Ontop of the "excellent" post by DrDremel, about not being able to tell if it's locked or not on a centennial or bodyguard model, a buddy of mine purchased a model 60 at a gun show.. Got home and tried the lock, it locked and wouldnt unlock.. Took it to a local smith to hace it checked out and it ended up having to be shipped back to S&W for service.. We never found the exact reason, although I contemplated the original owner may of took the lock out when they owned it and possibly put it back in backwards or something? (The gun would lock and unlock, but the action would never "unlock", if ya know what Im sayin..) That and the 20 something documented cases of lock failure, that used to be posted on here, are more than enough to deter me from getting one with a lock.. I'll take that back.. It'll deter me from carrying one that has a functioning lock in it.. There are at least 2 great threads on this site with tutorials on disabling the lock and filling the hole.. Best of luck on your purchase!

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Mick