4" K frames, whats not to love?

J

JERRYS.

New member
I have a few 4" K frames and I have to say that each time I take one out to the range I fall in love with them again.

sure, they're not the most robust for .357 magnums but with heavy weight bullets are just fine. in .38 special is there a better full sized gun? me thinks not.

loading from target wadcutters to 158gr. whatevers gives something for all shooters in most any circumstance.

and yes, being a K frame S&W means the best factory trigger on the market for similar type guns.

what say you?

(pay no attention to the Bulldog .44 special, that is for another story).



 
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I have a couple 14's but I would really like to find a 15 and a 66 to go along with them .

I think the 4" 66 is my favorite S&W .
 
To me, the 4" barrel is a very good compromise between the longer sight radius for more accurate aiming and the handiness of a smaller gun. Add to that the near perfect size of a K frame and you have a winner.

Combat masterpieces:
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Combat Magnums:
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I have owned a bunch of K frames from .22 to .357. I still have 2 P&R 19s. a 2 1/2" and a 4". The L frame did give greater strength for full bore .357s but who cares. For a fun woods bum .38 a 4" model 19 or 15 is hard to beat.
 
I know if you shoot a lot of 357 magnums in a K frame they are supposed to stretch after a few thousand rounds but there are a lot of folks that will shoot 38 specials, maybe 100 at the range now and then and put 357 magnums in the gun for carry. Used that way the K frame has a lot going for it in the respect of it being ez to carry. :cool:
 
I don't even know how many K-frames I've had over the years, but if anyone ever made a better mid sized handgun, I've never used one. (Some, like the Ruger and the Colt might be as good, but they're not better IMHO.)

I've only got three these days.

Model 19 (no dash)



Model 15-2



Model 64-3

 
Fairly common Jerry. Changes don't come all at once. They probably just used up existing stocks of pinned barrels before changing over completely.
 
I'm actually more of an N frame guy, and many of my K frames are the 5" variety. But I have a couple of 4" K frames hanging around.

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CajunBass
" I don't even know how many K-frames I've had over the years, but if anyone ever made a better mid sized handgun, I've never used one. (Some, like the Ruger and the Colt might be as good, but they're not better IMHO.)"

I've got a Security Six 4" with a boat load of full house magnums down the pipe. I'll put it against any K framw S&W, Shot for shot bet the S&W shoots
loose first :D
Y/D
 
Rugers are cast while S&Ws are forged. Thicker casting is required to equal a smaller forging. Makes the Ruder look bulky IMO and ugly (also IMO).

I'll match my S&W against the Ruger. I have a 2.5" M19-3 from 1970 that was carried by a federal officer for 18 years before I bought it. The gun has never fired anything but hot 125 JHPs for him or for me. No problems to date.


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The only 4" K frame I have is the Combat Masterpiece - a great revolver.

I do have a 1952 M & P with a 5" barrel - I love that even more than the 4" - probably my most favorite DA revolver.

I have a 1920ish M & P "Target" model with 6" barrel as well.

So, I have a variety of barrel lengths to play with - and they all are AWESOME shooters. Like you say, "what's not to like about a K frame"! :)
 
3" K-frames are better ! Nyah Nyah Nyah !!! (sticks tongue out)



Just kidding. I do prefer 3" K-frames, but nothing whatever wrong with 4", or any other length, for that matter. I prefer 3" simply because they have the shortest barrel possible, while still having the full-length ejector rod. I've never noted lesser accuracy vs. the 4" length, either, so the 3" seems a bit handier.

Anyway, regardless, the classic K-frame, in my opinion, is just about the pinnacle of the revolver art. Not to denigrate any other model or brand, because I like others, too. But, in my hands, nothing has ever beat my K-frames.

I currently have two, a 3" heavy-barrel Model 10-8 (shipped in 1984)....and a 3" heavy-barrel Model 64-3 (from 1979). Both will literally put 6 out of 6 (.38 Spl. hand loads) through the same ragged hole out to at least 15 yards, off hand. Off a rest, I've gotten 2" or smaller groups at 25 yards, regularly. I've even clanged an 8" gong at 100 yards, with both of these K-frames (though not without walking the shots into the target, using a spotter - and not every shot struck home, of course).

The point of all this being, my K-frames are by far my all-time favorite hand guns. I trust them absolutely and no other hand gun type has come close in the level of confidence they have given me. They give me the "grins" every time I shoot them, like no others.
 
Howdy

Did someone say 4" K Frames?

38 M&P Round Butt, shipped June 1939.

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At top in this photo a 38 M&P that shipped in April of 1938. It is wearing an incorrect pair of grips. At the bottom is a Model 10-5 from 1968.

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A Model 65-3 from the early 1980s. This one was the service revolver of a female cop. She sold it when she retired. I thought that was pretty cool.

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Model 13-2. Judging from the box and paperwork, probably sometime in the late 1970s. Haven't looked this one up yet.

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Oh yea!!! Love my K's.

Have a 19-3 and a 14-3
Sure can get spoiled easy with a Smith,

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I primarily shoot 158 rnfp in 38 special. But I do occasionally shoot some 158 jacketed HP's in 357 mag in the 19 just to practice with the home protection load.

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Also have a Hand Eject in 32-20 that still shoots very very well.

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To be fair about it, Ruger revolvers ARE ultimately tougher as regards being able to take an endless diet of +P or magnum loads. However, as for myself, it doesn't matter. I load for the job at hand, not just for a big boom (or to impress anybody). For target shooting, that means loading for accuracy, not power. For SD, that means using an effective bullet, in a +P load, that will get the job done, but not loading as if I want to destroy the gun. My 10-8 K-frame has had thousands of rounds through it, not to mention the unknown number fired by the previous owner(s). It is tight as a drum and likely will be for decades to come.

I'll take the wonderful trigger ("right out of the box") of the K-frames, over the brute force toughness, but much worse trigger, of the Rugers...today or any day. "Just sayin".....as they say.
 
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...being a K frame S&W means the best factory trigger on the market for similar type guns.
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Do you have an data or proof of that? I have owned at least two K frames and two L frames and at least three N frames...they all use the same size hammer spring and rebound slide springs. How is it, that K frames have the "best"?
 
Do you have an data or proof of that? I have owned at least two K frames and two L frames and at least three N frames...they all use the same size hammer spring and rebound slide springs. How is it, that K frames have the "best"?
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well, you certainly did not compare it to similar type guns on the market. if you're going to increase the frame size like that it changes things a bit doesn't it?
 
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