S&W Performance Center Craftsmanship

M

Mr.RevolverGuy

New member
By Mark Singer
Safe Direction Firearms
Web Address: safedirection.org

Today, many individuals feel that the venerable 6 shooter or the wheel gun is all but obsolete. The popularity of the revolver within law enforcement agencies was staggering and then the advent of the first wonder nines. The first high capacity semi-automatic pistols adopted by many police agencies in the 1980’s and were primarily produced in 9mm Luger (parabellum) And as law enforcement changes so do the preferences of the armed community; with high capacity semi-autos sweeping the market. Yet today revolvers are still capable and a lot of fun when you combine 44 magnum with Buffalo Bore Ammunition.
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Well, today I would like to take a look at two revolvers designed by Smith and Wesson. Both are not commonly found and are perhaps some of the best wheel guns this author has owned. These two revolvers are the products of precision gunsmithing done S&W’s own Performance Center. The first revolver we will discuss is the model 627; Then we will move on to the S&W model 629 Talo Deluxe. This is a 44 magnum 3 inch barrel N frame revolver.
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Full review Here
 
IMO, S&W's current PC revos aren't any higher quality than their standard offerings, nor do they seem to receive any additional tuning. They used to be all-forged internals, and tuned right from the factory, which would justify their price premium, but no longer, it seems. What you're paying for when you buy a current PC revo, IMO, are simply certain features not available on their standard revolvers, e.g. interchangeable front sight and slab-side 5" barrel.

Current S&W revolvers are fine, and, assuming they're in spec, shoot as well as older guns. In the end, I'd spring for a PC revolver if it's got the features I wanted, but not because I wanted some extra TLC.

5Star speedloaders? Meh. Never been a fan. Basically fancy twist-release HKS loaders. And the crooked rounds in the pic don't help my opinion of them. :rolleyes:
 
I own a Model 629 S&W PC in 44 magnum. It is a hoot to shoot, but it has some seriously hard recoil. I am not one to be recoil sensitive, but this revolver will speak to you.
 
5Star speedloaders? Meh. Never been a fan. Basically fancy twist-release HKS loaders. And the crooked rounds in the pic don't help my opinion of them.
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You want the rounds in your speed loaders to be fairly free so they are easy to get into the charge holes. 5 star makes great speed loaders.

PC guns in my experience have been worth the extra money. I have a 629 4in non PC the recoil is low in target type rounds to medium in hunting rounds. The hogue monogrip probably helps in that department. I have a 29 6.5 in with original square butt grips that has an uncomfortable bite in my hands but the actual recoil is not bad even with hot for S&W rounds.
 
My one PC gun is fantastic. Far superior to regular production in the trigger feel.

The price premium for PC guns isn't as much as one would otherwise think- other companies tend to charge quite a bit more for their custom shop offerings.
 
Technosavant said:
other companies tend to charge quite a bit more for their custom shop offerings.
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That's the thing, though - Despite the moniker, they no longer appear to be from a true "custom shop". They now appear to simply be variants not available in their standard line-up.


jason_iowa said:
You want the rounds in your speed loaders to be fairly free so they are easy to get into the charge holes.
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I disagree. The charge holes are fixed, so there's only 1 correct way to line up the rounds - correctly spaced and parallel to each other. If they're correctly aligned, then, "wiggle" serves to get them out of alignment. If the rounds aren't lined up correctly, a little wiggle may help that, but generally, wiggle is one good way to slow your speedloader reloads (a twist release is another ;)).
 
Many of the younger shooters don't know that the run of the mill revolver from s&w colt or dw from 30 years ago was at least as good , maybe better than the custom shop stuff today.

About a year ago saw a custom shop special 44mag revolver that had a 10ths cylinder gap and a barrel than was not plum. Front sight was to the left. So you get a good one be happy.
 
I disagree. The charge holes are fixed, so there's only 1 correct way to line up the rounds - correctly spaced and parallel to each other. If they're correctly aligned, then, "wiggle" serves to get them out of alignment. If the rounds aren't lined up correctly, a little wiggle may help that, but generally, wiggle is one good way to slow your speedloader reloads (a twist release is another ).
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I agree with MrBorland; loose wiggly rounds in a loading device are NOT an aid to fast revolver reloading. You want the rounds in the speedloader solid and stable, so that when you line the loader up with any two charge holes in the cylinder, the whole set is aligned.

And I also definitely prefer the "push" loading of the Safariland speedloaders to the "twist-n-wiggle" of the HKS loaders. YMMV, etc., but given the choice, I'll use the Safariland loaders.
 
Having owned and also experienced PC guns owned by my friends, I can say with sad resignation that the Performance Center is a marketing gimmick. Any S&W revolver I buy from now on will have been manufactured deep into the last century
 
I've only handled a couple of RECENT build Performance Center revolvers and what I have found is that the double action trigger is much more like a S&W double action pull of 10+ years ago.

The non-PC revolvers they are building these days seem to have a dead-stop double action pull where you draw the trigger rearward and you end up at a wall that requires what I can only describe as excessive pull weight to break.

I don't believe it's an ILS-thing, because I owned a Model 60-15 with the lock and it had a nice, typical double action. I don't believe it's a MIM thing, for the same reasons. But revolvers in the last 5+ years from S&W seem to have this dead-stop double action that I simply cannot stomach.

The new PC revolvers that I've handled have a "normal" double action pull, IMO.

My buddy just recently bought -two- .44 Magnum S&W revolvers: a new Model 69 and a new Performance Center 629 snub. And the Model 69 has the double action dead-stop pull that I described... the PC 629 does not.
 
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