"New S&W are no good" ?
- Thread starter aroman
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Paul Fitz Jones
New member
My Smith History
It is my experience as an old timer that the tradition of individal craftsmanship and precise fitting lessens with each generation and change in ownership of the Smith and Wesson Company. I am constantly hearing complaints about the current production on the lists but enjoy my model 60, 66 and 58. But a statement of fact is that they do not compare with the workmanship of my Model 14 K-38 Masterpiece 5 screw 6 inch that I have kept mint.
What hurts the most is having to sell my model 14 in .32S&W long when my son was born to pay the doctor. I wish I had been better prepared but was in college at the time.
In my memory the worst thing to happen to S&W was Bangor Punta..
The younger generations reading this are unlikely to see or afford a mint or excellent example of the earlier hand fitted Smith standard quality versions as the prices tell the story.
The same thing happened to the founding Saeco company molds I represented after the owner passed on.
It is my experience as an old timer that the tradition of individal craftsmanship and precise fitting lessens with each generation and change in ownership of the Smith and Wesson Company. I am constantly hearing complaints about the current production on the lists but enjoy my model 60, 66 and 58. But a statement of fact is that they do not compare with the workmanship of my Model 14 K-38 Masterpiece 5 screw 6 inch that I have kept mint.
What hurts the most is having to sell my model 14 in .32S&W long when my son was born to pay the doctor. I wish I had been better prepared but was in college at the time.
In my memory the worst thing to happen to S&W was Bangor Punta..
The younger generations reading this are unlikely to see or afford a mint or excellent example of the earlier hand fitted Smith standard quality versions as the prices tell the story.
The same thing happened to the founding Saeco company molds I represented after the owner passed on.
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Highland Ranger
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I have several, two performance center and two not - all are fine examples of the craft and nice artifacts.
Not to quibble, but if your K-38 Target Masterpiece has five screws, then it's a "pre-Model 14".
It wasn't the best thing, for sure. On the other hand, the Limeys who came afterwards did spring for CNC machinery and ISO9001 certification. A few of the nicer guns in my modest collection are from the mid/late '90s.
Granted, I am a "younger generation," but given that the dates of manufacture of my meager S&W collection span from 1899 to 2004, I feel comfortable drawing my own conclusions. (The nicest one I own, BTW, is my '64 3.5" 27-2 in an honest 99% condition. Schweet!
)I don't have a ton of experience with S&W revolvers, but it seemed to me that my old 6" 686 .357 that rolled off the line in 1983 had overall tighter visual tolerances (if that term isn't a can of worms I don't know what is) than the Smith's I man-handle down at the gun shop nowadays. That's pretty subjective though, because I never whipped out my micrometer to check any measurements. That's just the impression I get. That said, I'm pretty sure the new Smith's get the job done just fine.