I'm interested in seeing pics of 442's that have been carried & shot alot.

I would like to see these as well!

Type in S&W 442 images in the Google box, multiple pages of 442 images will be at your finger tips. Some of the 442 snubbies you'll see will probably belong to some of the members of the S&W forum.

While there are plenty of 442's on Google, none seemed to show much wear. I'm curious how this gun will look after ~15 years of carry.

Here's one after three years of daily carry in a Galco ankle holster. It has about 600 rounds through it.....not much, but it's a start. Doing it all over again, I'd get a 642 as the bluing on the 442 doesn't hold up well, especially when it's shoved in the back pocket on a hot summer day in Phoenix.

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Leiden,

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm a little surprised by your comment about wishing you'd got the 642. I always heard the clear coat pealed off on those pretty easy.

thanks,
-Kyle

I believe the clear coat problem is only on the stainless models. The black finish seems to wear forever.

After 3+ years of carrying and lots of shooting, my 442 looks pretty much the same as the day I bought it.

__________________
Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

I haven't seen the clear coat coming off of them, but I'm sure others know more than I. I love the 442, but I figured the stainless of the cylinder and barrel wouldn't rust quite as fast as that of the blued 442. On mine, and you can sort of see it, the cylinder and barrel are much lighter in color than they use to be. That's from constantly having to scrub the almost daily surface rust off of it with Blue Wonder or Hoppes #9. I swear that cylinder rusts through the ankle holster. Many days I'll just put that 442 in my back pocket if we're on a detail at work that doesn't allow for holster. I keep a small bottle of CLP around and inevitably have to apply some to the cylinder and barrel.

I added a layer of white, then red, nail polish to the front sight and I'm glad I did.....it helps that front sight stand out against the black qualification targets.

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XTrooper,

Looks like new. How are you carrying?

Leiden,

I was referring to the "stainless" 642 when I mentioned the clear coat peeling.

All that rust and you live in Arizona?!

Thanks,
-Kyle

Rust... yes, it happens even here in Arizona. The only time of year it's nice is November through February. All other times it's hot and if the 442 is in the back pocked it gets drenched with sweat (at least in my case). If I stick it on my body armorer or in an ankle holster it still gets surface rust. They only guys who seem to have nice looking back up guns are those using Glocks (or those who don't go outside very much).

A very few of us have 442s and I know a guy who has a 642, but the only reason he went with the 642 was Keanu Reeves used one in Street Kings. The smarter one of us using the 442s actually started from the beginning using automobile carbuba wax polish on the cylinder and barrel. He's had no problems and no surface rust at all.

I guess this is how we learn life's lessons. The nice thing about having a semi-beat 442 is I don't think I have to be super gentle with it.

Lieden: As to painting the front sight try some appliance touch-up paint (local hardware store) in white for the first coat. It works really well and the color top coat (red, etc) seems to work better too. Just my two cents . . .

There's another lesson to be learned... I actually stood in Walgreens Drug Store in full Class B Uniform holding white and red nail polish when I painted the front sight the first time. I'll be going by the hardware store later on today.

Hi, Kyle.

El Paso Saddlery rough-side-out IWB holster and, mostly, DeSantis pocket holster.

__________________
Steve
NJ State Trooper (rtd)

Funny! In my line of work (water supply systems) we utilize quite a bit of petroleum jelly on certain threads and seals.

Try standing in line at Walgreen's with 8 jumbo sized jars of Vaseline cradled in your arm!

~GRIN~