#Smith&Wesson

If you happen to own a J-Frame, Airweight, or “snubby” revolver nowadays – whether it is a Smith & Wesson brand or not – you might not know where those popular, short-barreled wheelguns came from. While no single firearm can take all of the credit, the Smith & Wesson Model 37 can receive quite a bit of applause for growing the market to what it is today. So, on this week’s iteration of Wheelgun Wednesday,” we are going to take a look at a Model 37 Chief’s Special Airweight .38 Special that I recently acquired and examine the history behind this revolver. Let’s dive in!

Smith & Wesson already has a pistol caliber carbine (PCC) on the market in their FPC (Folding Pistol Carbine), but it lacked something… something that we as the gun community childishly ask for in everything: “Does it take Glock mags?!” Well, consider your prayer answered because the new Smith & Wesson Response 9mm Carbine takes Glock magazines as well as standard doublestack M&P mags.

I recently had the chance to visit Springfield, Massachusetts while giving a talk at the Arsenals of History Symposium at the Springfield Armory. While in Springfield, I checked out their local museum (technically 5 museums in one!), tucked away in the  Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History was an interesting firearms gallery. The museum boasts “more than 1,600 firearms, with the largest collection of Smith & Wesson guns in the world”. While only a fraction of those firearms are on display, the museum definitely had some very interesting pieces.

Rock Island Auction Company’s premier auctions always contain firearms that belonged to prominent figures such as renowned political and military leaders, artists, celebrities, etc. The recently-ended August 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction was no exception and there was a Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver consigned to this auction that once belonged to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Elvis Presley. The estimated price range that this revolver was expected to be sold at was $60,000 – $90,000, however, the King’s wheelgun was sold for over twice the estimated high price – $199,750.

Smith & Wesson has just announced a new pistol to the M&P series, the M&P 22 Magnum, that boasts a 30-round capacity. The new semi-auto S&W M&P 22 Magnum pistol utilizes a gas operated system, and features an internal hammer, fiber optic front sight, and is optics-ready. This model includes a frame-mounted manual safety which is ambidextrous, along with slide stop controls on both sides of the pistol. You can read Smith & Wesson’s press release and specifications below.

In this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday, we are going to turn back the clock a bit. In previous posts, we have talked about several double-action revolvers I own and am in love with. Specifically, some older model Smith & Wessons like the Model 27. The Smith & Wesson Model 27 is a favorite of mine because it has that iconic, classic revolver look. There is a mystique to it. It looks like it could be a “Dirty Harry” gun except that it is chambered in .357 Magnum. Guns like this are simply timeless because it makes us wax fondly back on a time when firearms had an air of elegance and beauty to them as well as functionality. While all of the original revolvers are very expensive and extremely difficult to hunt down nowadays, you can still get that old-school cool if you want via Smith & Wesson. They have the Smith & Wesson Classic series that has continued to grow and expand over the past several years – and while they don’t churn out a high volume on a yearly basis – they definitely have retained that gorgeous look and timeless beauty many of us search out. Let’s go back and revisit my old Model 27 while also seeing what the new Smith & Wesson Classic series has to offer.

Safariland has announced several new holster fitments of their Schema IWB rig. The Schema is a minimalist holster with a very low profile. It also boasts a minimalist price tag. Let’s see what new versions are being offered.

Hot on the heels of the steel framed M&P9 M2.0 and the new M&P 5.7, Smith & Wesson have announced the new Performance Center M&P 10mm M2.0. The new pistol has a ported 5.6-inch barrel, a slide cut ready for optics and ships with two 15-round magazines. MSRP on the new Smith & Wesson 10mm is $749.00.

A January 2023 report from CNBC claims that gun companies are experiencing a decline in demand for firearms. According to the report, in 2022, gun sales dropped by 11% compared to the previous year. Publicly-traded gun companies like Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Company, have reported a decline in sales and revenue for several quarters in a row. For example, Smith & Wesson’s net sales for the first quarter of 2023 were $131.6 million, down from $174 million in the same period the previous year. Meanwhile, Sturm, Ruger & Company’s net sales for the same period fell by 16.4% to $110.8 million.

If you are a huge fan of the idea of folding pistol caliber carbines but have never been happy with the available options on the market, then you’ll be happy to hear that a new contender has arrived. Smith & Wesson has just announced the launch of their new M&P FPC or Folding Pistol Carbine. This new folding 9mm PCC comes optics ready, features a unique folding mechanism, 100% compatibility with already existing M&P series 9mm magazines, and will retail for about $699 MSRP putting it at about the same price as other folding PCCs already on the market.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves gets his hands on the NEW Smith & Wesson FPC. The FPC (Folding Pistol Carbine) is a 16″ barreled pistol caliber carbine that borrows heavily from the Smith & Wesson M&P pistol series, with a similar trigger and controls. It comes packaged with a soft case, one 17-round capacity and two 23-round capacity magazines. The FPC is obviously similar to the Kel-Tec SUB-2000 folding carbine, so James compares the FPC to his SUB-2000.

The past few years saw an insane number of first-time gun owners. If any of you are reading this, welcome to our community! One of the more popular handguns for n00bs was the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ. It was originally only available in .380 ACP, then 9x19mm. S&W has pushed another evolution of the pistol. Though not an exact sequel, the Equalizer is the Split to the EZ’s Unbreakable, and today it’s the topic of our review.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves has the brand new Smith & Wesson M&P 5.7 for a full review. The M&P 5.7 was released at SHOT Show 2023 to much fanfare: A trusted brand releasing a pistol in a controversial and pricey caliber but pricing the M&P 5.7 at half of the price of an FN Five-seveN pistol? You had our curiosity, but now you have our attention. Is it good? Watch the video.

Smith & Wesson chose SHOT Show 2023 to unveil their new M&P 5.7 pistol.  This feature-packed pistol sports a factory-threaded barrel and magazines that carry a whopping 22 rounds.  I had a chance to look over the M&P 5.7 on the show floor today and here’s what I found.

A couple of weeks back TFBTV’s Hop and I had a chance to head out with the good folks from Smith & Wesson to get some range training with two very experienced firearms instructors. The first of those was the legendary Jerry Miculek who is well-known both as a speed shooter and a competitive shooter. In addition to Jerry’s training course, we were also able to learn from Travis Kennedy, a former Navy SEAL and current firearms instructor at his own training company, Kennedy Defensive Solutions. Travis’ training heavily focuses on beginner-level fundamentals and safety so that people who come to his class can become safe and efficient with their rifles and pistols. Travis also has advanced combined carbine and pistol courses for those who have a grasp on the fundamentals, and want to get some more curated high-intensity training using Travis’ experience as a NAVY SEAL, as well as a former Federal law enforcement officer.