two s&w 642s have found a new home

[Scott Young]

well i just purchased two retired backup service revolvers. they are for my wife and i. they are the old pre-adulterated-safety models. my wife, who has never owned a gun, doesn't mind if i do and she does shoot some of my guns, is now a bonafide gun owner.

these revolvers both came with a rubber full hand grip. the grips enable a good hold and helps manage the recoil. when i showed her the gun she was a little anxious about forgetting how to use it. after a couple run throughs she had it. today we will shoot. i have a box of practice full wad cutters and a couple of targets. i plan on shooting one or two cylinders each day till the box is dry. then i don't mind having a longer shooting session. she has delicate hands so i don't want to over do it and give her reason to dislike shooting her 38.

after watching her with it, i am proud i went that way instead of an mini auto. she wasn't able to work the ones we looked at and the guy behind the desk kept saying practice will help. he also ran the revolver down due to the number of shots. i just ignored him. this concerned my wife and i asked her how many bad men did she plan to shoot at one time? you have five shots in a revolver. that sorta quietened the salesman down. we live in the country were snakes are a real problem. i will also pick up or make some snake charmers for her.

when she gets good at shooting and she is comfortable with how it all works we will be heading for the licensing office to get her carry license. she will be finishing school for the second time in her life to start a new career in nursing. this will require her to drive to the city at night. my daughter who watched us working with the guns ask us if mommy was going to kill the bad men. my wife replied before i did, "if he needs killing, yes i will." that brought a tear to my eye. my wife didn't grow up with guns although her dad had guns and hunted. i have had guns all of our marriage and it doesn't bother her in fact she has bought some of them for me. she just hasn't ever cared for them. i think that has changed.

i will give an update on her shooting and handling. i had read some terrible reports over on another forum about the recoil and these airweights. it concerned me a good bit so i stepped out this morning and popped off a cylinder or two and have to say what recoil. now i am only shooting 148 grain full wad cutters and i know the +p has more punch, but they didn't seem outrageous to me when i ran a cylinder behind the fwc's. dunno what to say. it may be the grip. i will try and determine what kind they are.

[Scott Young]

here is a picture of the grips they are uncle mikes. this is not my gun. i like the grips for shooting.

[kimwcook]

Sounds like you did good Scott. A lot of women can't operate slides even on smaller caliber autos. Then there's the fail to fire drills everyone should go through that shoot autos. A revolver is a point and pull the trigger. They rarely fail if given even a modicum of care. I'd just be careful in introducing her to shooting. Especially the hotter loads. She'll start the nasty flinch bug and probably neither carry the piece nor want to shoot it anymore. Just go slow.

[Blaine]

Those Cenntenials are my favorite for carry. I have the Stainless .357 and will never get rid of it.

[Sixgun]

Scott,
You made a wise choice, both for yourself and your better half. A 642 takes little to no thinking to operate it FAST in a time of extreme stress. Its very safe as it can be fired double action only.

The one pictured below was just pulled out of my back pocket and has been in there for ? ---when they first came out---10 years ago?. This baby goes everywhere with me and with the laminated smooth grips, it just "glides" out of my pocket. As can be seen, its the alloy frame 642 in 38 Spl. , not the heavier 640 in 357 mag.

This one has been fired about 1400 rounds and is still tight. Jeff Croze of S&W did a tune up on it a few years back. Recoil is nothing, even with +P loads. My standard practice load is 3.5 gr. of Bullseye with a 158 lead SWC. Carry loads get 4.5 gr. of Bullseye. Its the .357 magnum snubbies that really bite. ------------Sixgun

[Hobie]

I like MY 642 as well. Best small gun purchase I have made. The gun goes pretty much everywhere.

[horsesoldier03]

I came across a good deal not far back on a 642 that had the lock. I ended up selling it with a small profit for something that better suited my intrest. Recently to my surprise, my oldest sister received a Springfield XD 9mm compact for Christmas and informed me she plans to get her CCW permit. Those are the surprises you enjoy! I was remorseful to hear that she had wanted a S&W 642 with the crimson trace grips but didnt want to go the extra cash. Sure wish I had known that, I could have given her a hell of a deal. I dont think you can beat a good J frame for someone that doesnt get out and practice alot. Hope your wife disregards the clerks BS comments. SHE IS NOT UNDERGUNNED!!!

[awp101]

The only problem I have with J Frames is the small grip. Then again I haven't really tried any different grips either.

[Scott Young]

the grips that are on mine are just right. you may want to try them. the are much larger.

[jazman]

This is mine. Got it last year when I found out S&W was making them with no lock again. Had Marc Morganti at Gemini Customs do a number on it and it is a VERY sweet shooter now. Smooth as glass with really no recoil at all. Glad I did all this before everything crashed and my business went south!

[Warhawk]

Try a set of the Crimson Trace laser grips, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. A friend of ours recently got into the "buy.fix up/sell" old houses game. She quickly found that the neighborhoods these houses are in aren't the greatest. When she entered one of her houses to do some work and was confronted by a seedy looking homeless character who wasn't inclined to leave (and it took the cops 20 minutes to get there) she decided it was time to buy a gun.

She picked up a 642 with the factory installed laser grip and asked me to take her to the range and "teach me how to shoot". We went though about 100 rounds that day, and I was absolutely amazed at how well she could shoot with the laser activated. Not to mention the obvious benefits of the laser when shooting in the dark, from an awkward position, etc.

Due to a quirk in the Texas CHL laws, she borrowed one of my automatics to shoot her CHL qualification with. I'm happy to report that she shot a 249 out of 250 with my little M&P 9mm compact.