Quote:
Originally Posted by bk43
From 1950 hrough 1957 they were in a brand new plant with new equipment and still had the soft fit department so there's a real good argument for that era. During the Bangor Punta years, 1965 to 1984, many think the company lost its focus, got into too much other stuff, and firearm quality suffered. We do know that Tomkins made reducing the dismal return for repair rate a high priority when they bought S&W in 1987.
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I would agree--revolvers from the 50's had something that was definitely missing in many later guns. I don't know if it was because of the "soft fit" mentioned above, but most of the Smith revolvers I've owned or handled from that era felt as if they were hand-fitted by a master machinist. And while there was a dip in quality from the late 60's to early 80's (the Bangor Punta years), there seemed to be much improvement by the end of the 80's.
For working guns, my preference is for those built around 1990-1994. By that time the quality control problems of the 70's and early 80's had mostly been resolved, some real improvements (smooth triggers, wider front sights on J-frames, etc.) had been fully implemented, while other dubious "improvements" like MIM parts and internal locks had not yet been introduced. I have several revolvers from that time period, and while I wouldn't try to compare their finishes to guns from 50+ years ago, I find them to have the best combination of modern features plus excellent fit and reliability.