First and foremost, hello! I'm a new member and this is my first post here. Some of you may recognize my username from other forums. 
I've only lurked and come here to do some learning every now and then, but today, I had a reason to join and become a member. I finally had some time to pull out some of the guns I inherited from my wife's late grandpa when he passed away last year. He gifted me a couple of them when he was alive, so admittedly, those mean more to me and I can't see myself selling them. However, some of them were given to me as a thank you from the executor of his will for the help I provided after his death. This S&W M625 "Model of 1989" was one of them.
I'm trying to decide if I should keep it or not, but if I do, I'd like to bring the gun back as close to 100% factory spec as possible, including gathering up any accessories that might be missing from the original package. This is where I need some help from the S&W experts!
So can anyone tell me from looking at the pics below what might be missing from the original package?
Here are a few things I already know are not original to the gun:
- The gun lock. I grabbed this red lock from another older cardboard box-era S&W revolver box that was going to be thrown in the trash. It was with 2 small keys that I believe were for a revolver that had a "Hillary hole." Did S&W ship the M625 with this red lock or was it a different style lock? Where might I be able to find the correct style lock for this gun?
- The front sight. Grandpa seems to have taken the gun to his local 'smith to have a dimple drilled and then filled with the fluorescent orange paint. The orange dot bothers me because it doesn't fit in the rear notch and gets "cut off" in the sight picture. I also happen to like my revolvers with plain black sights, so I went ahead and sourced what I believe is the proper all-black patridge sight with a height of .278".
Aside from those 2 items, what else might be missing or incorrect with this kit? How about the owner's manual? I took a picture of the revision # on the back for reference. I'd like to find a manual in better condition that doesn't have any annotations with an ink pen like this one does. However, I have no clue if this is even the correct manual for this late 2001 production M625.
Moon clips? My understanding is that these came with moon clips, but how many? Are there different styles of moon clips that S&W offered over the years? If someone can point me in the right direction to help me find some original moon clips in the original packaging from this era, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Anything else I might be missing? NRA pamphlets or brochures, etc.?
The S&W logo Hogue grips have some cracking/splitting going on towards the top of one side. I bought what I thought were exact replacements on Amazon, but turns out they were newer production grips with the Hogue logo instead of the S&W logo. How difficult is it going to be to find actual S&W branded replacement grips for this gun?
I know that is a lot of questions, so thank you in advance for any info or tips you can give me! Also, before anyone questions my sanity or why I'm going through the trouble to make the package as original as possible, it's because I already have plenty of guns for shooting and not enough time as it is! I have no use for "Bubba'ed" guns that are going to sit around collecting dust and taking up space in my safe. If I can't make it a complete "collector's package" worthy of passing on to my kids or grandkids one day, I'd rather just sell it to someone who will shoot it and enjoy it.
Thanks again for your time, and I'm looking forward to learning more on these forums. Cheers!
I've only lurked and come here to do some learning every now and then, but today, I had a reason to join and become a member. I finally had some time to pull out some of the guns I inherited from my wife's late grandpa when he passed away last year. He gifted me a couple of them when he was alive, so admittedly, those mean more to me and I can't see myself selling them. However, some of them were given to me as a thank you from the executor of his will for the help I provided after his death. This S&W M625 "Model of 1989" was one of them.
I'm trying to decide if I should keep it or not, but if I do, I'd like to bring the gun back as close to 100% factory spec as possible, including gathering up any accessories that might be missing from the original package. This is where I need some help from the S&W experts!
So can anyone tell me from looking at the pics below what might be missing from the original package?
Here are a few things I already know are not original to the gun:
- The gun lock. I grabbed this red lock from another older cardboard box-era S&W revolver box that was going to be thrown in the trash. It was with 2 small keys that I believe were for a revolver that had a "Hillary hole." Did S&W ship the M625 with this red lock or was it a different style lock? Where might I be able to find the correct style lock for this gun?
- The front sight. Grandpa seems to have taken the gun to his local 'smith to have a dimple drilled and then filled with the fluorescent orange paint. The orange dot bothers me because it doesn't fit in the rear notch and gets "cut off" in the sight picture. I also happen to like my revolvers with plain black sights, so I went ahead and sourced what I believe is the proper all-black patridge sight with a height of .278".
Aside from those 2 items, what else might be missing or incorrect with this kit? How about the owner's manual? I took a picture of the revision # on the back for reference. I'd like to find a manual in better condition that doesn't have any annotations with an ink pen like this one does. However, I have no clue if this is even the correct manual for this late 2001 production M625.
Moon clips? My understanding is that these came with moon clips, but how many? Are there different styles of moon clips that S&W offered over the years? If someone can point me in the right direction to help me find some original moon clips in the original packaging from this era, I'd greatly appreciate it!
Anything else I might be missing? NRA pamphlets or brochures, etc.?
The S&W logo Hogue grips have some cracking/splitting going on towards the top of one side. I bought what I thought were exact replacements on Amazon, but turns out they were newer production grips with the Hogue logo instead of the S&W logo. How difficult is it going to be to find actual S&W branded replacement grips for this gun?
I know that is a lot of questions, so thank you in advance for any info or tips you can give me! Also, before anyone questions my sanity or why I'm going through the trouble to make the package as original as possible, it's because I already have plenty of guns for shooting and not enough time as it is! I have no use for "Bubba'ed" guns that are going to sit around collecting dust and taking up space in my safe. If I can't make it a complete "collector's package" worthy of passing on to my kids or grandkids one day, I'd rather just sell it to someone who will shoot it and enjoy it.
Thanks again for your time, and I'm looking forward to learning more on these forums. Cheers!
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