Originally Posted by Dpris

Can't answer that one beyond noting that a year or so ago when I was asking them if the 442s & 642s would be regular offerings & around long enough to justify a write-up, I was told "No". That meant they anticipated selling existing stocks fairly soon & implied they were not going to keep those lockless guns in regular production.

I have not asked directly how or why those frames came into being, but I'd speculate foreign contract overruns.

And- Saf-T-Hammer no longer exists as a separate entity. It was a name used to broker the sale from Tompkins. There are no "royalties" or licensing fees.
The "company" that manufacture's S&W's locks is S&W.

Denis