Laura... Having an exposed hammer will not make any difference on the double action trigger pull or the muzzle blast. Muzzle blast from a J-frame is muzzle blast from a J-frame, no matter what the hammer looks like.
I know from your other threads that you disliked the light weight frame and the feel of the action on your other Smith. The action could have been made excellent by a competent gunsmith. The weight is another matter. If you now have an all steel J-frame, that will reduce the felt recoil, but the muzzle blast will remain the same. And you might have a poor feeling action, a good one, or something in between. If you don't like the feel of the action on this new gun, you don't need to get rid of yet another gun, just get it worked on.
I know we went around and around these issues before in the other thread and it seemed important to you to have an exposed hammer so you could fire the gun single action. That's all well and good, but there are some defense principles which I think you might want to learn more about.
It's a good idea to practice shooting your model 60 mostly, if not entirely, double action... when in a defensive situation you will need every bit of skill you can possibly muster to fire well and hit accurately in a HOT hurry while seeking cover... trust me, there will be no time or opportunity to cock your hammer and take precise aim.
If you have the time and the distance from your adversary for cocking the hammer and carefully aiming the sights, then you likely shouldn't have your gun out at all! The name of the game is only pull the gun out when lethal force is immediately required to save a life... and start shooting away. Not smart to pull a gun to scare someone or to shoot someone who is far away enough to not be an urgent, immediate threat to you. If it can be shown that you shot someone when you could have gotten away or taken cover, or avoided it in any other way, you will likely go to jail. If you haven't taken concealed weapon training... now is a good time to do that.
It's best for you to practice mostly, if not entirely, double action only with your belly guns... save the hammer cocking and precision target shooting for your 686.
You must become a master at quick pulls and fast, on-target, center-of-mass or headshot hits under duress. Belly guns are not designed to be used for slow, deliberate precision shooting... when you need it, you'll be pulling that trigger as fast and accurately as you possibly can while the world is spinning, your heart is pounding, adrenalin is coursing through your veins, and you're scrambling as fast as you can to get back from your adversary and take some cover. Shooting a belly gun well under those conditions requires considerable practice of a very specific type... rapid defense shooting - not precise target shooting. When you're at the range practicing with your model 60, you should be shooting that thing with rapid double taps, in point shoot mode, from a draw-type position, if possible. If you can use the gun that way and land all of your hits where they need to be, then you'll be ready to defend yourself with a snub nose revolver. Easier said than done.
I'm with Chameleon... exposed hammers are a hazardous hook inviting disaster during a pull from cover... that's why the internal hammer Centennial models are so popular with those educated in concealed carry and defensive shooting... the "professionals". If you're serious about concealed carry, you might want to have a gunsmith bob the hammer on your 60, polish the trigger, and do an action job. Then the gun will be much more effectively set-up for concealed carry defense duty. Then it will be your task to train enough to be able to pull that belly gun from cover smoothly and quickly, then shoot it accurately, double action only, under duress. A tall order indeed.
Shooting a gun single action is not the solution to a bad double action feel. That's like pushing your car where you want to go because you can't get it started... fix the problem, don't just do something else. If you don't like the double action feel on a gun, get the action worked on by a competent pistolsmith to make it feel as it should. The action on any S&W can be made very, very nice indeed - given the right pistolsmith.
I just did an action job on this new-to-me 640 and now it's buttery smooth and feels wonderful, so I know it can be done. Good luck to you with your next guns.
) and while I was waiting for the paperwork, my eye caught a glance of the 36LS. Nice looking but I suspect the Lady Smith name ups the price, including the grip it comes with. Looking at the S&W site, it's the same gun really as the model 37, correct? My question though is I had a 442 and absolutely hated the long trigger pull and the muzzle blast. Will either of these two models be more of the same bad news or will the hammer option make a pleasant difference?
