New 27-3

pherndorf · #1 07-30-2010, 05:16 PM

Hey everybody, I was told to start my own thread about this, so here it is. I recently picked up my first gun, a Model 27-3 (pics below), and being new to Smith and Wesson and guns in general I was hoping to learn as much as I can about it. I of course am most interested in when it was made, but I am also curious about things like the difference between this and say a dash1 or dash2 model 27, as well as why it seems less popular than those and the 28 HPs.

It is blued steel with a 6" barrel, and the serial is N928xxx. Any info at all would be great.

snw19_357 · #2 07-30-2010, 05:39 PM

Welcome to the forum!!

Your 27-3 is most likely from 1982 (so I'll move it the 1980-present forum for you.

)

The main difference between a 27-3 and the earlier dash numbers, the reason it is less popular, is that it does not have the pinned barrel and recessed cylinders of the earlier ones.

stumper · #3 07-30-2010, 05:41 PM

The difference from a -2 is the lack of a pinned barrel and recessed chambers on the cylinder (and slightly shorter cylinder length). They are still a very nice gun - as you know. The -3 came out in 1982 and was made until 1988. Yours is somewhere around 1983-84 I would guess.

pherndorf · #4 07-30-2010, 06:07 PM

Wow, thanks guys for the fast response and for the warm welcome. Sorry I had it in the wrong forum, thanks for fixing that for me snw19_357.

So no pinned barrel or recessed chambers, and the cylinder is slightly shorter. Easy enough to grasp in the tangible sense, but what does that mean in terms of the performance or functional reliability of the gun? What do these things affect, exactly? Sorry if that seems obvious to you guys, but I know next to nothing about guns. I had to research for weeks just to figure out that S&W .357 was a good first choice for home defense.

snw19_357 · #5 07-30-2010, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pherndorf

...what does that mean in terms of the performance or functional reliability of the gun? What do these things affect, exactly?

Nothing. It is more of an aesthetics thing. A 27-3 will perform as well and is just as reliable as any of the previous dash versions. Some of the changes were design improvements so you could say your -3 is more evolved.

Gary7 · #6 07-30-2010, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pherndorf

So no pinned barrel or recessed chambers, and the cylinder is slightly shorter. Easy enough to grasp in the tangible sense, but what does that mean in terms of the performance or functional reliability of the gun? What do these things affect, exactly?

Those of us who are meticulous about cleaning our revolvers will tell you that because your cylinder does not have recessed chambers it is MUCH easier and less time consuming to clean.

To give you a little history, when S&W introduced the 357 in 1935 there was concern that the high pressure of this round could potentially cause the cartridge case to rupture at the rim. To address this issue, S&W counter sunk the chambers so that the rim of the cartridge would be fully enclosed when the cylinder was loaded and in battery.

By the early 80s the fear of a ruptured cartridge was largely forgotten due to the quality of modern brass cases. Thus, S&W did not counter sink the chambers on the new L-Frame 357 models, and as a cost saving measure on the Model 27 and Model 28, they did away with it with the -3 iterations of these models.

Doing away with the pin on the barrel was a cost saving measure, too, and has proven to be a non-issue in terms of durability.

pherndorf · #7 07-30-2010, 10:13 PM

Wow, cool. Thanks guys, that was very informative. I had no idea there was so much to know.

stevieboy · #8 07-30-2010, 10:34 PM

I have a 27-3 (mine's a 4") and it is, bar none, my favorite handgun. I've fired it with everything from some very tame .38 special rounds right up to and including some of the hottest magnums, 125gr. .357s. The gun performs superbly no matter what it shoots.

Don't worry at all about the gun not having a pinned barrel or recessed cylinders. Collectors value these features, which is why the 27-2 and earlier models generally sell for significantly more than 27-3s. But, these features are cosmetic in the main. Your 27-3 will perform as well as any Model 27 made.