645

[farmerjonwest]

Does anyone know how many were made? What spare parts should I look for besides mags?

 

[VictorLouis]

The backstrap housing the mainspring IS plastic. Landing on the right spot could crack it, especially with the age of those guns. That's about THEE ONLY thing I'd sweat on one....
Sorry that I can't help you with the numbers. I kinda wished they'd not have added the extra weight they did when they 'improved' it to the 4-digit series.

 

[357larry]

VictorLouis........I have never seen a 645 with a plastic backstrap. All of the ones I have held the backstrap was aluminum. This was common on the second generation "stainless" pistols. My 645, 639 and 659 all have aluminum backstraps.

 

[surfgun]

The backstrap housing the mainspring IS plastic. Landing on the right spot could crack it, especially with the age of those guns. That's about THEE ONLY thing I'd sweat on one....
Sorry that I can't help you with the numbers. I kinda wished they'd not have added the extra weight they did when they 'improved' it to the 4-digit series.

The blackstrap of 645’s are aluminum. I am in possession of three of them, two on pistols one in the spare parts bin. S&W never made a plastic back strap for the 645. I will eat a shoe if you can find one.

One could purchase curved plastic back straps for the 459 and 659 from S&W back in the day. Those models left the factory with flat aluminum backstraps.

 

[BigBoy99]

Agree with above as both of my 645's have metal backstraps. You will have contact S&W to get the exact number of 645s manufactured. Their serial numbers are mixed it with the other semi-auto handguns S&W was producing. The 645 was made between 1985 and 1988.

 

[stansdds]

Does anyone know how many were made? What spare parts should I look for besides mags?

Best off to use genuine S&W magazines, the ones for the 4506 with black base plates and black followers are the best.

Spare parts... recoil springs, change them every 5000 rounds, 4000 with a steady diet of +P ammo. Why would you shoot +P in the 45 ACP? I dunno, modern bullet designs work great at standard pressure. Replacement magazine springs are also a good idea. You might also want to replace the firing pin spring.

Odds are that the trigger play spring will wear, bend, or break, causing the trigger to flop back and forth when in single action mode. This will not cause a malfunction, but can be a bit annoying. Replacing this spring requires the removal of the trigger, drilling out the rivet that holds the spring and riveting in a new spring. It's a bit of a pain.

The 645 is a very durable pistol, other than springs, it's pretty bulletproof. Oh, and the mainspring housing is aluminum, not plastic.