Thinking of getting a 642 to use as my daily carry. Id like to hear pros and cons from people who have or currently carry them. Obviously a big con is only holding 5 rounds.

Thanks,
Mike

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M&P .40
686-1 2.5"

I did for a long time, shotgun front pocket carries like a dream.
Under 3 second draw and safely. (and from a pocket holster at that)

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

Sampson only had 5 pebbles for his slingshot when he faced Goliath
and he only needed one. Average shots fired in SD by civilians is
2.7. Five should be enough, but carry a speed strip in your pocket
with 5 more.

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In Omnia Paratus

so whats the carry holster which hides the cylinder the best. Am talking re inside belt

theres one which mentioned that the clip is positioned such that the grip hugs the waist so as to hide the cylinder

or am I dreaming

so far been carrying 642pro in pocket

Home page


None better !

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

"Sampson"? I'm a bit rusty on my Biblical knowledge, but shouldn't that be "David"?

Regards,

Dave

I DO have a sticky pocket holster

but

like the Remora better

I carry a 642 about 90% of the time I carry...which is about 99% of the time.

When IWB (usual manner of CCW) it is usually in a Remora.

Be safe.

If my Sunday School lessons serves me well, I believe it was David who slew Goliath.

I carry a 442 or a 638 daily, but also have a full size handgun in my vehicle and home. Since retiring, J frames work well for me as EDC. I did just buy a Kahr CW 9 though.

I have two. The 642 hits a sweet spot of quality and affordability. An enclosed hammer snub is one of the very best personal defense weapons available IMO.

I can understand the concern with having only 5 rounds, but available stats show that is enough for the vast majority(something like high 90's percentages) of defense scenarios a civilian encounters. And they almost always take place at very close distances. I think a lot of folks get preoccupied with extremely rare events like terrorist attacks or engaging active shooters whereas the focus should really be on what is most probable and making gun choices based on what the most effective weapon is for those most likely circumstances.

The hammerless snub is easy to carry, quick to bring into action and offers tremendous advantages in reactive close-quarter scenarios since it can make muzzle contact shots, has no exposed hammer to be entangled or blocked plus no other weapon matches it's weapon retention capability. And it has all the other pros that all revolvers have such simplicity, extreme reliability, no concerns with ammo sensitivity, limp-wristing(you may not have a firm two handed firing grip during an actual dynamic defense encounter), a FTF is generally remedied with another pull of the trigger.

I carry A 442 in my pocket every day. I also carry another J-Frame AIWB. Sometimes it's another 442, 37, or a 36. I have a couple larger heavier Snubs but, the J-Frames are my favorite.

Attached Images

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Two Handguns every day

Your right Double O Dave. I can type faster than I can think.
David was the guy with the slingshot. Sampson probably wouldn't
have needed one.

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In Omnia Paratus

Your right also Mike in Reedley. Your Sunday School Lesson did serve
you well. My old brain didn't serve me very well though.

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In Omnia Paratus

You'll be happy with the 642.

I have for several years, in a pocket holster, and would recommend it.

Have other options and have used other options but I seem to come back to the 442/642 in the end.

I carry a 642 and I love it... I put a Technaclip on it and carry in my right front pocket, extremely comfortable. I also have an OWB holster for it as well. I also carry extra ammo using speed strips in my left front pocket. The Technaclip is great when the weather is hot and you just want to wear a T-shirt or light clothing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've never had a 642, but I do have a M42.

I like it very much although I prefer the M38, primarily because it allows me to 'choke up' more than the 42.

If you think you need more than 5 rounds in a civilian SD situation, you're planning on missing a lot.

These are pocket guns: no need for a holster of any sort.

After having experimented with pocket holsters, I've concluded that they are more trouble than they're worth. Carrying one in a belt holster ignores the value of these revolvers.

I carry mine daily in a Mika pocket holster. Carrying one without a holster allows the gun to rotate around in your pocket and not have the grip where you need it when you need it. If you absent mindedly drop keys in the same pocket, they are much less likely to end up inside the trigger guard if the trigger guard is protected by a holster.

On the con side, drawing from a pocket holster while sitting is next to impossible.

I carry a 642-1. I pretty much agree with Mister X on it's positive attributes.

I use a Side Guard Holsters Quick Clip IWB holster. Basically, the clip is positioned behind the cylinder, over the trigger guard. This reduces the profile and when the belt is snugged up it also pulls the grip into the body.

Pocket carry without a pocket carry holster not only allows the gun to rotate, it causes it to print, shreds the pocket lining and accelerates the pocket lint collection factor. I tried a variety of pocket holsters and settled on a Desantis Nemesis, which I am very pleased with.

I carry a 642 daily.....Since 1996....With 5 "spares" in a pouch....It lives in my right front pocket.

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S&W Accumulator

I carry a Smith & Wesson 642-1 stainless steel hammerless revolver as a 2nd gun, with along with a SF Glock 30 (45 Caliber).If it were me i would recommend the stainless steel 642. Neither require much cleaning. I used to carry the
Revolver in a pocket holster, but currently use two holsters
on my belt for both. I like the reliable Revolver for backup
just in case the Glock jammed. I still carry four speed loaders
in a pocket for the revolver. The Glock holster has an extra
magazine with 10 rounds mounted on the holster. Before
the Glock i carried another Revolver as primary, but upgraded
when the Refugees kept coming and the criminal illegals.
I can't fix problems with what comes into Texas but I can sure
enough prepare for it.

Yep. In a Galco horsehide or Uncle Mike's pocket holster. The only issue is in shallower pockets the top of the frame can be visible, but I stuff a white handkerchief on top, and it pops right out on the draw.

I don't go ANYWHERE without my 642. I wear Tru-Spec BDU or BDU shorts and the 642 fits down in the cargo pocket inside a small pouch in the pocket.

I carry a 442 90% of the time. It's just so unobtrusive and easy to do, there's really not much in the way of compelling reasons to ever go unarmed unless your destination precludes it. I prefer an IWB at 5 o'clock as that's where I carry any of my pistols these days. Makes it easier to get to without having to think about where it is, of so I've found. Some Speer GD 135gr +P completes the package, and I throw a speed strip in a front pocket when I remember to. I have been going with a model 65-5 3" more often recently, though I'm not sure why that started exactly.

edc in summer. 135g Speer +PHP 642.

-don

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SWCA LM#2190 SWHF#414

Not a 642, but the all-steel 640 in a DeSantis Nemesis or Uncle Mike's #3 pocket holster. Carried it every day for years. It's just part of my wardrobe.

I find the steel gun easier to shoot with sore arthritic hands.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I carried a 642 for years until I got a Sig P238. I like the 642 and still use it from time to time. I carry it in a Don Hume h-715 IWB holster. It is a very nice fit and comfortable carry (about a 3:30 position). I think the holster you are thinking is the Galco Ultra Deep Cover. The IWB clip is mounted higher so the revolver sits very low, almost to the point it is difficult to grip, but it is definitely deep cover.

BigMike76, the M642-1 has been my EDC for about 6 months with various +P ammo. It is hard not to really like this revolver. It rides nicely in the $15 Uncle Mikes IWB holster. Then for evening walks around the neighborhood or working in the garage I drop it in the Uncle Mike's pocket holster. For the upcoming cooler weather I plan to carry my M60-9 probably 30% of the time. That one is less comfortable IWB, so I just ordered a enhanced pancake OWB holster from LOBO Gun Leather. PEN

Attached Images

M642-1.JPG (130.5 KB, 100 views)

It is not my EDC but when I do carry it it is quite comforting.
642-1 pre-lock, Delfatti ASP-DD Shark trim IWB, Kershaw Junk Yard II
knife, Corbon 110-Gr. JHP, and Bianchi speed strip for 5 extra shots.
The Spegel designed boot grips came on the gun way back when.

Attached Images

SAM_0223.jpg (84.9 KB, 85 views)

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In Omnia Paratus

I have carried a M-642 since they were introduced in 1991. Back-up gun when I was working, warm weather gun now. Gave up on ankle holsters, but use several different holsters depending on the clothes I am going to wear on any given day. Pocket holster is most common, a Bianchi #3 IWB or a Galco sort of very stiff pancake belt holster that stays snug against my body with a decent belt.

I feel the holsters that use a metal clip so you can take it off/put it on without having to undo your belt, aren't a good idea. I have seen the holster stay on the gun when drawn. It's funny on the range. It is not funny on a felony stop or any other street encounter.

I carried a 642 daily in a Mika pocket holster for ~5 years. That worked out great. The real issue is reloading under pressure, speedloaders are too bulky to carry in a pocket and speedstrips clunky to reload from. I ended up replacing the 642 such that if I'm pocket carrying it is a PM9 in a Mika pocket holster. I have a Sig 938 on order and that might also end up a pocket gun, we'll see. Otherwise I carry a M&P 9c in a Milt Sparks VMII IWB.

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MA Gun Law & NRA Instructor

BUFF I have also witnessed the gun coming out with the holster wrapped
around it. No laughing matter if getting the gun out to defend oneself.
Consequently I have tested many, many, IWB holsters. I have only
found a few that will always stay put. Only 4 in fact. They will also
cling to only the waistband fabric. Good for those who do not wear
belts. I found out early in my instructor career that many women and
some men do not wear belts, so I tried diligently to find the IWBs that
would hang on. I probably should not name the ones that will stay on
because it might be taken as an advertisement, but if anyone wants to
know, they know what to do. I have no argument with all the IWBs
that did not pass my little test, because they never claimed that they
would.

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In Omnia Paratus

A 642 w/ 5 extra rounds has been my daily carry gun since I retired 10 years ago. Mostly front pocket in an Uncle Mikes, no problems.

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Support your Police, & NRA

Well, yeah, if you get one that's poorly designed. In 5 years of regularly practicing drawing, including from awkward positions, my holster has NEVER come off the belt unless I deliberately remove it from the belt. Clip holsters are fine...just get one that's well designed.

Evrbody has covered it, but I'll pipe in. Carry a 642 in a sticky holster in right front pocket, in a sport bag when I bike and kayak. Don't leave home without out it.

I pocket carry a 442, and for the purpose of pocket carry I can't think of a better handgun, it's drop dead reliable, conceals easily, and I feel a lot more comfortable with a 38 than I would with a pocket 380

Great revolver. Might be the perfect 5 shot snub nose revolver. Carry in my front pocket with a Bianchi Speed Strip as backup to my Dan Wesson CCO or Sig 220, both in .45ACP.

Lots of 642 love in this thread with lots of great recommendations.

I like my 642's too, but here's two things I don't care for...

1) For me, with pocket carry, the 642 prints too much in a pair of Dockers or dress slacks. Jeans and cargo shorts are made of thicker material and not a problem, but with slacks the printing on the 642 is a lot more obvious than with the flat pocketable semi-autos.

2) For me, the 642 is an intuitive, accurate, one-handed point shooter out to about 3 yards. The way the the grip is, you just push your fist to the target and you're right on the money. Somewhere between 3 and 5 yards point shooting accuracy starts to drop off. Because of the short sight radius, for targets past 5 yards, I have to practice quite a bit more to maintain my accuracy with a 642 (using the sights) than I do with the small semi-autos.

YMMV.

I carry a 642-2 in my off-side cargo pocket at work, and off-duty it rides in my left jeans pocket or in a Don Hume JIT Belt Slide. It's my "always" gun, backing up my duty 4" S&W 686 and 2" S&W 12-2 off duty.

None better.

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

Yes, 638 EDC, Desantis superfly pocket holster. Do not even know it is there. Do go anywhere without it.

442/642 used here mostly as backup pieces.

While most seem to want to be prepared for the zombie outbreak, U.S. insurrection, or a coordinated Jihadi mass attack, I'm just fine with a few rounds here and there.
20160407_115830 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20160428_135104_Richtone(HDR) by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20151117_103945(0) by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr
20131019_012035 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

The guns are great fun to shoot, are quite capable, and are extremely easy to carry.

Indeed no joke!

Mika's pocket holsters stay right where they belong, in the pocket and stay open enough to re-holster single-handed. My first IWB holsters were the $10 gun show specials back in the late 1970s-early 1980s, sometimes holster came off with gun and impossible to re-holster single-handed as they collapsed against the body when you drew the gun. Good holsters cost real money but make a huge difference.

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MA Gun Law & NRA Instructor

We have a 642 in the family but it's not "my" gun. I still carry a mod 36 square butt that I've had for many moons. Not too long ago I bought a "Concealment Specialties" pocket holster for the J at a local gun show. Reasonably priced, the exterior grips the pocket & the inside holds well but not too well. I've been using a Safariland leather clip type IWB for a long time. In our warm & humid climate I have occasionally used it as a pocket holster as my garb requires. Perspiration in a thin leather holster in the pocket or waistband seems to be a big concern with a blued steel gun. Perspiration cannot be good for a 642 & its ilk but I'm not sure to what degree. My CS pocket holster being synthetic offers better protection from the sweat issue. It also is just thick enough to reduce the silhouette of the gun showing while in the pocket. I did finally buy a Hoppes silicone impregnated cloth for daily wipe downs.
PS: I also wonder about moisture incursion in pocket carried cartridges.

And NO, other than being a customer I have no connection to this company.

Um,...last time you had them apart, you put them back together wrong. Just sayin'.

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CPT, Armor (Ret)
Luke 22:36

Every day I carry a close relative to the 442/642 Centennial...

Product: M&P BODYGUARD(R) 38 Crimson Trace(R) Integral Laser

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David
CW3 USA (Ret) 1968-1990

I did but switched, I preferred shooting a 9 mm or a .45.

Very Nice!

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M&P .40
686-1 2.5"

I rotate equally between my 642 and LCP. I practice and am happy with both.

I did until I bought a Ruger LCP. I'd prefer the Smith and Wesson, but the little Ruger feels so much more comfortable in my front pocket.