Why are NEW S&W considered inferior?

>>>Who will buy a (for example) new Model 29 @ today's prices if you can get a used one that looks just like it for less money?
<<<

With the two piece barrel? Certainly not me.
I picked up a nice late sixties early seventies blue 29 for $375 for Christmas.
 
Percept,

L to R: M25 Mtn Gun in 45 Long Colt and M21 TR in 44 Spl. N frames just possess that perfect balance of heft and handiness. They simply exude power. I love em :D
 
I wouldn't consider them inferior

I have a 686-6 plus and it's everybit as smooth as my dad 1960's N-frame.
The trigger feels like melted butter, its so slick. As far as the MIM parts go
I'm friends with am authorized S&W service center Armorer, and he has
yet to see and MIM parts failure. The locks while they ain't pretty, are a
fact of life now for all new guns, and I dont even use mine. I know a lot
of people at my club that own "Locked" S&W's and not one person
has experienced any prob. Well over 100 people.

One ultimate truth however is that things are always "better in the old days"
no matter what your talking about.
 
I already made my opinion clear. I will not own one of these new S&Ws. I don't like them and don't want them. :barf:
But I also realize that this is just my opinion. I'm not telling anybody not to buy one. If you like the new ones, more power to ya. Buy all you want. I guess somebody needs to keep S&W in business, although I'm not sure why. :rolleyes:
S&W has made millions of revolvers. There's plenty of good older ones on the used market for me to pick from. ;)
 
The moral of the story is,if you've got a good old classic S&W in any model then hold on to it 'cause there ain't gonna be no more.I"m holding onto mine,for sure. It's a bygone era and will never return.
With the CNC machinery,the art of the true hand craftsman is not being passed on to the next generation,and this applies to all true craftsmen,not just those in the gun world.I fear we may see the day when a man will not know how to accomplish anything without a programmable piece of machinery.
It's beginning to look like the science fiction stories of the 50's and 60's for sure. At the same time,wildernesses and natural wildlife habitats are being destroyed and encroached upon in the name of progress.What kind of world will the next generations inherit?
Sorry,boys.Got carried away there for a moment.
 
They cynic in me sometimes has to wonder....

S&W runs their wheelgun line into the ground at roughly the same time they start improving their semi auto line, 1911s, revamped Sigma, new variants of the Walther tactical tupperwear, etc....
Yet the quality goes down on Smith wheelguns as the price goes up.
You can actually find a high tech modern wonder gun in the auto realm for less than the asking price of a new N frame.....

Could it be that S&W is trying to boost its auto pistol sales by running the wheelguns into the ground?
 
Lock violates the KISS principle

Sorry folks but I have been looking into a new revolver (or two,) but have decided against anything with a lock. Why? Because it violates the Keep It Super Simple principle. One failure is to many for me and in general the fewest number of parts = fewest number of things to break or otherwise fail and cause pistol to not go bang, This argument is offten cited as a reason for Glock reliability and so forth. Frankly it is hard to argue with and I am sure a big part of theri reliability and sucess.

2 piece barrel --- looked at one of these recently --- could this be more of a kludge if the engineers tried? So S+W is going to impose this change on customers and hence eliminate the possibility of aftermarket porting, barrel chop etc. and not even offer field servicable barrels like Dan Wesson did?

The idea of running revolvers into the ground and promoting autopistols is an intresting one however I would suggest an alternate idea --- S+W revolvers are being gutted to help pay for the S+W pistol line that frankly has been doing a slow spiral for some time now --- How many S+W pistols do you see filling LE leather? How many contracts has S+W gotten recently from state or fedral LE? Sigma was ment to go head to head with Glock and turned out to be a flop on a par with the Edsel, thier other auto's have been incrumentaly improved but continue to lose market share to Sig, Glock, HK, Baretta. Other than Walther licensed pistols (which have sporatic reports of poor quality) and making a 1911 it really does not seem like there is much going well for S+W in terms of auto's. Seems to me what S+W needs to do is start with a clean sheet of paper and come up with a truly inovative, quality pistol that coulr recapture some market share. Or just give up on auto's other than what they are making now.

So far as wheel guns their job could not be easier.... all of the problems of the avarage wheel gun were solved soewhere between 20 and 60 years ago so other than making some of the super lights for the CCW market and the X frame 500, all S+W's revolver folks needed to do is turn out what they have always been making with such varyations as blue vs. stainless, long and short barrels, the mountian gun series, 41 mag anyone? etc. It's got to be similar to being Harley Davidson, you have a well known, well repected product and heritage, all you have to do is keep making it in a variety of formats that appeal to your following, ensure that quality is always there and keep collecting the profits. This S+W could have done but did not.
 
Oddly enough, even though I refuse to even consider a new S&W revolver I think the S&W autos are some of the most under rated pistols on the market. They're well made, reliable and reasonably accurate. I've owned several over the years and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. However, I must confess that I haven't tried one since before S&W started using MIM parts. So I really can't say if the new ones are as good as the older ones.
Now that brings up the question: Are S&W autos still any good? :confused:

And just for the record, when it comes to autos I'm a 1911 kinda guy. These days I only own one DA auto and its an old S&W 39. Despite this model's bad reputation, mine has never given me any trouble at all.
 
After reading this entire thread you guys have popped my bubble :(
I was ready to go out and buy my Smith 642 and now I don't know what to get. I'm not an auto fan. I determined it was going to be a pocket gun and either a S&W or a Ruger. I can't imagine carrying around that boat anchor Ruger SP101 all day in my pocket. Should I roll the dice on the 642 or look for another light weight pocket carry from a less reputable manufacturer??
 
Roll a dice with a Smith? Hardly.

They are good sound revolvers like Rugers.

Smith sells barge loads of these things. Where's the major lock failure recall? If these things were true, they could get sued off the face of the planet given the number of people who buy and carry those ultra lightweight revolvers that S&W seems to have made into their bread and butter. They'll recall these wheelguns as fast as they recalled their then BRAND NEW 1911 and their then BRAND NEW L frame 357s if there was a problem.
 
I just bought a brand new .500 Mag and let me tell you that gun ROCKS! :D
All you wierdos who are afraid of the tiny little lock (which looks even tinyer on the X-frame) are missing out on something great.
Quality is superb.
You can't wipe the smile off your face when you're firing this thing. :D
I had a crowd of guys watching me shoot this thing at the range wanting to try it out.
Disscussion afterwards was nothing but good talk about S&W and how they're introducing really new ground breaking pistols. And, hold on to your hats, nobody said they were staying away from S&W because of the little locks. :eek: Oh my God what's the world coming to??? :rolleyes: (extreme sarcasm off)

I also own a S&W 640-1 stainless (love it!) which is my car gun and a Kel-Tec P40 which I carry.
 
from a less reputable manufacturer??
Click to expand...

Yes, if you can't trust S&W, go with someone you can trust even less. If you're going to gamble, gamble big! :)

Seriously though, no matter what you buy, there's always a chance of having a problem. But that's not saying much. At least with the S&W there's a better than average chance you won't have any problem, and if you get a lemon, their warranty repair turnaround is lightning fast. They've even replaced a couple parts for me that were just worn out after umpteen rounds and I didn't even have to pay shipping.
 
Just out of curiousity, what is it about the 2 piece barrel that precludes having it ported, or chopped? How are the two pieces put together?

As far as "what to get, if not a new S&W", just buy an older one (or two, like I did. :))

-- Sam
 
I would be curious about the porting, too. I have seen several Taurus titanium revolvers, with a stainless barrel and titanium barrel shroud, that have been ported.
 
Thanks Gents,

I'm going for the 642 and going to pick it up tomorrow morning. In fact.......
I'm getting the model 642 with the Crimson Trace Laser Grips. I know some of you old timers don't think too much of the laser grips but....oh well.
I've read too much good stuff about them. If you don't totally count on them for your sights, how can they hurt? Brand new in the box S&W 642 with Crimson Laser Grips for $489.00, not bad huh?? I'm pumped and excited.
Yippe-I-O-Ki-A (is that right ?) :) :) :)
 
absolutely right

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've been shooting for a few years, okay, 40 or so. I remember shooting my daddy's 45 that he brought home from WWII (yeah you've heard this one before) and wanted one of my own. Someone want to tell me again how great those old 1911's were? Mine would shoot anything as long as it was hardball. Maybe. Sold it to a collecter and moved on. Bought a Smith 469 and liked it, bought an HK P7 and loved it. Have owned several of each over the years; own one of each now. Still like/love both of them.
As far as revolvers go, I've had friends--LEO and otherwise--who have been trying to talk me into revo's for years. I bought a Rossi 69 (?) about 20 years ago, biggest POS I ever saw. EACH AND EVERY round would cause the cylinder to unlatch and FTF the next round. Needless to say, that colored my judgement, and it took a lot of years to get over it. Last year I bought an early 70's 66, and really like it. Next, a late 70's 37, and just last week, a barely used 640PD. I can see the beauty of the P&R 66, but 37 is nicely made too, and I cannot find anything about the 640 that is functionally inferior to the others (okay, the two tone scandium is not as pretty, but I have an appreciation for form over function).
Bottom line for me--buy what you like, don't get wrapped around the axle on what others say. I like old ones and new ones--my shopping list includes an old M-19, a new 340, maybe a .500 one of these days, and a 29 or 629 one day.
I like the Corvette analogy, as I have owned both old ones and newer ones. I love both, but (here's the important part) most of us cannot afford to have both old and new Vettes in our garages. On the other hand, many of us can afford to have both old and new S&W's in our safes--isn't life grand :) ?
 
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