You know I love to give my opinion!

The pressed in/ball muzzle, bushing/barrel combination provided a higher level of accuracy compared to the removable bushing/straight barrel combination because it holds the barrel more tightly during lock-up.

That's why the 469/669 were immediately lauded for better accuracy over the 2nd gen full size pistols at the time of the compact's debut.

But don't take my word for it.

I'll let Dwayne Charron (one of the most under-appreciated gun designers in the history of the industry and designer of the Model 52) tell you in his own words, from his autobiography, "My Life Journey at Smith & Wesson" and the chapter "My Favorite Number is..."):

"One of the greatest problems when customizing a pistol is the barrel to bushing fit. A straight barrel in a slip fit bushing is not able to move up or down, or allow side-to-side motion that may be necessary for a correct fit. The bushing had to be given clearance, usually by hand, and that still may not guarantee a proper final fit.

I had to do better, because hand fitting of the barrel to the bushing was a time-consuming process and was not an option. I finally came up with an idea that looked like it might do the job. I visualized a ball bearing in a tube, no matter where the ball bearing rolled, it had the same fit.

I then made the ball part of the barrel. The barrel can now move up and down, side-to-side or in fact any position within the bushing and still retain its fit. This turned out to be a relatively simple solution to a potentially difficult problem. In 1964, I was issued a patent for the spherical ball barrel design."

This is from the chapter where Dwayne described his process for designing the Model 52.

Dwayne solved the decades old problem of bushing a tilting barrel.

In case you still haven't figured it out, Dwayne's "Favorite Number is...", 52.

John