#Smith&Wesson

Welcome back to another installment of TFB’s  Wheelgun Wednesday series of articles. Today we’ll talk about revolvers embellished by Tiffany & Co. This article is based on the six Tiffany Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers that are consigned to the  upcoming September 2020 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction, as well as Tiffany wheelguns sold during past RIAC auctions. The six lots in the current catalog pretty well demonstrate the differences in host firearms, embellishment styles, ways of the company’s collaboration with gun makers and cover a wide period of time in the history of Tiffany embellished revolvers.

Back in December of 2019, I was brought out to the Smith & Wesson facility in Springfield, for the unveiling of what I would consider being one of the most important handgun releases within the last year – the Smith and Wesson M&P 9 Shield EZ. Designed to be easy to load, operate, and shoot, the Sheild EZ has fast become a favorite pistol for many. Naturally, this led to the pistol being given the Performance Center treatment with upgraded features and a snazzy new look. Smith & Wesson was able to send me out a copy for review and here I’ll give you my thoughts on what went well and what didn’t go so well (for me at least) with the Performance Center upgrades.

In this installment of TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesdays, we’ll take a look at an extremely light and concealable revolver. The Smith & Wesson Military & Police, or M&P 340 is a five-shot, snub nose, “hammerless” revolver chambered in .357 Magnum that is very much designed as an all-season self defense gun. Before you start looking for the internal lock on the M&P 340, you won’t find one because S&W has omitted the oft debated internal lock on this line of concealed carry wheelguns.

In this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday, we take a look at an older vintage Model 14 revolver from Smith & Wesson more commonly referred to by collectors as a K-38 Target Masterpiece chambered in the venerable .38 Special cartridge for target shooting. For target shooters throughout the 1950s – ’70s, this wheelgun was a popular option for league shooting and simply a more accurate choice for recreational shooters of all types. Before the explosion of polymer semi-auto handguns we currently see today, revolvers like this K-38 Target Masterpiece were as common as could be at any firing line. The very basic specifications for this wheelgun as presented by Smith & Wesson can be read below:

In this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday, we take a look at a vintage example of a Smith & Wesson Model 27 .357 Magnum with a longer barrel of 8 3/8″ that could be easily mistaken for a “Dirty Harry” – Model 29. For people who are lovers of .357 Magnum, this is your classic .357 Magnum revolver with roots that go all the way back to World War II and General Patton. Its name may have changed several times over the years, but the original concept remains.

Initially geared towards shooters with grip strength limitations, the M&P EZ series of pistols from Smith & Wesson have actually enjoyed broad popularity across the concealed carry community. Today, S&W launched the Performance Center M&P9 Shield EZ that sports a bit more flair than its 9mm predecessors. Accented with gold or silver triggers and grip safeties as well as slide lightening cuts, shooters also get high-vis night sights, ported barrel and a tuned action. Pricing is set at just under $600. Additional details can be found below.

Last November, TFB reported that American Outdoors would be splitting from Smith & Wesson. In a June 1, 2020 press release, American Outdoor Brands announced substantive new strides to this end with a name and stock ticker symbol change. They are preparing to spin off their outdoor products and accessories business, which will remain under the American Outdoors name, from their firearms manufacturing business, chief among which is the Smith & Wesson brand. This move is pending additional preparatory steps including a tax-free stock distribution as well as a 4Q and full fiscal 2020 financial release. This stock distribution, slated for late summer, will effectively create the two independent, publicly traded companies. The press release reads as follows.

On this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday we are throwing it back once again to what appears to be a familiar revolver, but in fact is something unlikely. At first glance you might think this looks like a vintage Model 29 or Model 27 from Smith & Wesson which are fairly common and desirable, but it is actually a Smith & Wesson Model 25-2 (1955 Target Model) chambered in .45 Auto (.45 ACP). Many shooters are aware that .45 Long Colt is a common cartridge for wheelguns in both single-action and double-action, but when some manufacturers get a little squirrely they make some 6-shooters in .45 Auto just for kicks.

When you hear “lever-action rifle”, you probably think about Winchester, Marlin or Henry …maybe also Volcanic or even Colt, but I bet never Smith & Wesson. However, there is such thing as a Smith & Wesson lever-action rifle and one of three such guns known to exist will be auctioned in the upcoming Rock Island Premier Gun Auction.

The Smith & Wesson Model 10 has a storied history because of its run for over 53 years as a cataloged model, but also because there was a model that preempted it as well. For this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday, I once again dove into my collection of double-action revolvers to pull out another favorite of mine. Today we will take a look at a fairly clean example of a Smith & Wesson Model 10 .38 Special, but also see what came before and after it.

In this week’s Wheelgun Wednesday we take a throwback look at a revolver with a common appearance, but a very uncommon chambering. The wheelgun we are talking about is the Smith & Wesson Model 57 .41 Magnum, and the example we will take a closer look at is from 1984. Not much love is given to the forgotten .41 Magnum, but we will cover what makes it special and what drew me to buying one for myself almost a decade ago.

Another week has gone by with most of us in self-quarantine or others being deemed “essential” to continue punching the clock at our jobs like this is a form of the “Hunger Games.” While I joke with that statement, one thing I continually find myself doing in this odd predicament not only our country, but the entire world is combating with the Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19), is all of the hunting excursions I am going to go on in the future! With that optimism, it is great timing that we take a look at a very high-end hunting revolver with the Smith & Wesson Performance Center Model 629 Stealth Hunter .44 Magnum! That name is quite the mouthful, but this revolver has always caught my eye when going to firearm trade shows or visiting the Smith & Wesson website. It is dark, mysterious, sleek, and cool! But most of that could be for not if it cannot perform as a great companion while hunting. So, let’s dive in and see how it stacks up!

Recently when I have joined all of our readers for Wheelgun Wednesday, I have been on a rimfire kick since I am not traditionally a big shooter of smaller cartridges. This running theme is going to continue this week as we take a look at one of Smith & Wesson’s less common rimfire revolvers in the Model 648 .22 Magnum! With the full-size appearance of their staple 686 yet chambered in .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) it is a deceiving revolver by its looks. We are going to see what kind of practicality, accuracy, utility, and fun this wheelgun could potentially be for you. Let’s dive in and get this Wheelgun Wednesday rolling!

Photo Of The Day – It’s time to take a closer look at a Smith & Wesson, in this case, the Model 3913NL which is very close to the LadySmith version.

It’s Wednesday so TFB is back again checking out another wheelgun for all of our revolver aficionados and fans. This week we are taking a look at the  Smith & Wesson Model 17 Masterpiece .22 Long Rifle which comes from Smith & Wesson’s “Classic” series of reproduction revolvers of old. The way in which technology continually advances for not only the betterment of society, but firearms as well, I believe we can all agree is fantastic. On the flip side though, I am of the old school train-of-thought where I love nostalgic looking, blued wheelguns. I have been collecting double-action Smith & Wessons my entire short life so although this revolver we are about to look at is brand new, I have a certain fondness for it before I ever opened the box. Let’s dive in and take a look at the Smith & Wesson Model 17 Masterpiece .22 Long Rifle, and see if it is everything my mind has dreamed it up to be!