Bangor Punta era for S&W
- Thread starter S.F. 1357
- Start date
Gabby Hayes
New member
Bangor Punta bought the company from the Wesson family in 1965. In Jan 1984 the Lear Siegler Corp. purchased Bangor Punta (along with S&W). In Dec 1986 Lear Siegler was sold to Forstmann Little. Forstmann split off S&W and sold it shortly thereafter to Thompkins. From http://www.smith-wesson.com/misc/story.html
Radicalcleric
New member
The guns were fine until 1981 when they went to crap.
Mike Irwin
Staff
The BP era saw a slow, but marked, decline in the overal fit & finish of S&W handguns, especially when the economy started going south in the early 1970s.
I sold quite a few Bangor Punta guns in the late 60s, early 70s. Nearly all were quite adequate out of the box. Good bang for the buck. Special order guns were very nicely done. Stock guns were about as good as other contemporary guns.
Used to think BP was a low in Smith history untill the last few years established new standards for poor fit and finish.
But at least the late ones cost a lot. Much less bang for the buck.
Sam
Used to think BP was a low in Smith history untill the last few years established new standards for poor fit and finish.
But at least the late ones cost a lot. Much less bang for the buck.
Sam
Master Blaster
New member
The most beautifully made, fitted, polished, and finished (blued) hand gun I own, and one of the best I have ever seen is a model 27-2 made in 1967, It easily surpases any of the performance center revolvers of today in the four above catagories.
Its a Bangor Punta!!!!
Model 36 1974
Model 43 1973
all better than any of the new S&Ws. Better made than my 1999 686
Its a Bangor Punta!!!!
Model 36 1974
Model 43 1973
all better than any of the new S&Ws. Better made than my 1999 686
Dfariswheel
New member
One more time:
You cannot judge a gun based on just the year it was made. Guns aren't wine.
Each individual gun must be judged on it's own merits.
I've seen recent Colt and S&W guns that are made in "bad times" that are some of the finest quality guns I've ever seen.
I've seen a Colt Officer's Model from the 1930's when quality was supposed to be the absolute top of the mountain, that was a mess. Bad blue job, bad action, misfit sideplate, badly out of time, it should never have left the plant, especially then.
I've seen a pre-war REGISTERED S&W .357 Magnum, supposedly the finest quality gun S&W ever made, BRAND NEW IN THE BOX,
that looked like something a shade tree mechanic put together.
Barrel not indexed properly so the sight was off to the right, there was NO barrel-cylinder gap, cylinder crane didn't lock up properly and you could actually hear the cylinder clunking if you shook the gun sideways, the hammer would "push off", and a blue job with scratches, ripples, and dished-out areas.
The original owner kept it as a, then rare, factory curiosity.
The point is, people who say "Oh, I've never buy a 1990's Colt or Smith, their not any good", is passing by some good quality guns.
The current crop of guns is not up to the old standards because the OLD PEOPLE are gone. With all the strikes, layoffs, corporate downsizing, and more layoffs, the old workers are all gone.
The people who knew exactlly how to make high quality guns, and took pride in their workmanship have been replaced by off-the-street employees who know little about guns, and haven't the experience and skills.
A lot of this I blame on the Harvard-Yale-Wharton MBA grads that are running, and ruining companies today. They are taught to watch the money. Ignore the product, ignore the producton floor, ignore the workers, and ignore quality. Manage the money and everything will be fine.
These people have the same attitude toward workers. The therory is: workers are as interchangeable as screws and bolts. It doesn't matter if you're making paper, jet aircraft, cars, plastic, or guns, the same people will do fine.
There is a difference in "gun people". They have the natural talent base that allows them to develope high order skills, and the pride in workmanship. people like this make good guns, in spite of the company. "Interchangeable" people will make bad guns in spite of the company.
Bottom line: Judge a gun on it's own merits, not when it was made. You might be pleasantly surprised.
You cannot judge a gun based on just the year it was made. Guns aren't wine.
Each individual gun must be judged on it's own merits.
I've seen recent Colt and S&W guns that are made in "bad times" that are some of the finest quality guns I've ever seen.
I've seen a Colt Officer's Model from the 1930's when quality was supposed to be the absolute top of the mountain, that was a mess. Bad blue job, bad action, misfit sideplate, badly out of time, it should never have left the plant, especially then.
I've seen a pre-war REGISTERED S&W .357 Magnum, supposedly the finest quality gun S&W ever made, BRAND NEW IN THE BOX,
that looked like something a shade tree mechanic put together.
Barrel not indexed properly so the sight was off to the right, there was NO barrel-cylinder gap, cylinder crane didn't lock up properly and you could actually hear the cylinder clunking if you shook the gun sideways, the hammer would "push off", and a blue job with scratches, ripples, and dished-out areas.
The original owner kept it as a, then rare, factory curiosity.
The point is, people who say "Oh, I've never buy a 1990's Colt or Smith, their not any good", is passing by some good quality guns.
The current crop of guns is not up to the old standards because the OLD PEOPLE are gone. With all the strikes, layoffs, corporate downsizing, and more layoffs, the old workers are all gone.
The people who knew exactlly how to make high quality guns, and took pride in their workmanship have been replaced by off-the-street employees who know little about guns, and haven't the experience and skills.
A lot of this I blame on the Harvard-Yale-Wharton MBA grads that are running, and ruining companies today. They are taught to watch the money. Ignore the product, ignore the producton floor, ignore the workers, and ignore quality. Manage the money and everything will be fine.
These people have the same attitude toward workers. The therory is: workers are as interchangeable as screws and bolts. It doesn't matter if you're making paper, jet aircraft, cars, plastic, or guns, the same people will do fine.
There is a difference in "gun people". They have the natural talent base that allows them to develope high order skills, and the pride in workmanship. people like this make good guns, in spite of the company. "Interchangeable" people will make bad guns in spite of the company.
Bottom line: Judge a gun on it's own merits, not when it was made. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Mike Irwin
Staff
No, you can't judge a gun like wine, but you can certainly get a feel for the overall quality of the vinyard.
The biggest difference, is that some individual specimens I have seen, have less than perfect finishes on them. Some machine marks visible or inconsistent bluing.
I had a 624 that was so far out of time, it would spit lead to the side in large doses. Ouch!
Other than that, the quality on most I've owned has been just fine. My BP era M19 is absolutely flawless.
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I do think S&W is getting a raw deal, and I don't want to talk.
I had a 624 that was so far out of time, it would spit lead to the side in large doses. Ouch!
Other than that, the quality on most I've owned has been just fine. My BP era M19 is absolutely flawless.
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I do think S&W is getting a raw deal, and I don't want to talk.
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