Which S&W is closest to my Astra 680

P

Pond James Pond

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Here is a picture of my Astra 680 (courtesy of a search on Google Images). I have found speedloaders on the Midways site by Maxfire. They seem like a nice design.

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All I need now is to know which S&W snub matches the dimensions of my own snub (the Astra being a copy of a S&W).

Who can look at this picture and tell me which S&W might math it when choosing one of these speedloaders?
 
Edit: 680 is a six shot, apparently. If compatible with any S&W, my guess would be a K frame.

Models 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 64, 65, 66 and I am sure I am missing some.
 
Splendid!!
Thanks for that!

That means that the Maxfire model designed to fit the Colt Detective, S&W 10, 19, 66 should fit my Astra.

Now, do I take a gamble and buy a pair for €22?
 
Odds are, if they don't fit, you can find an owner of one of those guns who might buy them from you.
 
Here is a picture of my Astra 680 (courtesy of a search on Google Images). I have found speedloaders on the Midways site by Maxfire. They seem like a nice design.

All I need now is to know which S&W snub matches the dimensions of my own snub
Click to expand...

"The Google" tells me it's a six shot gun, so probably a K-frame snub. Model 19, Model 13, Model 10, Model 66, probably a bunch of others.

You had a problem with yours, if I remember right. Get that fixed?
 
Speed strips are slower than speed loaders, but are both more versatile (a .38/.357 speed strip will feed or partially feed any swing-out or top-break .38/.357 revolver) and easier to conceal (a pair of 6-rd .38/.357 speed strips will fit in an empty altoids box).

Not a bad suggestion, Mike.

But 22 Euro is, I believe, about $30, so the speed-loaders are not that big a gamble.

Edit: "partially feed" referred to the 686+ (7rds) and the 8 shot N frames, since I have only seen speed strips in 6-rd configuration.

I don't think they would work well with a loading gate, but my Vaquero is a .45 colt and I don't have any .45 strips with which to test the theory.

Second edit: Can't easily watch the video due to limited bandwidth in current location, so I don't know if it shows this, but a faster way to use strips is to align and feed rounds in pairs, two at a time.
 
"All I need now is to know which S&W snub matches the dimensions of my own snub (the Astra being a copy of a S&W)."

I doubt if they match 100%. The Astra is probably Metric, and the S&W made in inches.
 
That's OK, speedloaders are not real precision instruments.
Note that they list the same one for Colt DS and S&W M&P.
 
You had a problem with yours, if I remember right. Get that fixed?
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Well, yes and no.

The problem (a bulged barrel) has been solved, but only because I bought another 680. I saw one advertised and so I pounced on it. I've found a buyer for the old one. He knows about the barrel, but I sold it for a song, so...

Besides, when he shot it (his first try with a snub), he got tighter groups at 7 yds than I do!! :eek::mad:

So I think he'll be happy.
 
Before you buy the Maxfire speedloaders, you might want to consider other types like the HKS or Safariland Comp II. I bought a couple of the Maxfires for my S&W M66 and was decidedly unimpressed. After a couple of uses, they don't hold the cartridges all that tight anymore and, if carried in a coat pocket, will routinely drop a cartridge or two. Furthermore, due to their design they won't fit in standard speedloader pouches. Finally, unless you 'peel' them away just right, they tend to want to pull a cartridge or two back out of their chambers when you try to load the gun. Quite honestly, I'm not sure that they're all that much quicker and easier to use than speed strips and they're less convenient to carry.

I personally like the Safariland Comp II the best as, with a little practice, they seem to be the fastest and easiest to load the gun with. That being said, the HKS type is easier to load the cartridges into, made for a wider variety of models, and generally lower priced than the Safarilands.
 
It is a shame the Maxfires don't seem to deliver because their design was what appealed. I have found that on my Astra, the cylinder release catch would interfere with lining up a speed-loader and so the staggered alignment of the cartridges in the Maxfire would have allowed me to load, despite the release catch. In this sense, HKS's would not work.

I think I may be learning how to use strips...
 
I second Webley. Safariland comps also tend to be far more flexible about what guns they work with. I have some that work OK with Colt I, Dan Wesson small, S&W K and Colt D frames! Quite versatile in my book.
 
Pond, do you know any gunsmiths? It should be fairly easy to mill down the catch, so that it doesn't interfere with an HKS, if that is something you'd consider having done.
 
Pond, do you know any gunsmiths?
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I wish!!

To this day, I have not found a single gunsmith. I honestly don't think there are any. Not in the sense of gun tuning.

There are retailers that can replace a spare part, fit new sights to your slide, but not actually make structural or mechanical alterations to a gun such as trigger jobs or feed ramp adjustments etc...
 
If worse comes to worst you can always pick up a couple of speed strips. You would be surprised how fast you can get when loading revolvers with them. When I used to carry J frames I always just stuck one of those in my pocket instead of a speed loader.
 
I have found that on my Astra, the cylinder release catch would interfere with lining up a speed-loader and so the staggered alignment of the cartridges in the Maxfire would have allowed me to load, despite the release catch. In this sense, HKS's would not work.
Click to expand...

How thick is the latch? The thumbpiece on a S&W is in about the same place as one on an Astra and it does not interfere with the use of speedloaders. The only reason that I can think of that the Astra would be a different case would be if it's thumbpiece were thicker. On a S&W, the thumbpiece, at its widest, extends about 0.27 inches (just under 7mm) from the side of the frame. Usually, the grips will interfere with lining up a speedloader before the thumbpiece will.
 
Quote:
How thick is the latch?
It is not particularly thick, but it may also be a case of how far the cylinder swings out.
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On a S&W, the yoke swings open a full 90 degrees. If your Astra opens that far, then speedloaders should probably work fine.
 
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