The forbidden Smiths

Everything was ALWAYS better in the "good old days".
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Things were more like they used to be, back then. ;)

I don't have any Registered Magnums handy, like Mr. Eick does, but I can say that on any and all Pre-War revolvers, even the comparitively "disposable" I-frames, a lot more hand labor was expended on the gun. How much of this added anything beyond cosmetics is open to debate, however. In simpler mechanical details, my 1928 .38 Regulation Police sports no better sideplate fit than my 36-1, from 1980, in the heart of darkest Bangor Punta (both are actually fit quite fine.)

I don't, however, think the quality line is a simple, downward slope. Is it worse now than it was in, say, 1934? Hell, yes. In 1934 you could get skilled metalworkers to sit and polish guns by hand all day for streetcar fare and soup money (there was kind of a Great Depression thing going on at the time...) Nowadays, the guy that drives the forklift in the warehouse expects to make enough money to make his bass boat payments; costs have to be cut somewhere. Overall? I think quality is, on average, on an upward trend, and better than the low ebbs of the late '70s/early '80s, and the period roughly centered around the adoption of the new lockwork in 2000-2002.
 
Sure.
Chev trucks over Fords, but Dodges are OK.
Bad idea to install dark green carpet if you have a white cat.
Arizona's too hot in the summer.
Denis
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Hilarious. REALLY.


Personally, I have appreciation for both. I love blued steel and wooden grips, but can't deny the durability of stainless steel. It all comes down to preference, I guess...
 
I agree with you guys about Colt. They make good products, but I am disgusted with their insistence on selling things for twice what they're worth, and not making a decent middle of the road type weapon. The python is a fine, fine gun; one of the best. However, I want to know what happened to the Colt being the "everyman's gun." It used to be a lot more down to Earth. Now it's just so ritzy . . . I get a sense of "moral superiority" coming from them.

But then again, maybe not.

Just an opinion.
 
Hard not to agree with dogdoc and Dusty. I like the old ones better...many do...but the tightest/rightest S&W in my safe is a 2002-ish 629 Mountain Gun. I could wish it had the trigger of my older S&Ws, but it is built like a cross between a Swiss watch and a German safe.
 
Looking at my Model 25 45ACP 6 1/2" bbl N Frame and my Model 25 8 3/8"
Colt 45LC in its wood presentation box brings back memories of the 70's
and days gone by. Dirty Harry was in the movies and I got my Concealed Carry Permit and bought my first Smith and Wesson, a used model 29 6 1/2 in the wooden box with a shoulder holster. Next was a Model 34 Kit gun 22, Both were traded off years ago. Goncalo Aves on stocks, and little smith screwdrivers were the norm.

I just can get past the Internal Lock on the new guns. I hate being forced
to have it if I want a new model. Its the principle of the Barbara Boxers getting their way! I've been buying up the transition new model Smiths that
were produced before the ineternal lock was put in, but the supply is drying up and prices are skyrocketing I have a lot of competition. Just look at Gunsamerica.com or Auction arms.

Would love to get my hands on a Pre Model 27 Registered Smith.......

I guess those days are gone by, like saying the pledge and standing for the Star Spangled Banner ..AND I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The idea behind the MIM parts and the new engineering is to try and get a gun that has drop in parts with little to no fitting.

I have several post MIM guns I bought new and 2 are absolutely incredible out of the box. Better triggers than any old gun that wasn't heavily smithed. 1 gun is moderately okay. 1 gun is passable. And one gun is a total piece of trash. The last has been sent back to S&W enough that it's spent more time in Ma than either of that state's senators have lately. It's on its third trip back as we speak.

Seems with the MIM parts they are either spot on or compeletely out of spec. There isn't much middle ground. Problem is they don't seem to check the guns out for things like timing, headspace, b/c gap, screws & pins being tight, etc before shipping them out as I've seen new guns that were suffering from these problems right out of the box.

The biggest concern I have heard about the new smiths is the changeover from cut rifling to EDM rifling. EDM rifling in and of itself is a decent process, but talk I have been hearing is the QC on the rifling is poor and you get either a gun that shoots very well, or a gun that groups like a 12 guage. And unfortunately I learned this the hard way with the one problem child I describe above. The new barrel they put in shoots very well though.

From what I have seen the bulk of the S&W guns are pretty good, but when they screw up they screw up big time, and they don't seem to have anyone at the factory checking the guns very well before they box them. I'd still buy a new S&W gun but I'd truck along all my guages and range rods and crawl up into the gun before I'd open my wallet. I never felt the need to do that for a "new" gun before, but I learned my lesson there.

Ted
 
Gunmann,

Looking at my Model 25 45ACP 6 1/2" bbl N Frame and my Model 25 8 3/8"
Colt 45LC in its wood presentation box brings back memories of the 70's
and days gone by.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, for the glory days of S&W's bondage in the land of Bangor Punta.

I've got some real gems from Ye Olde Days, too: My 31-1 (1971) and 581-1 (1986) are not two of Smith's better efforts. If they were Harleys, they'd have AMF badges. :o

The thing I most love about being a Smith nut in the era of The Zit, The 2-Piece Barrel, and The Re-Contoured Frame, is that now I can imagine what it was like some fifty years ago, when folks got to shout "Dammit! They've deleted the top sideplate screw! The whole company is going to the dogs!" :D
 
Tamara,
Tried to email a couple times, may not have come through.
What did you find on that Thunder Ranch you were looking at? Just curious about your impressions if you checked it out closely.
Denis
 
MOLON LABE Means....

For those who say "what the heck is that"?"

Molon Labe is from the ancient Persian and Greek battles and signifies the determination to not strike the first blow, but also to not stand mute and allow our loved ones, and all that we believe in and stand for, to be trampled by men who would deprive us of our God-given – or natural, if you will – rights to suit their own ends.

From the internet






Something the libs don't get and what the anti-gun movement is trying to do to us today!!!!
 
This is a rather hard thread to answer as far as quality of todays firearms, especialy handguns.
I started hunting with handguns, a Ruger Blackhawk .44, in 1956. Since then I have played with a lot of various make and models.
Overall I have found the following:
(1) I feel the steel is better (more consistant) today causing the handgun to be stronger.
(2) I feel that the modern method of machining makes them have better tolorances gun to gun.
(3) I think the blued guns are smoother than stainless due to the metal.
(4) I think most of todays guns are over polished and look look as bad as the older ones that had a bad reblue job. If you compare the finish of the older guns this becomes obvious
(5) In most cases todays guns, due to the type of cutting the rifling, are more accurate off the assembly lines.
However, these are just gut feelings........James
 
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