Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave T
As much as I like the few pre-War Smiths I have my favorites are The Model of 1950 (short action) before they introduced model numbers.
The years I avoid are the Bangor/Punta era. Those are when the dash 2 guns were being built. Yes there are some nice guns from that period but I had several friends in the gun business in the 1970s and early 1980s and they told many tales of poor quality control...like a M29-2 with a 41 Mag cylinder fitted. My department bought M66s in 1978 and some of them were an embarrassment to the gun making industry. Yea, Smith replaced them but how did a gun with the barrel so out of alignment the ejector wouldn't engage the front lock get shipped to a law enforcement agency?
Dave
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Luckily time has done what QC did not at Bangor-Punta. Most of the "Ugly Ducklings" of those years have either been remedied via factory repair or lost in the morass of time.
If you were to come across a 70's-81'ish P&R Smith today (as opposed to the actual 70's) it has a pretty good chance of being a great revolver instead of a Bangor "Lemon".
That being said; my "Golden Age" is anything Pre-Lock. I know there are some better and some worse years in-between over a century of production; but anything without the lock is fair game for me
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