The Firearm Blog

After a nearly 6 months hiatus I was very pleased see a new post at Tam's The Arms Room. Her latest blog post in the Sunday Smith series covers the S&W Number 1 revolver.

S&W Number 1

Over at my blog post about the Walther PK380, readers have anxiously awaiting the arrival of the pistol that was announced in January. S&W have finally announced that it is shipping.

Limited "First" Edition

More more about this .380 ACP pistol here.

Steve Doran proves that any gun can be accurate if you take the time to practice with it. He takes his Smith & Wesson Model 60 snub nosed revolver (1 5/8 inch barrel) and, firing 158 grain .38 Special factory ammunition and manages great accuracy at 100 yards!

Steve has a write up about the shoot over at his website.

S&W have made a special run of S&W 642 and 442 revolvers with ported barrels. These must make one heck of a bang when the trigger is pulled! Both are chambered in .38 Special.

Model 642


Model 442

Smith & Wesson have developed a Banger’s exclusive Model 627 chambered in .38 Super. I really love the stainless glass bead finish along with the short black cylinder.

The reason for the big gap between the cylinder and the frame is because the original Model 27 was designed to chamber the .357 Magnum cartridge. A .38 Super case is about 30% shorter than a .357 Magnum case, hence the gap.

Specs:

Capacity: 8 Rounds (Same as the .357 Magnum models)
Action: Single/Double Action
Barrel Length: 5 1/2″ Angled
Front Sight: Patridge
Rear Sight: Adjustable
Weight: 45.5 oz.
Material: Stainless Steel Frame and Cylinder
MSRP: I am not sure. Ask you local gun dealer to call Bangers about pricing.

.38 Super is a slightly weaker round than the .357 Magnum. Its advantage lies in the fact that it has just enough power to be classified as a Major cartridge in IPSC competitions. I know it is very popular among semi-auto IPSC competitors but I am not sure how popular it is with the revolver crowd. Caleb and Tam, do you know how?

Hat Tip: Gun Holsters and Gear

CNBC’s Fast Money show talks to Michael Golden, CEO of Smith & Wesson, about the gun market and how S&W is faring.

He says that the gun market is cooling but S&W’s M&P rifles and tactical rifles are selling well. I do not dispute that S&W is doing well, but I find it hard to believe S&W, or Ruger, will be able to maintain their current stock prices. Both stocks have more than doubled since February courtesy of the gun buying frenzy.

Golden mentions the M4 competition. I expect they will have sometime more interesting up their sleeve than the M&P4, a pretty standard direct gas impingement M4 clone, which the Military Times reported a while back that S&W would be entering.

S&W are now selling a version of the .22 AR-15 patterned M&P15-22 that is compliant with Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and New York law.

It has been made compliant by fixing the stock so it cannot be adjusted and supplying a 10 round magazine. The MSRP is still $499.

The pistol grip and removable magazine prevent it from being California compliant. .22 Rifles are exempt from California Assault Weapon laws.

Smith and Wesson have announced a recall of the S&W 22A Pistol.

Smith & Wesson has identified a condition that may exist in certain model 22-A pistols. Based on our ongoing product review, we have determined that the slides of certain pistols manufactured from August 1, 2008 to February 19, 2009, may not meet the design specification. This can create a situation where insufficient headspace exists creating a risk of unintended discharge.

STOP USING YOUR PISTOL AND RETURN IT TO SMITH & WESSON AT ONCE.

Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential for causing injury, and we ask that you stop using your pistol immediately

Over at GunNuts, VegasChris posted a link to photos of his 22A pistol which self-destructed

You can see the raw metal where the piece was blown off

Hat Tip: Caleb @ Gun Nuts Media
.

“PooFire” was using his car as a barrier to practice shooting over (NOT a good idea) with his AR-15 but forgot his revolver was placed on the car roof. His S&W Model 442 Airweight took a 5.56mm bullet to the chamber.

Click to expand the images.

He knows what he did was idiotic, and as someone at AR15.com said, he has balls of steel posting it on the internet. So don’t mock him for it!

Thanks to Jay for the link.

Smith & Wesson have produced a Model 629 revolver to commemorate Alaska’s 50th anniversary of Statehood.

The 4″ barreled gun will be available chambered in .44 Magnum or .44 Special. A very nice look piece and with enough power to keep hungry bears at bay!

More info.

The PSDR 3 is a fully suppressed .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Model 625 revolver developed in 1993 by Joe Peters, under contract from Northrhine-Westphalia, for Germany’s SEK (SWAT) teams.

This photo is from Visier Special 6, 1997 (special edition of one of the three big German gun journals):

Click to expand.

Revolvers cannot be effectively suppressed because gas escapes from between the cylinder and the barrel creating noise (there are some exceptions). The big shell that encloses the cylinder of the PSDR 3 prevents the gas from escaping. This combined with a big suppressor and a subsonic .45 ACP round causes a noise reduction from 136 dB to 90 dB which is comparable to a CO2 air gun. Decibels are a logarithmic unit of measurement, so a 46 dB reduction is significant. In theory this gun should make a lot less noise than a suppressed semi-automatic pistol because there no slide slamming open and closed.

I had no idea such a gun existed until Sven emailed me. I really like the idea – German engineering at its best!
Many thanks to Sven, who blog at Defense and Freedom, for the scanned page and translation.

There seems to be a problem with the PPK hammer block in newly manufactured PPK pistols. The press release:

Smith & Wesson has identified a condition that may exist in certain PPK and PPK/S pistols which may permit a round to be discharged without the trigger being pulled. When the manual safety is disengaged, Smith & Wesson’s Product Engineering Group has determined that the possibility exists in certain firearms that lowering the hammer may cause a chambered round to fire.

This recall applies to all Walther PPK and PPK/S pistols manufactured by Smith & Wesson from March 21, 2002, until February 3, 2009. The Serial Numbers of the pistol subject to this recall are as follows:

BAB 0010-BAB 9999
BAC 0000-BAC 9999
BAD 0000-BAD 9999
LTD 0000-LTD 0499
PPK 0001-PPK 1500
BAE 0000-BAE 9999
BAF 0000-BAF 9999
WLE 0001-WLE 0459
BAH 0000-BAH 9999
BAJ 0000-BAJ 9999
BAK 0000-BAK 9999
REP 0026-REP 0219
BAL 0000-BAL 5313
BAM 0000-BAM 1320

STOP USING YOUR PISTOL AND RETURN IT TO SMITH & WESSON AT ONCE.

Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential for causing injury, and we ask that you stop using your pistol immediately.

To facilitate the repair of your pistol, please contact Smith & Wesson’s customer service department to receive instructions for the return of your pistol to Smith & Wesson.

When you return your pistol to Smith & Wesson, we will replace the existing hammer block feature with a new part at no cost to you. Your firearm will be returned as quickly and efficiently as possible.

To receive a UPS pre-paid billable stamp and shipping instructions to arrange for the modification of your pistol click here or contact Smith & Wesson directly at 1-800-331-0852.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECALL, PLEASE CONTACT SMITH & WESSON AT 1-800-331-0852 or email us at PPK_S@smith-wesson.com.

More information at S&W

This year Smith & Wesson have launched the M&P15 PS and PSX piston operated AR-15 rifles.

M&P15 PSX

The only difference between the PSX and PS is that the PSX features a Troy 7″ modular quad rail handguard.

M&P15 PS model and Piston Operating System
Photo ⓒ Remigiusz Wilk (REMOV). Used with permission.

Specs:

Barrel Length: 16″
Barrel Twist: 1 in 9″
Overall Length: 35″ Extended/32″ Collapsed
Stock: Collapsible 6-position
Weight: 6.5 lbs.
Finish: Hard Coat Black Anodized

I do not know the MSRP on either model.

The latest addition to the M&P15 family of AR-15 rifles is the M&P15-22. S&W have designed what they call “the ultimate .22LR platform”. From the press release:

“In designing the new M&P15-22, our engineers pulled out all of the stops to develop the ultimate .22LR platform,” said Tom Kelly, Vice President of Marketing for Smith & Wesson. “The rifle’s operating features, functionality and durability are exactly what you would expect from any of Smith & Wesson’s tactical rifles. By remaining true to the standard AR-15 design while offering all of the preferred features found on the M&P Rifle Series, the M&P15-22 is well suited for a variety of recreational shooting applications while also being an extremely viable training firearm for law enforcement and military personnel. Shooters will find the M&P15-22 to be a great firearm for multiple uses with the reduced recoil and economical .22LR caliber ammunition.”

The rifle features:

* A3 style flat top upper receiver
* A2 front post sight
* A2 rear sight
* M4 style collapsible stock
* Quad rail handguard

Specs:

Barrel length: 16″
Magazine capacity: 25 rounds
Barrel twist: 1:15
Upper Receiver: A3
Weight: 5 lbs (unloaded)
Length: 31″ (stock collapsed)

UPDATE: The MSRP is $499 (Matt from S&W PR confirms this),

S&W M&P15-22. Click to expand.

Murdoc has a photo of the rifle posted at GunPundit.