OPINION - Current SW Rev.

WELCOME TO THE NO BS ZONE OF TEDDY JACOBSON


I have given this a great deal of thought whether I want to lay it all out on the line for you regarding the current line of SW revolvers and I have decided it should be done. I do not own one of the new revolver designs but please do not get me wrong they do work and work fairly well when fine tuned by some one that understands what to do like I do. What I am about to write is nothing personal and there are a number of people at the SW factory that I do like, that are very competant. I will honestly say that if I had no other choice I would still buy one for protection of life and property. If I had a choice for a small revolver that was brand new at this point in time I would choose a Ruger SP101 because they have not cheapened their Revolvers. The Ruger people should bring out a light weight SP101 for daily carry use as the all steel version is on the heavy side.

I WANT YOU TO REALIZE THAT ALL THE FOLLOWING IS MY OPINION AND VIEWPOINT ONLY.
I am of the opinion that the current line of SW revolvers are a mere shadow of their past production revolvers in quality and design. I am going to go thru all the parts step by step and if you can not deal with this I suggest you leave now. Go back to your "CHAT ROOMS" where you can here what makes you happy.

Its been years since SW revolver barrels were easy to change compared to this current production. I am and always have been a trigger specialist even though I am SEMI RETIRED. There is no way that I know how the average person can remove or replace the barrel. This is a factory job with this current crop of Revolvers. The frame is not made the same, of course they use a frame mounted firing pin and spring, is this because of California ?? I do not know but I have seen these firing pins and springs break. Where are these frames made and where are the barrels made, I DO NOT HAVE A CLUE. I have seen such poor rifling in some, but very few of them, that the factory replaced the barrels at no charge. I see that some of there carry models although quite expensive have a fiber optic sight encased in plastic. I have seen many of these crack and or be destroyed because of the cleaner that was used, probably METHYLENE CHLORIDE. This is "NOT" a rugged sight and it does not belong on a carry gun.

Lets talk about the internals. The new Hammers are MIM parts and are hollowed out in areas and they sport an entire different sear and sear spring. The sear in the new Revolvers sits in a cradle and the sear spring is about half the size of the older models. This new sear is usually cut crooked at the factory by the installers as I have replaced 50% of the ones I have seen. The tiny sear spring is easily deformed when removing if you are not careful or it can be deformed when installing or easily lost.
In my OPINION this is a MICKEY MOUSE answer to a fine old product that was a wonderful revolver of years past. This new design does work and it can work well but it is nothing like the old models. In fact if you dry fire your current production SW revolver you will detect a hollow sound to it that the older models never had.

The Trigger is now a hollow MIM part that is nothing like the older triggers. The hand has a removeable spring that is not easy to line up and re install once removed as it is no longer captivated like the older superior models. The main difference between the smaller "J" frame is that it uses a coil mainspring and the larger "K", "L", and "N" frame still use a flat main spring with a strain screw. You can not just change springs to reduced power in the "J" frame as you will have misfires depending on which ammunition you select. A person would definately have to know how to get the friction out of the system before you can install reduced power springs, NOW THIS AGAIN IS MY PERSONAL OPINION BASED ON MY VAST EXPERIENCE. Backing off the strain screw in the larger frames is not a good idea if the revolver is used for protection of life and property. You are playing with your life.

The new Rebound Slide in all the new revolvers is a MIM part also. This parts has caused me no problem. It is my opinion that all the use of MIM parts is so the factory can make more money. The Cylinder Bolt is also a MIM part and it has never caused me any great problem. The Hammer Strut in the "J" frame is not the quality of years ago. It is easy to bend and the old ones were stronger and were much better. The retaining cup for the "J" frame hammer springs is now made of plastic and years ago they were made of good quality steel. The name of this game is BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. You may find that some of my terminology in the description of the internal parts is different than the factory terms. This is because I have worked on so many brands that I use a generic description. For example, a part referred to a HAND in the SW revolver as compared to that same part in a Ruger revolver is called a PAWL.

The SW triggers are hollow and it would be rather difficult to install a trigger stop in the MIM trigger. MIM (metal injection molded) steel is super hard and in many cases much harder than a file.

New SW frames incorporate a safety device on the left side that is an answer to a problem that does not exist. This device cannot be eliminated. It is key-activated and many people have asked me to remove it. There is too much liability in trying to eliminate it because legal problems would arise in a social encounter. Every piece of these new revolvers are made differently than the superior older models, including the very parts you cannot see. If a person buys one of these new revolvers you will definitely have to live with this new design. You cannot try to install the old parts from an older generation into these new revolvers.

To sum up, these revolvers will do the job but the quality is not there. This is my opinion only and my viewpoint after having worked on over 6,000 revolvers. Only you can decide at this point in time if you want to buy an S&W Revolver. Every manufacturer has economized their product line except the Ruger line of revolvers. It would be a big mistake
to start changing springs in any of these guns because you will just create problems and it will go "click" instead of "bang".

North American Arms which is owned by Sandy Chisolm has never cheapened it's product. He is continually improving his line of handguns regardless of the cost in manufacturing. I do like his entire line of single action mini-revolvers, they are superb.

When people disassemble the cylinders, many of them use a pair of pliers and ruin the ejector rod. You need a special tool to take apart a cylinder. A "J Frame" uses a different tool than a "K, L, or N Frame". It's critical that you do not crush or deform the ejector rod.

If you shoot "+P" or "+P+" loads in your "J" or "K Frame", you will lose your timing fairly quickly.

This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my personal opinion ONLY. I want to thank all of you for all your nice emails and phone calls. Should you have any questions feel free to email me at any time and I will try to help you.

Teddy