I have always loved the look of smith and wesson revolvers and have kicked around the idea of buying many of their different models but always talked myself out of it or bought another brand because of price. Well not today! I bought a model 642 for $369.99 (I think thats a good price) and it has the $50 mail in rebate! Its beautiful and I couldent be more happy. I'm taking it to the range tomarrow and I'll let you all know if I'm still happy. It was a hard choice between the model 40, the 642 and the ruger LCR. The model 40 wasent availible for me to handle so at $669.00 that was out because I wasent willing to take the risk. The LCR was nice and was the same price as the 642 $369.99 and I was tempted. Its a neat design and seems very light, I was also tempted by the reviews I've read online that say the recoil is less because of the Houge grip and when I handled it I did like the trigger but......I just dont trust ruger. I have a MKIII and I love the looks and function of it but I took it apart once and I will never do that again. I'm sure their revolvers are different but when I pull the trigger on their highly popular sp101 it just feels far less refined than a S&W. The LCR I'm sure is a nice gun but when I held the 642 it was just perfect. Light, classic, best trigger pull on the particular one I bought that I have ever felt on a small revolver. I handled a couple different 642's at a different gun store but they dident have near the trigger that this one has. I also think the grips (I havent shot it yet) just feel much more natural and comfortabe in my hand than with the LCR. So considering all that with the 642 a little ahead of the LCR in my mind PLUS the $50 rebate that pushed the decision over the edge for me. The 642 is just a common workhorse IMO, a modern classic that you see everywhere, and the reason you see it everywhere is because it seems to me its the perfect carry revolver. Im happy with my purchase and like I said I'll post tomarrow how it goes at the range!