25-5, -7 or -9?

S&W 25-5 45 colt. Perfect cylinder

I believe that it's the non-pinned barrel when the cylinder throats seem to change. I think my -5 is an '83. The throats all measured .452. Someone mentioned it further up the email chain. They are correct.
 
My good friend has 6 IN 25-5 That he was considering selling. I took it and shot it with my cast .452 In loads that worked well in my 45LC Rugers and Smiths. It shot patterns......My 12 ga with OOB shot better groups. So I gave it back to him. Months later he really wanted to sell it so I said let me try it again. I some .452 in and .454 in dia bullets......The 452's fell through the cylinder like dropping a golf ball to the ground.......The .454's hung up in the throats. I started smiling. Got a .454 dia mold and sizer. After that. That 25 started shooting real tight like my other Smiths.....So I bought it from him....Still have it.
 
I sold my only 25-9. The 25-5s have stayed, except for my first one. And that was way long ago, before there were -7s or -9s. Like any S&W revolver, inspect before you buy. If the early, large throat variants are beyond your comfort level in regards to dealing with bullet size (or just using jacketed bullets) stick with the non-pinned versions.
 
A 25-10 is a favorite of mine! It is nicely accurate.
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The factory grips look nice but are a bit too narrow for my hand.
 
I had a 4" 25-5 with the pinned barrel that shot decently, but wasn't what I would call impressive. I then obtained a 1916 .455 MKII H.E. converted to .45 Colt which shot what I considered ok for something of it's age. THEN, I picked up a 625 Mountain Gun that just shoots lights out. One hole groups on a regular basis. I found my keeper.
 
From what I have read here, the -9 revision has the changes for the endurance improvements. I picked up my 25-9 with a pair of Bear Hug Grips about 30 years ago. Target hammer and trigger. No box. Very accurate. If you can find the -9 revision I’d get that one. Good luck in your search.
 

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I still have a 4” -5 and have have several others. By my standards, they all shoot just as well as my 625s, which is minute of beer can at 3 to 15 yards. I had a 5” 25-9, but never fired it Measured with pin gauges, throat sizes of my 25-5s varied from .451 to .454.
 

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My recollection is that they only made 1987 of the 5 inch 25-7s. The ones I have seen were great guns!
Absolutly I agree they are fantastic revolvers

2000 examples of product code 100924 were ordered. They were manufactured beginning during the -7 engineering revision and running through the -9 engineering revision. It is unknown where the split actually occurred

The actually quantity released for sale is always a little higher or lower than what was ordered so that 1987 number that sticks in your mind might be the production count across the two engineering revisions
 
I believe that it's the non-pinned barrel when the cylinder throats seem to change. I think my -5 is an '83. The throats all measured .452. Someone mentioned it further up the email chain. They are correct.

I have been told that a model 25 with a three alpha serial number (AAA 1234) are good. It's the earlier ones that had the throat size issues.
 
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