S&W 645 or 4506?

Lightsped

New member
I am playing with the idea of adding a S&W 645 or a 4506 to my collection. Anyone have any experience with either of these guns?
 
While I have thousands of rounds through an old 645 I would recommend getting the 4506. Better trigger, better sights, better ergonomics, just better overall.

__________________
Shoot Strait,
Michael
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"I worry about my judgement when anything I believe in or do regularly
begins to be accepted by the American public."
 
The 4506 would be my choice. I used to have a 4516, which is a compact version of the 4506. I think you will like the 4506 better, like MLP said the 4506 has the better trigger, sights and is generally the better gun.
 
The 645 is one of my favorite pistols, and I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I've often thought of getting a 4506 as well, but never felt quite strongly enough about it to do so.

IOW, although I'm sure the 4506 is excellent, my preference is still for the 645. :)
 
I've owned both in the past, myself.

If you have any intention of CCW with it, I would consider the 645. When Smith made all of the Novak-inspired improvements, the weight of the 4506 went up noticeably.:( The 645 is lighter and more svelte, overall. I will admit, however, the box-stock action on 4506 is a marked improvement. With a great deal on a used 645, you may have enough left to give it an action tune and have the best of both.:o
 
re: 645

I own a 645. It's a great pistol, very reliable and accurate. I don't shoot it much anymore because I'm busy shooting other guns and I don't carry it because it's pretty large and hefty, BUT-I won't sell it.

I have a friend who carried a 4506 for a duty gun. He thought it was pretty good, but he went through a couple of trigger return springs on it (I understand that these are small leaf springs which return the trigger and may be a weak point in the design.

The return spring on my 645 has been no problem, but I imagine it's the same or similar to the one used in the 4506.

Either one would be a good choice.
 
I carry one of these weights at work. That is pretty much my only complaint - it gets real heavy at the end of 12 hours.
The 4506 can be produced provided Smith gets an order of about 40 pistols, as our department found out. It is not in the catalog as previously stated. Not to worry, they can be found at shows and on the net.
The sights are darn good. The trigger, not the best in the world, can be worked through with time. It feeds about anything - our guns have gone through 185 SWC loads, 230 ball loads, and both weights in hollowpoints.
After several thousand rounds since I have had it (issued used), I finally broke a part. Half of the decocker sheared off, it is cheaper metal than rest of the gun.
Politics aside, I would recommend it.
 
The small, copper-colored 'leaf' spring

is the 'trigger play spring'. It does not return the trigger. That is a much stouter, coil spring that has it's own guide rod. The play spring can be bent if not careful while cleaning the gun. It helps prevent 'slop' in the initial take-up of the trigger.:)
 
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