Lady Smith

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Helderberg

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I have a chance to pick up a Lady Smith 357 5 shot for a very good price. Shot very little and the wood grips are beautiful. What do you think, the grip fits my hand perfectly, I may have to put a piece of tape over the word Lady. :)
Has anyone shot one of these and are they a bear to hang on to? Not a lot of gun there but I guess I would use 38 spec. ammo in it. It is in great shape and I hate to let it get away from me but man is it small for a 357.
Be safe, Frank.
 
I can't offer any words of experience on that model, but

I don't know about taping over the word "lady"...

I kind of see my guns, especially the handguns, that way. Maybe that's why my wife is jealous....:)
 
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Don't worry about the words Lady Smith. It seems you made the tape statement with tongue in cheek. Just think of it as a pet name for the gun. I have a 3913 Lady Smith that a previous owner buffed out the name. I got a deal because of that defacement but still wouldn't feel my masculinity challenged because if it were still there. And removing it devalued the gun I'm sure.
 
I have the Model 60 version of the gun with the Uncle Mikes rubber grips rather than the nice wood ones they put on the Lady Smith. Its recoil is more than manageable with 38 Sp+P. Full Magnum loads are manageable but not a whole lot of fun -- still out of a steel gun it's a lot better than the aluminum and alloy frame models (which feel like an explosion in your hand!!).

I would not worry about the Lady Smith label -- a lot of guys call their guns girl's names anyway. It ain't like it's pink.
 
The 3913 LadySmith is one of the most concealable 9mms there is. And it comes pre-dehorned. I don't give a second thought to carrying it. The person on the other end isn't gonna care one whit either.
 
My wife sometimes carries her 3 inch Model 60 .38 SPL Lady Smith and I have a 3 inch model 65 .357 Lady Smith. No shame in the name. Both guns are extremely well fitted and have very smooth DA triggers. Remember they were sold at a premium above the plain old "nameless" versions and it does seem the factory took extra care with most.
 
I would have no problems carrrying a ladysmith. Pretty sure if I needed the use it, the other party wouldn't be making fun of me. ;)
 
I'd jump on it! I have several J frames, and I would love to add a Lady Smith to the stable, but only if I could get a 3" at a good price.

One of my 5-shots is a 640-1. Firing more than a cylinder or two of .357 loads gets pretty unpleasant, but it's just like any other small frame revolver with .38s. Carrying the .357 load for self-defense is a great choice, in my opinion.
 
I carry a .38 special lady smith...always tell my friends that "I don't go anywhere without my lady at my side". The ones who know, agree...the others kinda look around the room....lol
 
I've got a 2-1/8" M60 Ladysmith and carry it alot in the summer, great handgun. It is definitely a handful with full-bore .357"s though.
 
Good gun with handsome lines.

If the Ladysmith appears in some way unmanly then just have the name Mafeking engraved next to.

NB
 
Other than the name "Lady Smith" what is the difference between it and a "regular" gun?

My sister-in-law carries some sort of Lady Smith J Frame, I forget. But it just looked like a regular J frame to me with a different name.
 
lady smith

I wanted a 3" barrel revolver when I bought my ladysmith. I was looking for a model 65 & all the gunshop had at the time was a model 65 ladysmith. I figured, what the heck, it would probably have better resale value if I ever wanted to sell it. I recently put Hogue grips on it & it looks & feels anything but like a ladies gun. Mine shoots 6; whereas most of the ladysmiths I see mentioned on here shoot 5, even the model 65's ???
 
model 60

I have a 3" & a 5" model 60. I put Pachmayr Decellarator grips on them and they are quite shootable with full house loads. The longer barrel gets about 200 fps more than the 3" and it kicks noticeably harder. Of course they are noisy little devels. I am going to work up a load between 38+p and 357 for them.
 
I have no issues holding this lady in my hand or keeping her close to me:

2011-06-23_15-59-46_157.jpg


I would even have bought the pink grip models since they all came with a black grip as extra. But I draw a wide deep line in the sand with some of these all pink guns like what Charter and some others are offering...

And if anyone ever sees the M65 LS then those should all be snapped up immediately. I love that gun...
 
Other than the name "Lady Smith" what is the difference between it and a "regular" gun?

My sister-in-law carries some sort of Lady Smith J Frame, I forget. But it just looked like a regular J frame to me with a different name.
 
Well, I went to my LGS today to pick up the Ladysmith and it had been sold. I ended up buying a Airweight ,38 spec.+p.
Very happy with my gun as it is lighter and just fits my needs perfectly. I had problems with two different .380 auto's and have given up on them. The j-frame has no feed or extract issues and is a dependable as any machine can be. Hornady critical defense and a j-frame is very consoling. Thanks for all you input and I will keep my eyes open for a LS in my future.
Be safe, Frank.
 
opr1945 said:
Other than the name "Lady Smith" what is the difference between it and a "regular" gun?

My sister-in-law carries some sort of Lady Smith J Frame, I forget. But it just looked like a regular J frame to me with a different name.
Click to expand...

With the various revolvers it is usually just a fancy grip option. My 36 came with the same shade of red laminate but they were smooth magnas and very hard for me to control under recoil. It would slip around in my hand something terrible. I added a BK grip adapter to it and that was better but the smooth finish just wasn't doing it for me. The ones in the pic are from Altamont as I'm sure the OEM's were as well. Most of the new ones come with either a pink rubber grip or an Altamont grip.

With the various auto loaders, these sometimes come with slightly different parts like the 3913 and the 3913 LS. The dust cover on those two is different and the safety is on both sides of the LS while the standard model is only on the left.

I would hazard a guess that they do what they can to make them have a higher visual appeal while still keeping the form and function intact.
 
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