I learned today that model 64 and 67 will be discontinued from next year. It’s a real shame that they will be doing it since I really like the 67, this also means that the only K frame .38 Special revolver S&W now offers is the model 10.

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Hello darknes my old friend

Sad. I likeL frames but nothing points as well as a k frame.

I agree

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It is real hard to beat a RB 3" K for pointing where you want it to.

I’m really surprised S&W continued making the 64 and 67 as long as they have. I really don’t know why anyone would buy either over a model 66, 686, or even a used prelock 64.

...or a 4" bull barrel 10/64 SB with service stocks and a T-grip. Very sad: those guns and their brethren have brought an awful lot of cops out of dark alleys safely.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

If people are not buying them S&W will drop their production. Surprised that enough model 10s are being purchased that their production continues. Folks are mostly buying plastic.

Some might disagree.
Smyth Busters: Are Old Smith & Wessons Better Than New Ones? - YouTube

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Steve

No one is buying them. When was the last time you heard someone say look at my brand new 64?

Plastic sells, people just can’t bring themselves to realize that.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

Although I’m sad to hear it this does not surprise me in the slightest.

People are buying plastic semiautos and smaller revolvers that lend themselves better to easy concealability (j-frames, taurus 856, ruger LCR, etc). The market for the 64 and 67 just isn’t there anymore.

Further, there are soooo many of these out there that it’s tough not to consider the used/secondary market. And the comments about the 686 are right on. Taking both of these thoughts into consideration, it’s kinda hard to compete against yourself, y’know?

I felt the same way about the Hi-Power, and I will feel the same way about the Model 10. Sad to hear, but will not be surprised.

Were there security firms and jail guards still being issued 64s and 67s until recently?

Perhaps there was enough of that to keep these gun in production until very recently???

But yes, I can see Smith making the decision to use that production capacity to make something different in this environment.

I don't like it, but I understand it.

I have a 67-5 that I bought new several years ago. I will load the Buffalo Bore 158 grain +p in it and never think twice about it. Don’t do that with my older Model 14 and 15. It has it’s place. I love it as much as I do the older ones. I have probably put more rounds through it than any Smith I own. Hate to see them go!


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Glad I have mine, both are newer with the lock, and both are tack drivers. The target was shot using the model 64-8 with the new sleeved barrel. 50 shots at 7 yards

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Smith 64-8 Target.jpg (58.2 KB, 137 views)

Model 64 in 38 special ....
It has to be my favorite and hands down most fired handgun at the range and in the field .
Bought years ago when the Baton Rouge Police Department turned in their 38 Specials and modernized with 357 Magnum's with adjustable sights ... how long ago that seems now !
The fixed sights never were the problem I thought they would be .
The 38 Special is accurate , fun and easy to develop reloads for .
It thrives on my home cast lead bullets so is economical to shoot .

I wonder if mine will increase in value ... I'll let my heirs worry about that ... unless the Lord will let me "Take It With Me" !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I have always been able to make up my own mind and don't really care what some have to say about certain product, guns, cars, tools etc. After all - they are trying to sell more guns for the industry which in turn helps them sell more product! Even Smyth Buster's (a branch of Brownell''s which is a retailer/wholesaler) does have a horse in the race.

I go by what I can see, feel, shoot and just use common sense. Each day I find out more and more about paid blurbs on Youtube that I never realized were being funded by large Company's. Actors get paid big time just to be seen wearing certain clothing, shoes, watches, etc. plus they get to keep the items free and clear as well.

What's worse to many of use oldsters is the FAT 2 pc. barrel that the front looks like something you would snap onto a grease fitting. Visually it's worse that than the IL. AND full lug barrel everything..........That stinks!.............So. We buy older stuff or different brands.

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S&W Accumulator

They’re still selling. Just not the profit margin S&W would like a to maintain them. Scandium and aluminum J frames are awful choices for a house gun, but a 4 inch .38 Special fills that role quite well. My wife can’t hit the side of the barn with my all steel 640 snub, but she can do adequately with any of my K frames. Sure, if she put in the time she could do better with a J, but she’s not going to, and neither are many others.

I’m just saying a 4” K frame .38 has its place. Smith just decided to drop them to increase their profit. I get it, but I still think it’s sad.

I'm sure sales of .38 Special only
models were fairly flat. Even if a
buyer never intends to shoot .357s,
the desire to have that option
is strong.

In reality, the only real differences
between a modern Smith .38 and a
.357 are a bored-through cylidner and
a barrel with a shroud.

I love Model 15s and Model 67s but
only with the sculpted barrels used
until about 1980. It's just a matter
of esthetics in choosing. Once the
barrels were of the non-tapered
variety, then I'd lean toward a Model
19 or 66.

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Ubi Est Mea

I think that is exactly it. My neighbor/shooting buddy runs a big contract for a huge security company. Until two years ago they issued new Model 64 four inchers. They switched to Glocks and he was able to buy a couple of the 64s at a pretty cheap price. He thought he would be able to flip one but it sat on consignment forever so now its his car gun.

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Rule of law, not a man.

It'd be pretty swell if they reintroduced the Model 64 in a 3" RB configuration as a conceal-carry piece IMO.

like the VW Beetle they a a cherished part of the past.. fondly remembered and kept by many as treasures.. so many around you will see them long into the future.. but even though they are still useful their time is gone..but not forgotten... RIP

Bingo! I bet a 3" Model 64 with a round butt would sell very well. I know I'd have one.

Does S&W still make a K frame .22? If so, that is the only caliber in a K frame that will remain. That seems really sad. Model 18's are expensive guns. Can't imagine S&W selling enough of them to justify continuing to make them. I'm a gun guy and I never even owned one.

This thread prompted me to look at S&W's website to see their current lineup of revolvers. I know they are all very good guns, but all too many of them resemble Foo Fighter sidearms. I'm a dinosaur.

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Foo Fighters.jpg (49.2 KB, 115 views)

I am quite pleased that S&W brought back the Centennial design (to the extent they did) in the 442/642 line. I wanted one while they were discontinued and carry one now. The new 610 (even with the "blemish") really tempted me. But frankly, that's about it for the newer revolvers. A late, lamented colleague carried a 2" 64 back when. They were good guns, but today he'd have a Shield or M&P Compact or something by (choke, gag) Glock or Springfield.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Face facts. Smith and Wesson is not a museum. They make guns that have to compete with offerings from other companies. The customers aren't buying .38 Special service revolvers because they are obsolete. The agencies making the big purchases aren't buying those revolvers because they are obsolete. Hobby enthusiasts ARE buying enough of the 686-type and its cousins to keep them in production. The J-frame market is hanging in there, but Kimber is making inroads with a 6-shot compact that is easier to shoot.

How much you like that old 10/64/67, etc. revolver you have, or carried for decades is, sadly, completely meaningless in the real world, because not enough of you are buying new ones: "I won't buy a new S&W, because it has (insert whatever feature here)!".

Smith and Wesson has responded to your feedback and will concentrate on customers who will keep them in business.

Any company’s objective is to stay in business, and they will do what it takes.

I always get a kick out of people who never owned or ran a business telling others what they should do.

Yeah, they might be 100 or even a 1,000 people here who want things the way they were, but they are not paying the bills.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

To be quite honest I am surprised they are still being made. I see no reason whatsoever in today's times to make a dedicated .38 special revolver. No agency that I am aware of proscribes carry of anything other than .38 spl. In fact they probably want all 9mm. The day of the .38 special revolver as a realistic tool has passed. They are around for many other justifiable reasons, but this evolution is one of the reasons you have to look so hard to find a nice revolver chambered in .32 or a nice shotgun chambered in 16ga. Instead of bemoaning the loss of new production 63's and 67's rejoice in the fact that you can still buy older ones with relative ease and the new 66 currently available seems to cover hte bases for a K frame revolver capable of shooting .38's very nicely

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Forum consigliere

In the end it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve got mine, ranging from 1946 to 1981. My kids will have them one day. Incidentally, they aren’t all that interested in any of my plastic, arguably more sensible choices of firearms. For a gun to take to a gunfight, I agree they don’t serve much of a purpose. But they are infinitely classier then a plastic gun. If S&W wants to kill them, so be it.

That depresses me immensely.

I got my model 67 in the mid 90's, I still had the FFL and Gil Hebard sent out a flyer and it said S&W was dropping the 67 and he was closing them out, this had to have been 25 years ago. I would have to check but I got a great buy on it. Jeff

A dedicated 38 special ? I wanted one for several yrs but just didn't see what I really wanted . Recently I walked into my LGS , the owner and goes in the back room and pulls out a gorgeous Colt Police Positive Special . It went home with me and I'm no long looking . It was increditably accurate , light weight and fits the hand like a glove . Built in the day when each piece was hand fitted . Regards Paul

Yep. All logic and "it's just business" points aside, it's still a bummer that these fine models are being retired. Thankfully, I picked up a very nice Model 67-1 back in May. Actually, I found two really nice ones back-to-back and now it turns out that I should have bought that second one as well. Dang. Watch prices shoot up if this news is, in fact, correct.

For an antique old fart like me with hearing loss, .38 Special is perfectly fine... and dear old Dad left me enough of his .38 wadcutter reloads to last me at least two lifetimes. I was also fortunate enough to snag a 500 round RNL buy just before things went totally crazy.

Makes me glad that I have my 64-2.

Not unexpected.
I considered getting a new 67 to go with all our old ones, but I suppose it’s too late now.

Don't know until you try. Ask the LGS to contact their supplier(s): it's worked more than once for me. Since the 64 and 67 are not popular, there could well be a sample or 2 lying around. Worth a shot.

I've never liked my 67-no dash purchased in 1973, even though it's the revolver I've shot the most. It's essentially retired now, though I use it to shoot perfect scores for my CCW renewals. I may try to pick up a modern 67 if they're still available. Then I'll have another 67 that I'll never like...

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

Let's look at the news of late:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

S&W is a business. It has normal business problems like any business plus the additional business problems of selling politically incorrect products. Plus, in today's booming gun sales market, the buyers are mostly looking at plastic and S&W is in that market so that's where we should expect the company to focus.

Revolvers that are not easily concealable are dinosaurs. You like them, I like them, but the millenials don't, the newly frightened populace (by the corona virus, street riots, and crime) isn't into large revolvers, either.

Business is business. So it makes total sense to me, even if it's sad.

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Come and take it!!

They were probably being sold over seas to foreign agencies that wouldn't be outgunned by a 6 shot 38 special.

Perhaps contracts ran out and weren't renewed, who knows but I'm sure the demand over here isn't enough to keep them in production.

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-Matt

Truth be told...... I carried a M60-7 up until 2 years ago. I could never justify a plastic 9mm around the same size (or larger & heavier) that only held a round or two more. THEN came the Sig P365 which was smaller, lighter, flatter and holds 10+1. Something that easily fit's in the pocket of my LL Bean Jeans with a DeSantis Nemesis pocket Holster and is lighter and less conspicuous than my J Frame was.

Along with the fact that the ballistics on modern 9mm ammo is fantastic, they worked out all the kinks on the P365 (bought mine post problematic era) and the fact that I can now practice with 100 - 150 rounds per session with no pain, is a huge plus. I dreaded practicing with my M60 and Buffalo Bore 158 grain +P's and I am not recoil sensitive what so ever!

All that said - of I were EVER to go back to a wheel gun, it would be a model made between 1960 and 1994

I bought this Model 67-5 about 3 and a half years ago. I had a local dealer order it for me, and specified that I only wanted one if he could find one with the one-piece barrel. He found it, and I bought it. I haven't fired it yet, but it appears to be a very well made gun.

Model 67-5

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

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Dave Brown
SWCA #3279

The market dictates what is sold and manufactured. Todays market, given medical and political uncertainties, is relatively new to this gun stuff. So, based on what ever source they listen to, the new and untrained consumer will go for the lightest, most round count, and the best priced. They have no understanding of what makes a SW revolver a gun fighter’s gun, having NEVER been in a gun fight. Todays consumer buys a product that they hope never to use. The rest of us buy a product preparing to use it some day.

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Metro Man

Jscott, the idea that an S&W revolver is a gunfighter's gun while the modern autos aren't is simply not born out by decades of history. The claim that a revolver user buys a revolver because they are preparing to use it while the "consumer" buys a modern gun in ignorance and the hope that they will never have to use it is simply wishful thinking.

The revolver had a wonderful run in American firearms history and lots of us will continue to enjoy them for a very long time, but the claims you make have no more basis in fact than saying in the 1950s: "Civil War-era cap-and-ball revolvers are better than those new .38 Special Colts and Smiths that people buy now because they don't really expect to have to use them."

Sad news.

My first S&W is a Mod 67-1 that was a local gunsmiths personal carry gun. Best trigger in my collection.

I'm a fan of wheel guns and carry them regularly, but the idea that a semi-auto isn't a gun fighters gun is laughable. My GLOCKs are my go to guns for anything serious.

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GOA FL Dir. & Nat. Spokesman

Wow Mr Darkenfast and Miami JBT, thanks for your positive and non critical responses. Nothing was said denouncing the semi auto as a fighting hand gun. The point was that many current first time buyers have no idea about what they want. Spend some time in a gun shop observing new buyers and you will see what I mean. Other than that, all that I can say is that a certain Smith revolver worked for me.

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Metro Man

This old dinosaur will hang on to the old dinosaur era revolvers that live here. They are like me, old and probably no good to anybody. :-( :-)

Have a blessed day,

Leon

I have 4 inch 67-5, and I love it. It was my first gun purchase. There' something about the look and "feel" of it that is just perfect. Would a 66 or 686 be more practical? Sure. But that's a worse look, and more weight, respectively.

Personally, I find the 67 too be about perfect as an introductory firearm for new shooters (friends and family who want to go shoot for the first time). Not too heavy, not too light. No magazines, six shots, easy to load and unload. Load up some 130 grain FMJ and let them start out single action, then eventually work their way up to double action. Oh and I might want a turn or two as well ;-)

It's a testament to the design and caliber that they lasted this long. To me, it's a miracle that they did, given the auto's dominance since the 1980's. I'm lucky to have a couple, including a "sculpted barrel" Model 67 and a round butt 3" Model 64, but I'd be glad to acquire some more if the opportunities present themselves.

I don't deny that I, too, am a bit of a dinosaur, at only 50 years old, but I have absolutely no desire or plans to change that. I'll take a large displacement V8 over a four cylinder turbo, any day, and I preferred James Bond when he smoked, drank, slept around, and slapped women on the ***.

Surely, you didn't expect a bunch of pot-smoking beliebers to buy revolvers!?!

Yes it is really sad.
The 67 is the stainless version of the Model 15 and that gun is considered one of best double actions ever made.
However, I think this points to a bigger issue.
In our "power crazed Magnum world", we've lost appreciation for lower powered but highly accurate arms.
No offense to anyone here, but its almost like the gun buying public has turned into an entire group of 12 year-olds who only know "more power is better".
Thus guns like the 64 and 67 see lower sales, until the business that makes them deems them more of a liability to build and pulls them from production.
...so...
If you wanna save these guns, its time we all started buying them....hopefully, we're not already too late.

I'm not sure what prompted Smith to stop production of these guns. I do know that they were produced more for export than for domestic sales. The vast majority were sent out of the country, mostly to South America. Many police agencies in those countries still issue revolvers due to restrictions on military type handguns being issued to non-military police agencies. I wonder if it's more about some other company, one that starts with "R" maybe, making inroads in the foreign market. The market for revolvers is still strong outside of the US so I wouldn't be surprised if this is temporary and they end up making them again.

I never found the Model 64 all that appealing - just pretty much a heavy barrel Model 67 with no adjustable sights. I have a primo 67, but never saw any joy in a 64.

Until I saw this one, with a factory high polish. It just sparkled, and as far as I know, maybe unique. I lettered it, and you can see what Roy said about it in this picture.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -