Dave Chuppa
New member
442 is my #1 but, I'm nuts for all J-Frames.
The Siren Song Of The 642 (What Is Your Weakness?)
- Thread starter Joe_Pike
- Start date
Perhaps not to the level of a Siren Song, but the 642 is one I like. A very practical little carry gun IMHO. In past, I was never the biggest fan of little 5-shot J-Frame .38s, preferring to carry something more capable, but unfortunately bigger and heavier. In recent years the 642 is one carried often. In any case, over time I seem to have accumulated a few of the little 5-shooters. Currently a 640, 642, 49 and 940 and SP-101 in 9MM.
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If I were going to carry for sheer "feel" in my hand, it would be one of my Blackhawks, followed closely by a 1911 with a flat MSH. Those, and a Ruger Stardard 6" .22LR, were the types of handguns I grew up learning to shoot, and they simply feel "intuitive" to my hand.
Since I typically eschew full-size handguns for concealed carry roles anymore, and often even prefer to leave my assortment of compact & subcompact 9's, .40's & .45's in the safe ... it's my collection of J-frame snubs or pair of LCP's that see the most use as retirement CCW's.
Being a longtime revolver shooter, I rather like my J-frames. I preferred steel J's (36/649) to the Airweights for quite a few years, and never thought to own one until S&W released the 642-1 rated for +P (at the end of the 90's?). I ordered one directly from the factory, under their armorer purchase program, and started kicking myself for not having tried one earlier.
That first 642-1 became my most carried off-duty weapon, eventually replacing my 3913, CS45 & CS9 because it was so easily pocket holstered. I invested the time (and a few cases of ammunition) to become acclimated to the lighter, harder recoiling Airweight. I also took advantage of using a training 640 in our vault to help burn up some unwanted cases of turned in 110gr .38 Spl revolver duty ammo, which made the 642's felt recoil seem better.
Several years later I eventually picked up a second 642-1, when the factory pulled all those older frames out of their parts inventory and first made some newer 642-1's.
My affinity for J's has resulted in me owning more than half a dozen of them nowadays, including a pair of M&P 340's (with & without the "lock", but my favorite one for carry is the one with the lock, as it's been hard-used and has worn in very nicely).
I have one of those limited production run 37-2DAO's, too, with the factory bobbed hammer converted to DAO. It's a pristine little Airweight made on the older 37 frame, before they lengthened the cylinder and made some metallurgical improvements to the Airweights to let them use a steady diet of +P. It wears some refinished smooth (uncheckered) J-frame RB grip stocks, which means I carry speedstrips with it instead of speedloaders.
There are some pants pockets which simply won't conceal one of my J's, though, and that's the primary reason I own a pair of Ruger LCP's, since they'll easily and unobtrusively fit in those shorter and lighter pockets in a UM pocket holster.
I'll still sometimes decide a belt gun is prudent, and that's when I'll use one of the assortment of S&W 3rd gen compacts or subcompacts, or Glock subcompacts, etc, from the safe, since I've put in many hours and ten's of thousands of rounds of training & practice using them.
There's still just something about those lightweight J's, though, even with the admittedly reduced capacity of only 5 rounds.
Since I typically eschew full-size handguns for concealed carry roles anymore, and often even prefer to leave my assortment of compact & subcompact 9's, .40's & .45's in the safe ... it's my collection of J-frame snubs or pair of LCP's that see the most use as retirement CCW's.
Being a longtime revolver shooter, I rather like my J-frames. I preferred steel J's (36/649) to the Airweights for quite a few years, and never thought to own one until S&W released the 642-1 rated for +P (at the end of the 90's?). I ordered one directly from the factory, under their armorer purchase program, and started kicking myself for not having tried one earlier.
That first 642-1 became my most carried off-duty weapon, eventually replacing my 3913, CS45 & CS9 because it was so easily pocket holstered. I invested the time (and a few cases of ammunition) to become acclimated to the lighter, harder recoiling Airweight. I also took advantage of using a training 640 in our vault to help burn up some unwanted cases of turned in 110gr .38 Spl revolver duty ammo, which made the 642's felt recoil seem better.
Several years later I eventually picked up a second 642-1, when the factory pulled all those older frames out of their parts inventory and first made some newer 642-1's.
My affinity for J's has resulted in me owning more than half a dozen of them nowadays, including a pair of M&P 340's (with & without the "lock", but my favorite one for carry is the one with the lock, as it's been hard-used and has worn in very nicely).
I have one of those limited production run 37-2DAO's, too, with the factory bobbed hammer converted to DAO. It's a pristine little Airweight made on the older 37 frame, before they lengthened the cylinder and made some metallurgical improvements to the Airweights to let them use a steady diet of +P. It wears some refinished smooth (uncheckered) J-frame RB grip stocks, which means I carry speedstrips with it instead of speedloaders.
There are some pants pockets which simply won't conceal one of my J's, though, and that's the primary reason I own a pair of Ruger LCP's, since they'll easily and unobtrusively fit in those shorter and lighter pockets in a UM pocket holster.
I'll still sometimes decide a belt gun is prudent, and that's when I'll use one of the assortment of S&W 3rd gen compacts or subcompacts, or Glock subcompacts, etc, from the safe, since I've put in many hours and ten's of thousands of rounds of training & practice using them.
There's still just something about those lightweight J's, though, even with the admittedly reduced capacity of only 5 rounds.
There aren't any production ones, unless you find a 940 cylinder... but there were issues with sticky extraction.
Mine was picked up off AR15.com, by a member that had his converted by Pinnacle High Performance. TK Custom can convert the cylinders, as well.