Dave, you won't find a one piece barrel as accurate as the tensioned barrels. If you don't believe that, do some reading up on the accuracy of Dan Wesson revolvers.

As for it being a cost cutting device, I've worked in manufacturing since 1980 and when you factor in the increased inspection and quality procedures required for producing each part, making barrels in a 2 piece configuration will be cost NEGATIVE in comparison to a 1 piece barrel. I suspect that's one reason why the 620 has been dropped, the payoff that S&W expected just wasn't there when they added up all of the additional costs involved in making 2 seperate parts.

Lets be honest, you don't like it because it's different. No problem there, as another Old Fart there are a lot of things I don't like because they are different. One being Airbags. If you wear a seatbelt, Airbags are pretty redundant. Personally, I think that if cars were percieved as being a bit less safe we'd see much more attentive drivers on the streets. My first car was an old air cooled Beetle and that car would NEVER pass today's crash standards. However, I not only survived, I actually enjoyed driving it.

Now one thing I can tell you is that the 2 piece barrels provide a distinct improvement in accuracy. Buried in it's test archives Guns and Ammo has a test report on the M&P R8 in which they tested it at 50 yards from a rest. With a cold barrel that gun produced a 1.08 inch group.

Name me ONE single S&W revolver that accurate that uses a factory one piece barrel. You won't be able to do it or provide any independent test reports that support this. About the best you can do with the current 1 piece barrels on the 686 is around 2 inches at 25 yards. In addition, the one piece barrels are VERY sensitive to having anything in contact with the barrel when the gun is fired, which means you'll degrade the accuracy by using a barrel rest. However, with a 2 piece barrel you can rest that barrel on a sandbag and see a distinct improvement in accuracy because resting the barrel provides a more stable platform.

BTW, I do a bit of bench rest shooting with my revolvers. It's a real challenge and a great way to improve release skills. My preferred distance for bench shooting is 35 yards, an oddball distance because it's the longest distance at which I can see the red bull on an 8 inch shoot-n-c. I'll also note that I am now shooting with J Point reflex sights, my eyes no longer can focus on handgun sights unless I shoot from a "blade" stance. My model 610 has a good reputation for being an accurate gun and at 35 yards my very best effort to date is one single 2 1/2 inch group, generally it ranges between 3 and 4 inches. I've also experimented with resting the barrel on the 610 and doing that just about doubles the group size, IMO resting the barrel interferes with the barrel "ringing" true. With my 620, that uses a 2 piece barrel, I've managed a 1 3/4 inch group at 35 yards by sandbagging the barrel and if I had a scope I have no doubt I could cut that grouping in half.

To be blunt, IMO the now discontinued 620 may prove to be the single most accurate 357 Magnum that S&W has ever produced and the Scadium frame 327's are probably a close second. One of these days I may just mount a scope on the 620 just to see what it can do when set up properly for precision long range shooting. With a bit of load tuning, I think it has the potential for 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards. As much as you dislike the 2 piece barrels, they do provide accuracy that can approach a carbine rifle and they do it without the abomination of mounting a 1 1/2 or 2 inch diameter bull barrel as was once done to achieve this level of accuracy from a revolver.