This is a work-in-progress for a future article. Comments welcome!
John
Once upon a time, not long ago, guns were made of steel. The plastic on them, if it existed at all, was confined to the grip panels. Many really robust examples of both revolvers and pistols were made to last a lifetime – maybe several lifetimes. Just to name a couple of them, the Model 1911 pistol and the S&W .357 Magnum revolver were around well before the middle of the 20th Century. Both of these guns were well regarded, and most of them are still around, functional as ever today. Back when Smith & Wesson first introduced its groundbreaking 9mm double action Model 39 in 1954, gun writer Elmer Keith began calling for them to make a similar all-steel gun chambered for .45 ACP. He thought a scaled up Model 39 would be just the ticket as an ideal handgun for the military, the police, and civilians wanting a really effective defense gun.
Sadly, it took Smith and Wesson a number of years to begin work on just such a pistol. In the late 1960s, rumors surfaced that a couple of prototype .45 ACP double action pistols actually existed at Smith & Wesson. They had evidently heard the call and were going to introduce their very first .45 ACP self-loader! The public’s high hopes were dashed when nothing much happened. A few photos of a .45 resembling Smith’s Model 52 .38 special target gun surfaced but that was about it. Although the calls continued for a .45 double action pistol, it was not until 1984 that the ball really got rolling at S&W in earnest.
What came out of the development shop at S&W turned out to be an enlarged version of its 9mm Model 639 stainless steel pistol. It was big and it was heavy, but tests showed that not only was it incredibly reliable, but it could handle powerful loads like the .45 Super without a problem. For the fans of .45 ACP autoloaders, Smith’s first chambering in that caliber was state of the art. The only other double action .45 ACP pistol at the time was the Sig Sauer P220 – a good gun, but very expensive to acquire and foreign-made. The P220 also had an aluminum frame, a ramp in the chamber and a stamped heavy-gauge blued slide. Although it was a quality item, these were factors that did not give a lot of confidence in its reliability or longevity. Although 100 prototypes had investment cast stainless steel receivers, S&W’s production guns had traditional forged receivers. This gave strength and as well as rust resistance. The cast receiver guns were later offered to S&W employees. Twenty-five guns in the first production run were engraved as “first editions.” The new gun had an externally-ramped barrel with full chamber support. This made it very resistant to case blow-outs when hot loads were used. An added benefit of that barrel ramp was that the gun would even feed empty cases out of the magazine – an impressive demonstration of feeding reliability. The word was out that if you could fit square bullets into the cases, that gun would feed them!
The new Model 645, announced and demonstrated in April of 1985, was a “traditional double action” hammered design, similar to the original Model 39 and its descendents. It had a hammer-dropping safety a lot like that first introduced on the Walther PP, but this one was ambidextrous with levers on both sides of the slide. The first shot could be fired double action if desired, while subsequent shots would be triggered in single-action mode. The barrel was locked and unlocked with the slide by an integral cam similar to that employed on the Browning High Power pistol. Except for an aluminum backstrap, a plated tool steel hammer and high-impact plastic grip panels, the entire gun, including springs, was made of stainless steel. Even the magazine followers were stainless. Weighing in at 38 ounces, other stats included a 5” barrel and an overall length of 8.75 inches. Fixed high-visibility front and rear sights were employed. While the very early front sights had a black insert, most had the classic S&W red one. The rear sight had a white outline. A magazine safety was provided, and the gun could not be fired if the magazine was removed. There was also an automatic firing pin safety to prevent firing unless the trigger was fully to the rear. The single-stack magazine held 8 rounds, one up on the standard M1911 magazine. With one in the chamber, this made it a 9-shot machine. In the style of that era, the front of the trigger guard was recurved and grooved aggressively. This gave great purchase for those whose two-handed grip style included an index finger wrapped around the trigger guard.
Smith & Wesson’s first .45 ACP autoloader was an immediate hit with the press. However, no new gun is without its perceived faults. The main one noted in reviews was that the safety lever on the right side tended to come loose from firing. A few drops of locking compound on its central screw easily and quickly took care of that. While it was admittedly heavy, its built-like-a-tank construction also gave it very manageable recoil and made it a pleasure to shoot. The big gun sold well and found favor with many police organizations, including the Los Angeles Police Department. It was well-publicized when Don Johnson, as “Sonny Crockett” on the TV show Miami Vice, used it conspicuously in the show’s 3rd and 4th seasons. In the 5th (and final) season, he started using its cosmetically improved successor, the Model 4506. The original 645 was produced until 1988.
Towards the end of production, a more secure fastening system for the right-hand manual safety was devised, and an adjustable rear sight became available. There was a spinoff Model 745, which was a single-action target version of the 645. Built from 1986 to 1990, it had a stainless frame, a blued slide, a match barrel, walnut stocks and a fixed Novak or optional adjustable rear sight.
Today, the Model 645 is a rapidly-rising collectible, not only because it was the very first S&W .45 ACP autoloader, but because it was uber-reliable and nearly indestructible. Although it has many good modern-day descendents, the original is noted for being exceptionally well-built. The pistol illustrated was shipped in December of 1986. It still looks as good and works as well as the day it left the S&W plant in Springfield. There is just something about a tough steel-framed .45 pistol that reeks of timeless quality and that makes it a pleasure to have and to use. Black polymer-framed handguns can be made cheaper and lighter, but I am yet to be convinced that “better” is a word that can be applied.
(c) 2014 JLM