I bought a no-lock 642 the beginning of this year and it's as good a J frame as any of the old ones that I have. And I have a few.

As some have said in other posts about 642's trigger, it's a little stout but not overly so and the boot grips that come from the factory are pretty good (I've always liked Boot Grip style grips) at taming recoil.

Having said that, I did change them out for an "old school" Tyler-T and Factory wood...



... for a picture or two and then left them on for awhile!

GF