Airweight J Frame Durability

[RichCapeCod]

The 642 is a superb carry piece. I urge you consider carrying Buffalo Bore 150 grain hard cast wadcutter rounds. Perfect projectile configuration for a short barrel revolver.

Below me with my 642 (and wife!)
i

 

[ben_g1]

Hogue grip

Sorry, don't have a picture handy but you might want to check out Hogue's 60020 Tamer grips for J frames. They are a little larger than S&W's stock grip but they have a nice cushion and the end is a hard smooth plastic cap that doesn't get hung up on the pants pocket like the sticky rubber end can.

 

[blkbearpatrol]

The 642 is a superb carry piece. I urge you consider carrying Buffalo Bore 150 grain hard cast wadcutter rounds. Perfect projectile configuration for a short barrel revolver.

Below me with my 642 (and wife!)
i

You two look like a great couple! Thank you for your loyal service to your community & nation!

 

[jeeps]

about 5000 rd's of +P they will be real loose and sloppy.

 

[Otreb]

I'm right at 2100 in my 442-2.
A great revolver, my everyday gun.

 

[geoff40]

One of my carry revolvers is a pre-37 flat latch. It wears factory J frame target stocks, which makes +P quite manageable. Since the day I acquired it I've put probably 1500 or more practice rounds through it, and along with them several hundred +P loads of JHP bullets. The gun is dead on, tight as the day it was born. I really don't have a lot of faith in the whole "not rated for +P" thing. I don't plan on stopping the +P loads any time soon.

 

[dr. K]

Not sure if it's already been said, but google "project break my j frame." There's a guy on another forum who's been putting rounds through his 442 pretty consistently... last I checked (maybe last week) he'd gotten to about 6,000 rounds without a hitch. Airweights are built to be carried and shot. As far as the older models or not using +p ammunition, there's research out there that will tell you every caliber is better or worse than every other. Carry what you're comfortable with... .38s have kept a lot of people alive. Then again, that's what I carry, so I may be biased.

 

[markfi]

I love my J Frames. I carry a 642 and shoot mostly standard pressure 38's. I Shoot +P occasionally. I carry +P all the time. Great guns.

 

[luangtom]

I am a light-weight J-frame fan. I carry either my 340PD or my M&P340 daily. They are stoked with Speer 135-gr GDHP for short-barrels. Both are the same configuration as the 640-1 that I shoot more often. That friend is beside me in my recliner. I have hundreds of rounds through all three of them with no problems. Shoot what yer comfortable doing.