There is a great thread right now on Modern Pistols covering this subject, how about revolvers? I do not have one, (I do have some very small run examples I may post if this thread gets any activity) but am very interesting in learning about any PC prototype or experimental revolvers in existence. Thanks for reading.

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There was at least one factory 942 Centennial Airweight in 9mm.

Also, a few 442's with alloy cylinders were made up for T&E for the Secret Service. According to the Standard Catalog they passed a 5k round endurance test. No idea what came of that.

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Stu

Sssshhhhh. It's a secret.

These arent really prototypes but I think they only made 100-120 of these . These 2 are consecutive serial #s and have numbering on the yoke from the P/C #008 and #010. The one on the left is how they came with target hammer and a trigger stop. The other has been changed with a lighter hammer and no stop. The Nill grips were a prize from the 2004 NPSC Service Revolver match,dont know how many sets were made.
The real prototype would be the the 2 3/4" version of this gun .I know they were made, dont know how many or who got them,by the time I heard about them ,Jim at the P/C said the barrels were all gone. Im still looking !!!!!!! Bob

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Thanks for the cool responses. I'd like to keep this thread alive a little longer so here is a family pic of 27-7s. I love these guns, 357 N-frame, blue, 8-shot and pre-lock, built by the PC in 2000. The production run was 100 in 6.5-inch and 100 in 4-inch, all blue. I was unable to buy all the 6.5-inchers I have seen come up for sale but I did score the 3 pictured -- just because. The nickel 4-inch was shipped blue according to factory records, but the engraving and nickel finish are impeccable. Note, at the time the model 27 was discontinued so the only N-frame 357s were 627s.

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I was in the PC before they moved. I was shown quite a few prototypes.
One example was a M&P 15. Some wild parts and no sn.
A Model 25 with a 2" barrel, in .40 S&W again no sn.
I was told that during the move most if not all were destroyed.

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Don Mundell

Well that is not very encouraging Don, but thanks for adding that information. Kind of surprised as we always hear that the factory was into using up parts, thus the transition guns as they moved from one engineering change to another (theme for Orlando). I was hoping to discover at least some variety in collector hands. I know of one PC prototype that survived (and it will be in Orlando), there must be others. Still hoping I can find others.

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The prototype for the F-Comp came up on G.B. some time ago for sale.
It was shown at the shot show and had no hammer nose.
I think it was PCP0000 or something like that.
Bidding went just beyond my means at the time and off it went.

Allen Frame

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NRA cert.instructor&R.S.O.

Extremely Rare Smith & Wesson Performance Center Prototype Double Action Revolver

While this isn't a prototype it certainly could be considered rare. I have only seen one other one like it since I bought mine new. IIRC it was on a you tube shooting video. I've asked a couple of times over the years if anyone has seen another one and got no response. So......I have to "assume" it's one of two for right now. Since it is a fairly new gun I'm hesitant to get it lettered. It's a S&W 500 btw.

This one remains unfired in the box complete. Maybe someone can shed some light on it this time.

Thanks to Allen-frame for his note on the F-comp PCPXXXX, new to me, anyone on this forum have it?
And to jeremyws1, the 627 referenced in the link is a gun I bid on, not enough, it now belongs to a member and will be in Orlando on my display - as a loaner.
And to Ohiococonut, yes I have seen at least one of those for sale, no doubt very limited production.
Attached is a pic of the 627 PC prototype courtesy of Rock Island Auctions.
Note the hammer mounted firing pin. This was hand made and is truly a one of.

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I’m guessing you mean alloy cylinders chambered in 9mm since there have been multiple forum members swap out steel for titanium cylinders and have reported zero issues as long as the fit was drop in correct. I know one said the hand didn’t fit his cylinder as these are not true “drop in” parts. I have been tempted to buy a titanium cylinder and try it myself but knowing my luck the timing would be all off and I would have spent the cash on a paper weight.

These just need to be a standard production item. And bring back the 627 standard barrels. I’m going to see one in a LGS and kill a credit card that day. You would think that since there is nothing out of the ordinary on these they would fire of the assembly line and crank out a special run every now and then. Sigh, one day…

Nope. Per SCSW, the 442's for the USSS testing were in .38 Special with an aluminum cylinder. These were unrelated to the 942 9mm.

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Stu

My shooting partner has one like that. He bought his very early in the first production run. It came with a sling and a very nice padded black nylon case with Performance Center embroidered on it. He also has a very similar one in .460. I don't particularly enjoy shooting the 500 but the 460 is a joy to shoot and extremely accurate.

Are you referring to the S&W 500 that I posted a picture of? I'm curious when you say "first production run"? This model was not advertised on S&W's site because it was an exclusive that was never advertised either. There was never a 460 made similar to this model unless you're talking about the black 7-1/2" model. The standard PC 500 10-1/2" model has a fluted cylinder and matt SS frame. This one wears a black only frame and unfluted cylinder. I bought my first 500 when they hit the shelves in 03', this model didn't debut until 05' and I bought it the same month it was test fired at the factory. Don't mean to nit pick or be rude but we're not talking about a standard PC run gun here. I'm looking for models Exactly like this one.

From the dates I have it appears that they completed the run of black 7-1/2" Hunter models and had some frames left over and decided to put a matt ss 10-1/2' barrel on it.

If you would, please take a closer look and compare it to your friends. If it does indeed have the same finish with an unfluted cylinder I would really appreciate it if you could PM me the serial number. Leaving off the last digit of course.

Does anyone know if a call to S&W would reveal how many were actually produced or am I going to have to have it lettered?

I have had mixed results with getting exact numbers. Sometimes the factory and sometimes the distributor can supply the quantity ordered. When the order is all one shipment, Roy's letter can tell you how many guns were in that shipment. Might not mean there were not any additional shipments however. Be some good research for someone with some time to track all the limited runs and try to come up with a product code to run quantity. There is a lot of bad information out there. How many times have you seen a gun advertised as number so and so of 100 or whatever and the seller is referring to the assembly number on the crane, which of course has nothing to do with run quantity?

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Mea Culpa! I did not notice that yours had a black frame, the contrast on your image didn't make it readily noticeable the first time I looked at it. My memory was also faulty, I had mismembered it as being non-fluted. When I read your response I called him and he told me both of his X-Frames had fluted cylinders. Now I'm going to have to put up with his chiding me about my memory lapses. Maybe he will forget to hassle me.... both of us are 64 and have started weighing all the fish we catch and take pictures before we put em back to prevent fish tales. Guess I'll have to take pics of all of our toys to cut down on brain farts.

Not really a prototype, but it was the first PC 25-12 to leave the assembly line, back in 2001.

No problem. I'm not too far behind you and I forget things all the time. I rarely use my cell phone to talk to anyone but use it all the time to take pics of things I think I might have to remember.