Does anyone have a good rationale on why S&W made some models such as the 4566 with some wide-hooded barrels and some with narrow hoods?

What's the practical, functional difference in the two?

Will narrow hoods still function on pistols that came with wide hoods?

They're called engineering changes, my friend, and are come up with by folks much smarter than I am, so I won't venture any guesses as to "rationale." All I know is, they give all of us Smith customers even more products to agonize over before choosing among.

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Ukraine -- now more than ever

The change from the narrow barrel hood tab occurred when the breech face cut changed from having a machined/curved cut around the top sides of the chambered case (called the bolt face), to being a straight (vertical) cut in the bolt face. The barrel tab was widened to accommodate the wider breech face cut. It simplified machining steps and didn't affect reliability. (Kind of like when they changed the barrel lug profile in the 4566TSW's from a complete circular lug, to a partial lug, no longer extending the lug to the bottom half of the barrel.)

This occurred within the general time period as some other improvements and revisions were occurring, like MIM.

FWIW, in the double stack 9mm's there was also a slight upward change in extractor spring tension related to the change in breech bolt face cuts.

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Ret LE Firearms inst & armorer

3rd Gen Barrel Hood Comparision

4516-1 mfd. 1991
845 mfd. 1996



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Waiting for the break of day

Thanks much, gentlemen!