S&W making Lock Free revolvers......again!

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18DAI

New member
Check the S&W website, the lock free 642's and a new lock free 442 have been added to the online catalog.

Not overun frames, or spare parts, or cancelled orders, or leftover frames, but NEW LOCK FREE revolvers from S&W!!! IN THE CATALOG.

So all you Safety Wesson fanboys who declared this day would never come, are your wind up guns worth more, or less now? :) Regards 18DAI.
 
A

azredhawk44

Moderator
:p:p:D:p:p

Their pictures show them from the right side again!

103810_large.jpg


Sigh... now for a 29 or 629 or 625 or 627.
 
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gb_in_ga

New member
Gasp! :eek: I do believe that it is actually snowing in, uh, Houston -- that's it Houston right about now. I'd have never thunk it. Could it be that they have finally started listening to their customers?
 
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adk

New member
Great marketing move by Smith. As the no-lock guns come out, I'll replace the four guns I bought with the lock. Happy to do so.

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M

M1911

New member
I know that S&W did a small run of 642s and another J-frame (637?) for a distributor earlier this year. That distributor quickly ran out.

Is this just referring to that sold out run? Or has S&W actually restarted production after that short run?
 
T

The Terminator

New member
I believe that it was in August, I posted a thread, noting that one day Smiths with the lock could possibly be collectors items. We all got a good laugh at that one. But, who knows. I can see the for sale adds now. Oh, and how will some be able to mightily defend the lock?

Good news just the same! If the customers will lead the company, the company leaders will follow.

Btw, my S&W M&P 15 came with no lock. :) Best - Ted
 
M

M1911

New member
I was able find the thread on the 10-8 forum. S&W produced 4000 no-lock 642s and an undetermined number of no-lock 37s for the distributor RSR. But RSR sold out quickly. I still don't know whether this is a regular thing or a one-time production. I sent an e-mail to S&W. I'll see if I get a response.
 
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abber

New member
Problems with locks?

I fully understand the distaste for the internal locks. I have 2 wheelguns so equipped. What I wonder, when I read a thread like this, is what the problem is with the locks. I have had no trouble with them. I, like all of you, would rather have all lock free guns, because I do own a safe. Is it just the "big brother" aspect which bothers people, or are these detrimental to the inherent dependability of the pieces they are used on?
 
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gb_in_ga

New member
Is it just the "big brother" aspect which bothers people, or are these detrimental to the inherent dependability of the pieces they are used on?
Click to expand...
Yes and yes, but that's not the sum total of it.
Add -- It is an eyesore.
Add -- They came about during a very bad time, arguably because of political pressure -- pressure that many feel that S&W should have stood up to.

And no -- none of my revolvers have one. And all of them are S&W -- pre-lock.
 
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NWPilgrim

New member
As I recall the lock was introduced when it was owned by that British firm as a kowtow to the political pressure from Clinton and state of Massachusetts.

Our collective boycott pretty much bankrupted them and S&W was sold to a US firm that vowed to bring back the S&W we all loved. It took a while but they finally seem to be responding to customer input, and they probably do not yet have one instance in which their lock protected anyone from harm.

that is how my memory has it, please correct or elaborate if not entirely correct.
 
M

M1911

New member
As I recall the lock was introduced when it was owned by that British firm as a kowtow to the political pressure from Clinton and state of Massachusetts.
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You recall incorrectly. Tompkins PLC (a UK firm) sold S&W to Saf-T-Hammer, an AZ corporation, in 2001. It was after this transaction that S&W introduced the lock.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2001/05/14/daily1.html

All Smith & Wesson revolvers have been equipped with an internal locking mechanism since the acquisition by Saf-T-Hammer.
Click to expand...

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_&_Wesson#Internal_locking_mechanism

Google is your friend.
 
H

HankB

New member
I fully understand the distaste for the internal locks. I have 2 wheelguns so equipped. What I wonder, when I read a thread like this, is what the problem is with the locks. I have had no trouble with them. I, like all of you, would rather have all lock free guns, because I do own a safe. Is it just the "big brother" aspect which bothers people, or are these detrimental to the inherent dependability of the pieces they are used on?
Click to expand...
Aside from the increased cost and detrimental effect on cosmetics, the locks add another failure mode without adding any benefit.

The S&W forum has a lot of stories about lock failures, and Massad Ayoob mentioned a couple of failures in his column at American Handgunner magazine a few years back.

Failures are rare enough that they're hard to duplicate "on demand" . . . but I have no doubt that they do occur.
 
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bds32

New member
With their stock in the toilet, maybe we'll see more lockless guns. Eventually, maybe all the internal locks will go away and S&W can return to it's former glory.
 
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Unbreakable

New member
Does this mean guns with locks can be had cheap now? The lock never bothered me since I just took it out anyway. I'd love to pick up a 500 for around $300.00. :D
 
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Tom Servo

Staff
Actually, I talked to a S&W rep, and the 642/442's are not a special run. They exist because some frames were made without the lock during the last days of Tomkins and were still laying around recently. S&W decided to go ahead and assemble them into production guns and sell them.

Sadly, this simply represents conservation of resources rather than a company policy change. I was told that since Saf-T-Hammer owns (and saved) S&W that it's unlikely they'll abandon the lock. That's why the "Classic" series (which will include the K-22 again!) still has them.
 
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