as an "always gun" for a few years now. Sometimes it is the "primary" in my rather tame orbits and at other times it is delegated to BUG. I recently picked up an older Model 642 that came with Eagle Secret Service stocks on it at a very good price. Today I got to shoot that particular revolver for thefirst time.
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The first order of business was to fire five rounds and check primer strikes. These seem reasonably well centered and impact is sufficient for reliable ignition. As this gun as the original mainspring, light primer strikes were really never a concern.

I then fired 10 shots at a slow pace to get "the feel" of this particular revolver. There was nothing remarkable or different so I began shooting to see how well this example of the Model 642 performed and whether or not it would remain in my collection.

Firing was done no farther than 15 yards today and that was done seated, using a two-hand hold, and in slow-fire. My wrists were supported. It is understood that this genre of revolver is not intended for precise target work but it is important to me that my personal handguns have their sights regulated such that POA is at least close to POI at the ranges that the weapon is envisioned being used at.

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The size of this group is due more to human error than either mechanical error or the combination of ammunition and gun.


The rest of the shooting was done at 10 yards and was done standing with a two-hand hold. I did not have time to chronograph ammunition from this particular gun today and did not do any one-handed shooting even though that is normally part of my regular "work out" with the J-frame snub.

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These shots were fired mostly in controlled pairs with a few "failure to stop" drills thrown in. Distance was ten yards and the little gun did its part when I did mine.

For those interested, here is a related article on practicing with the snub .38 for self-protection:

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Making J Frame Work.htm

I only used three different factory loads for this initial run with the Model 641:

Remington 130-gr. FMJ

Federal 125-gr. Nyclad Hollow Point (standard pressure)

Remington 158-gr. LSWCHP +P

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These are the three loads tried in the Model 642. All are factory with one being +P.

Average velocities for these rounds is normally around 800 ft/sec for the first, 850 to about 890 ft/sec for the second, depending upon the ammunition/gun combination in this barrel length, and 800 to about 830 ft/sec for the last load, again depending on how the particular lot of ammo works in a specific snub. In the future I'll obtain chronograph data from this particular snub.

At ten yards I fired several sets of controlled pairs at COM, working on a smooth double-action pull as soon as I could get it without jerking the trigger and as quickly as I could obtain a flash sight picture.

At fifteen yards I fired for group using the Remington 125-gr. FMJ and then fired a group at the same distance using some Federal 125-gr. Nyclads and shot the same target with the 158-gr. LSWCHP +P ammunition to see any divergence in points of impact.

SWM642oldPOIfifteenyds.jpg
The Remington 158-gr. LSWCHP +P and the 125-gr. Nyclads hit had roughly the same POI but the former were a bit more spread out than the latter and seemed to hit just a bit higher. For all practical purposes that most snubs will be used for it can be said that the groups overlap.

I also fired a 5 falling plates as fast as I could make the shot and repeated it five times.

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A row of 5 falling plates was shot with the little revolver. I believe that reactive targets help us maintain sight picture when we really want to see what the target is doing.

There were no failures to fire and the trigger pull remained constant, first shot to last. It is smooth but just a bit heavy. I will shoot this gun considerably more before having any possible trigger work done. The cylinder did not bind and case ejection was not "sticky." As is the case on any of these shorties, the ejector rod is not long enough to allow for full length ejection but it worked smoothly enough; a quick, sharp press or smack kicked the fired cases out nicely.

It should come as no surprise that it is hot in Texas in the summer. My hands were pretty sweaty within a few minutes but the smooth Eagle Secret Service stocks did not slip. I had really wondered if they might and such concerns are why my "serious" handguns almost always have checkered stocks at the least. I admit being surprised that such was not the case in this instance.

The most pleasant surprise of the day was that the POA almost exactly matches POI at least with the ammo used today out to about 15 yards. In fact, it is closer than on my 24/7 gun, a Model 642-1. (That one hits just a bit to the right.)

In short, the gun worked fine and it will be a keeper.

Best.
 
Stephen.... nice, thorough report on your new revo. Confirms why so many of us rely on the little 642! How about showing us those Eagle grips when you get a chance? Thanks.
 
Nice looking grips... I like the dark tone... thanks for posting the pics... I've been using Uncle Mike's boot's on my 642-1 and Pachmayr Compacs on my 640-1.... and they work great, but aren't great in the looks department. For wood grips on J-frames, I do like Badgers a lot... they make a boot and an extended boot...
 
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