A friend of mine told me about this deal he got on an older 9mm revolver, but I never heard of such a thing but I'm a noob so I figure ask the guys who know , you folks
Thanks

Google the S&W 940. It will give you a start looking at these cool guns.

Hastily spouted for your befuddlement.

Try also googling the s&w 547. That's another older 9mm revolver

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The 547 is a revolver from the 80's in 9mm. I believe they made it for only 5 years. Maybe 80-85. I would have to look it up. I know where one is but can't get the LGS owner to take it out of his safe... except to torture me with it

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Ruger also made 9 mm revolvers, as did Astra with the Barracuda. There are also a couple of other manufacturers who made 9 mm revolvers and Charter Arms is planning to introduce one as well.

Most 9 mm revolvers used moon clips while the S&W 547 has a unique set of extractor claws. The new Charter does not use moon clips either.

What about the Freedom arms gun. Do they use moon clips or an extractor claw. I thought they all used moon clips so It's interesting to hear not all of them do. Revolver newb here.

Well if you want to get down to it, there is one made with the lock that will shoot the 9mm with no problem. Hint is that it is a "L" Frame ????????? WRONG -----It is the 38 Super, I think it is the 686-7 Have fun finding one.

Well I just won but didn't win a 9m revolver on the "Guns for sale section of this forum. A SW 940 from PC in teh 1990's Only made 300. It's a 9mm pocket rocket. "I took it" as soon as it popped up but the seller said 2 others from 2 other forums beat me to it( I'm sure not happy about that.

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with a 9mm revolver...that is great. Now maybe Smith will get some out also. That would be nice.

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2 Timothy 1:7

S&W, Taurus and Ruger all had 9x19mm revolvers over the years. Main problem was when using +P+, the primer would flow back into the firing pin hole and lock up the gun. As long as you use standard pressure ammo you're fine. Some could get away with +P but it was a case by case basis.
Charter Arms made a 9mm in the 9mm Federal which was basically a 9x19mm with a 38spl rim, that way you didn't need moon clips and IIRC they're making a 9x19mm that has a special ejector star so you won't need clips either.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

There is one really expensive option often overlooked. Korth makes one, and even makes a .38/.357/9x19/.38 super convertible revolver.

As long as you don't mind spending a few thousand dollars, that is.

I'll just stick to my old 547, I think.

I've always liked the speed six, but heard there were some issues with those, not sure if it's true or not. Tekarra, you have one of those don't you?

The 9mm revolver is pretty cool and Im interested in trying the .40 that Taurus made.

Don't know if it's any consolation but if your talking about the one in the classifieds that just went for $625 that was not a 940PC. The 300 guns the Performance Center made were all chambered for 356TSW (9x21.5). They can still shoot 9x19 using the moon clips. Also, it didn't have the original grips. I had one, NIB, sold it here a year or two ago.

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I wish S&W would make an 8 shot N-framed revolver in 9mm. I believe the issue is the 9mm's tapered case which leads to potential extraction difficulties. I shoot boththe S&W686 and 627 models which S&W chambered in 38 Super - the 38 Super case is a basic straight case and I have not experienced any extraction issues.

WC145... I was talking about the 940 PC. Yes it does require moon clips but that would be fine with me. Also there were only 300 of thiose made so it is also a rare gun. Ugly, DAO but rare! Oh well... there is always another opportunity.

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My point was that the 940 that was in the classifieds for $625 is NOT a PC gun.

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M2Mike I have a ruger speed six in stainless that I have shor with moon clips and without I have never had an issue with it also have a speed six in 357 mag both are excellent not as pretty as the Smiths but very reliable and built to last.

I was thinking that was the case. Don't know where I had heard or read there were issues with extraction or something. I'd like one as I've always liked the speed sixes, 9x19 just seems logical for them. Never did warm to the GP-100s. Not sure why the revovler manufacturers don't get more interested in them, I think it's marketing.

Did Charter arms ever get their Pitbull off the ground?

If S&W did a repeat and started making them agian I would surely buy one and it would be even better if it was without the IL.

M2MG,
I have a pair of 9mm Speed Sixes and have not had any problems with them.

TapTap,
If you go to www.stevespages.com/page7B.htm and find the 547 manual, the extractor is well illustrated. Because the 9mm is a tapered case, the 547 has a limit pin just above the firing pin that strikes the case head at time of firing to prevent the case from setting back and binding the cylinder. I would post photos but am having problems with photobucket again.

The link isn't working for me. If I take the /page7B.htm off the end I go to a basic page that has a lot of generic links. I didn't see any gun type links so if you could point me in the general direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone I was in the markek for a 547 to shoot IDPA but realized
with the 547 it would not make the power factor with 9 mm. I still want one just to have.

There is also this oddity. I remember seeing the ammo for a short time, but don't know how many Charter Arms revolvers were made before they went out of business in 1989 (they've since come back, obviously).

9mmFedRim

One of the big concerns when the cartridge was introduced was that it could chamber in .38 S&W topbreaks--not good.

You can still make cases from cut down .38 Spec. brass, and 9mm Luger load data.

All this talk about a 9mm revolver, but no picture. I just had t add one as no thread should be without a picture. 940 with Speagle grips. No, it's not for sale.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

How so? I thought the service revolver requirement was for .38 Spl and above; 9x19 being more powerful, of course.

From the IPDA website:

IDPA matches typically require the use of a service type pistol or revolver of 9mm/.38 special or lager caliber. If your handgun is suitable for self-defense use, it will probably be competitive for IDPA matches. Practical concealed carry type holsters are stipulated for IDPA use. A common service pistol or revolver such as a Beretta 92F, Glock 17/22, Sig 226, Colt 1911A1, S&W 686 or Ruger GP-100 carried in a common pancake style holster is all that is needed to be competitive in IDPA matches.

I have a 547 that has never been shot new in box. Are they a accurate gun?

This topic surfaces from time to time,

I had an opportunity to buy a 9mm K frame for $700 recently but passed,
On the one hand having something novel is fun but I just couldnt justify the purchase.

Pro's,
Moon clips make for faster reloads , 9mm ammo is smaller and more powerful than 38 special,

Cons,
9mm K and J frame versions less plentiful, more expensive, much less powerful than their .357 counterparts .

Cudos to the K and J 9mm as interesting and novel,
But what advantage of a 9mm revolver justifys the expense?

AABEN,
If you sell it to me I will fire it and let you know

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Tap Tap,
Sorry, my mistake, use a lower case b and it should take you to a page with a long list of firearms. Look for S&W 547 and click.

Below are two photos showing the extractors with and without a cartridge. The third photo shows the limit pin above the firing pin while the last photo shows some fired cases with the indent of the limit pin.

Engine49 I know what you mean. I keep tossing that back and forth. On the one hand a 547 is rare. One the other it is a "run of the mill" K frame with no great beauty or poise like a M29 or M27. It shoots 9mm. That is actually the biggest plus as the 9mm ammo is so much cheaper than anything except .22's. So I could target shoot with a .38 sized round for a lot less $. Moon clips aren't a problem in my eyes as far a functionality. I guess if you are buying as an investment banking on it being worth a lot more in 5-10 years it's a bad call. If your buying because it's rare and you like rare unique things then it's a good idea.
I guess I'm saying it up to the individual buyer/collector/shooter.
From a different perspective.
Taurus makes a 9mm now. Charter Arms is rumored to be bringing a 9mm revolver back. Maybe the increased price of ammo will have people taking another look at them. They bombed in the 80's. This is a different time. I could see S&W making a run at a new 9mm model in a year or so. The economics are there.

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tekarra thanks for the clarification that worked perfect. The pics are excellent and make it easy to understand how it works. If that is your gun how effective does that setup work.

Engine49, here's a snapshot that might explain some reasons why I (and a few others) think 9x19 has a distinct advantage, at least over .38 Special:




Please note that the "K-Frame" 9x19, or 547, does not use moon clips, but uses the excellent extractor system so well illustrated by tekarra (great pics as always, tekarra). The 940 (J-Frame) requires moons.

The 547 is no novelty, at least to me. Contrary to pistolero mythology, 9x19 is an excellent cartridge. While a lot of people say that you can get .38 Spl. +P+ to come close to 9x19 performance, you can't change the dimensions illustrated in this comparison, which is just a quick look at the differences. That's a big difference in size to power ratio, and weight too, I might add. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty fond of the .38, but 9x19 has some distinct advantages and ballistics. What the picture just can't quite capture is the weight, and carrying superiority of those 9x19 loads to the .38 Spl. I like to maintain that 9x19 is a perfect bridge gapper between the .357 Magnum and .38 Spl, and when you start looking a +P stuff, you can get pretty close to the magnum side of the house. For me though, standard 9x19 is pretty darn good; there's still a lot of good to be said about the trusty ole' Federal 9BP.

The 547s price is driven by it's rarity and desirability, unfortunately. Sellers are naming their prices, and they are often not that fair, but since there is essentially nothing else on the market like it, I guess it's going to stay that way. About the only modern option is a Korth. Once you look at the cost of one of those, a 547 is looking like a pretty good deal. If S&W would re-issue the 547 in any configuration, I'd at least make a huge effort to be first in line for it, cost wouldn't even be a consideration.

Tekarra inspired me to add a photo. Unfortunately, I don't have a slick looking satin nickeled model like his!

Backup gun for those agencies that specify a 9mm round. Allegedly that was the reason Smith and Wesson did theirs.

Geoff
Who has been around a while.

Pictured clockwise Phillips and Rogers Medusa, S&W547, Ruger SP101, S&W940 & Ruger 4" Security Six. Not pictured: 2 1/2" Ruger Speed Six, S&W 686 with Medusa cylinder.
I have found that most 9mm revolvers are very ammo sensitive. 9mm bullet weight and type seem to make more of a POI difference than I have found with any other revolver caliber.
Mark

Tap Tap,
It is very effective and works very well. Have never had a problem with a 547.

M2MG,
Great photo.

I have a number of wheelguns that fire semiauto rounds. One of my 940s is currently resting on the inside of my daughters survival vest. She flys Super Hornets off a big boat. She packs the regulation Beretta, the 940 and a 651 in 22 WMR(with an extra 50 rounds). She says she can reload the 940 from Beretta mags(at least once), but she carries 3 moon clips for the 940 in a aluminium cylinder that one of the plane captains made for her. Looks like a big match can. The 651 is a survival weapon, the other two are for two legged varmints.
Her four brothers all agree that if we ever need to end a war real quick like, we just get her on a PMS day and drop her behind enemy lines. Of course that might violate the Hague Accords.
She is engaged to a Marine Aviation Major, who used to be a Recon Marine, she holds his total respect. I am confident that there will be no domestic violence in that family(at least not from him).

^^^
A point that was nearly missed in the drift to cartridge power vs. weight/OAL.

I can recall Mas Ayoob writing a piece in Combat Handguns on the 940 and praising it for being the perfect BUG to a duty nine. His feeling seemed to be that the non-gunny troopers (I can't recall the agency) were prone to bending moonclips and this was a big part of why the model was eventually dropped from the catalog.

Some years back, I bought a 940 and had the cylider reamed for 9x23, as a BUG to a 9x23 1911. Really like the 9x23 in a short tubed J-frame over the .357 Magnum. Some (decidedly unscientific) chrono testing more than a decade ago with both rounds in short tube J-frames, revealed greater velocities from the 9x23 than the .357 Magnum. Not sure if this was a function of the large primered 9x23 brass and the fast burinng powder used in the 9x23 simply burning more completly in a short tube length than a .357 Magnum round intended for longer barrels (there was no short barrel factory ammo being sold at that time), but the numbers recorded then and observable muzzle flash differences were plain to see. Felt recoil is manageable but fairly brisk. Or as someone once remarked after shooting a cylider full of 9x23 out of the 940: "Damn, that's hot little f***er."

Safety Note: A steady diet of 9x23 in a J-frame may be too much for the frame. Though I've never experienced a problem myself, the gunsmith who did my conversion no longer does them, because some frame cracking had been reported to him. For regular shooting, a better idea might be such a conversion on the 9mm Ruger.

I've fired two cylinders of 9x23 out of my rechambered 360J. I have no interest in doing it again, way too hot in a 13oz gun. My friends M&P360 .357mag feels tame by comparison.

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I'm sure you must have thought it was a great idea at the time, but I've shot enough Scandium J-frames and rounds of 9x23 to know that undertaking such a conversion is an act of shear folly; at least to my way of thinking.

The 940 is said to be the heaviest J-frame ever made. Not exactly sure how much more it weights than the 23 ounce 640, but the 940 does feel slightly heavier in my hand than the 640. Shooting hot .357 Magnums out of 640 was never my idea of fun. There are limitations to this form factor and the grips that are usually put on guns intended to be concealed. The longer Uncle Mike's 'banana' grips change the perceived recoil equation considerably, but few people use them because it lessens concealment.

All of which is to say, that with a 360 being at least 10 ounces lighter than a 940, the above comparison really is 'apples-to-oranges'. The 940 shooting standard 9mm ammo is snappy. Surprisingly so, for shooters that have only shot 9mm from a bottom feeder. Shooting 9x23 in the same gun is going to be snappier still, but it does remain very controllable (to me). While not exactly a pleasure to shoot, I don't consider it a punishing gun/ammo combination.

For my purposes, the 9x23 chambered in 940 works perfect as a BUG to my primary 1911 that is chambered for the same 9x23 round. Ammo compatibility between weapons is always a plus. The much thicker walled 9x23 brass also doesn't seem to stretch much and cause extration problems the way 9mm +P ammo does in many 940s, nor does it have the same disabling primer flow concerns. In a world of compromises, this one works for me.

Well, me, I don't know. I never saw an advantage of a 9mm rimless cartridge in a revolver. To me, it offers no advantage over a 38 Spl or 357, in which cartridge ejection from the cylinder is more positive with the rimmed cartridges, and possibly has a small disadvantage. To my recollection, the 547 does not use moon clips and takes a smaller bite of the small rim of the 9mm. If you say it has more uumph than a 38 Spl, well, that's debatable, and you can always step up to the 357, which I would prefer anyway.

I've got no need for one, unless the price is right..... Awfully right!

It was one of those "it's chambered for it, let's see what it's like" moments. The gun is very controllable with 9mm and .38 Super, I don't find recoil to be excessive or uncomfortable with either. In fact, I won a IDPA BUG match a couple of weeks ago with it using Remington UMC 115gr FMJ, my total time for the 5 stages was about 25% faster than the second place shooter.

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Hi new to the forum, and wanted to share.....

Came across this 940 in a LGS a couple of weeks ago. I have been looking for one for the last couple of years, and this just happened to be there for a very fair price. It is a 940-1 and came with the original matching serial numbered box, manual, lock, and 10 moon clips.

Shoots well, and is very clean, and if I remember right it was made in 1997.

Attached Images

SW940-1.jpg (172.3 KB, 71 views)

tekarra, Do you have any idea how many of the 547's are satin nickel like yours instead of the more common blued variety.

I believe they were all blued. Two flavors:

3" Round butt. Saved wood grips used Hogue Bantams to save my knuckles.



And the less common, higher valued 4" square butt.



Both great guns and cheaper to feed than .38, .357 with respectable punch. S&W says any commercial 9mm including Plus P was OK. The three incher was snappy with Speer GD 124 gr Plus P. The four incher not so much.

Our club sponsored a range session for state legislators. We had about a hundred or so, men and women, good spread in age. The one gun on the firing line that got the most repeat shooters was the four inch, a good choice but I have no idea what it was about the gun. That and the 625 shooting moonclipped .45 ACP. Maybe the novelty of the semiauto reputation of the cartridges. Both easy on the hands.

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Bob

Tap Tap,
All 547s were blued. Somewhere along the line, mine was chromed and the butt was rounded.

If any one is interested I was in a gun shop just outside of St.Louis and they had a 686 on consignment that the owner had an extra cylinder created for to accept 9mm. It's priced for 799 and comes with the .357 cylinder and the 9mm cylinder. I don't work there, just thought it was cool and would buy it if I had the extra scratch.

Thanks for the info.

Pretty cool but I think the neat thing about the 547 is you don't need moon clips.

I have a 940 with the 3 inch barrel. I was told that model was only made for one year. Can anyone confirm that? Thanks

dkals,
I am not sure if it was produced for one or two years, but you have to post a photo.

DSC_0006.jpg

DSC_0007.jpg940 with all of it's moon clips