Chiefs Special

[redsfan2]

Went to the local gun shop last Saturday, and walked straight into a stainless Chiefs Special in .45 cal. I'm not big on stainless or even autos for that matter .... but I just plain liked the way this one looked. The guy got it out for me and when I picked it up it was all over. This gun just really feels good in your hand. From the size of it, it should also be great to carry. Its dirty, but looks to have been fired very little.
I hope it isn't unseemly to talk about price, but I gave 550.00 for it with a little knocked off. Is that in the realm of being reasonable or should I try to get some back on my next purchase.
This will be my first auto since my service issue when I was in the Marines ..... can't wait to get it home.

 

[Cruiser RN]

A Chief's Special in 45 cal for 550 is very reasonable and it is a fine CCW.My first Semi-auto is a CS9 that I had night sights put on and a DAO Conversion.I had major issues with the rubber hogue grips that printed out.Look at Big Dog's Delrin Grips to silm the profile even more.Please send pics cause we love gun porn.For factory mags and parts go to Midway....God Bless.....Mike

 

[ladder13]

I recently purchased a CS45 for around the same price, with 2 extra mags and a set of Big Dog grips, and was glad I did . Though a bit "blocky", I love it. Highly concealable, powerful, super accurate, and utterly reliable.

Sorry for the poor pic

 

[88tc]

I think that $550 is reasonable. Prices have gone up and it seems that Chiefs models cost a little more than most other models. I recently traded two pistols for a CS9. It had a price tag of $595. It's in like new condition. Less than two years ago, when I bought my first S&W auto, I was finding them (not chiefs models) for $300-$400. Now the ones that I see around here are about $500. Yesterday I saw a beat up, scratched and pitted 659, for $439+tax. I wouldn't have given them $300 for it. I guess someone will though, otherwise they would price it lower.

I really like my CS9. I think you will be happy with that .45

 

[Jetpilot007]

Great choice on the Chief's Special! I own two: the CS45 and CS40. Great firearms as they are super reliable, great ergonomics, and great CCW!

Personally, these pistols are great for investment potential since S&W is no longer producing the 3rd Generation Metal frames.

At some point or other, I will complete the Triad with a purchase of a CS9!

 

[redsfan2]

Thanks for the responses. I've bought a couple of guns from the same place, so I was fairly sure that it was at least a decent / fair deal. It's also good to get experienced input as well as verification.
I had never seen a Chiefs Special in auto .... only in revolvers which is all I've bought till now.
As a mahine gunner, I carried a 1911 Colt, so I already knew that I liked .45's .... and I haven't seen much in the Smith line that I didn't like as well.
I like shooting with my kids and friends & I carry pretty much all the time. BUT if I don't like the way a gun looks and feels then I won't buy it. Like I said above tho ... as soon as I picked it up I knew I was going to buy it. Good to find out from you guys that my first impression was a correct one.
PS
I'll post some pix as soon as I get him home and cleaned up a bit.

 

[mgo]

I strongly agree with installing the Big Dog grips on your new pistol. The rubber grips can be a little irritating against the bare skin if one carries concealed. There is almost no difference in handling with the Big Dog grips

It's hard do better than the 3rd generation Smith & Wesson pistols for reliability.

 

[Timewise]

I'm new at this forum, I have a S&W Chief special which is the Stainless Model 60 revolver 5 shot .38 cal. Are there 2 Chief Specials?

 

[Thicker]

That seems to be the going price of those weapons.......And YES- get the Big Dog Grips for it....

 

[BUFF]

I'm new at this forum, I have a S&W Chief special which is the Stainless Model 60 revolver 5 shot .38 cal. Are there 2 Chief Specials?

There are a lot more than 2, if you count different models. M-36 is original, M-37 is the Airweight C.S., M-60 is the stainless C.S.

The semiautomatic Chief Specials were introduced in 1999. There are 3 semiauto Chief Specials, one in 9mm, one in .40 S&W and one in .45 ACP. Actually, if they were numbered like revolvers, there would be 6 of them, as they come in both stainless and matte blue.

 

[SMMAssociates]

I've had a CS45 for several years. Bought used, full of mummified grease and dust balls big enough to raise, but easy enough to clean up.

Mine's got the big rubber grips on it.

Recoil is straight back, mostly - more of a "push" than anything else.

I don't carry it much - it's one of my "airline travel" guns - something I wouldn't mind a check for (on the return leg!). But it shoots well enough when I'm wherever.... About the only downside is the nasty double action pull, and the backwards (I'm a 1911 guy, mostly) thumb safety.

(Some models are set up so that the thumb safety is just a decocker. Got my vote....)

About $450 in 2005. Not really used much, but carried often.... Stainless....

IMHO, the 9mm version may be a better choice. I think the .40 might be a little tough to shoot. I wish I'd kept the M36 I had years ago, too. I had a chance to grab one for very little a few years back, but it got past me.

Regards,

 

[LAYGO]

I've got 2 CS45 mags that I'm looking to unload since I don't like them on my 4513TSW.

 

[flhr95]

Nasty trigger pull

The nasty double action trigger pull you spoke of can be taken care of from S&W, I sent my CS45 to them for the 3rd generation auto pistol performance tune and when I got it back lets just say Wow. I love all the CS pistols but this offering from S&W turned my 45 into a lifetime keeper.

 

[redsfan2]

I'm new at this forum, I have a S&W Chief special which is the Stainless Model 60 revolver 5 shot .38 cal. Are there 2 Chief Specials?

This is exactly why I did a double take when I saw this one. After the fact ... I came home and looked in the Smith & Wesson Catalog. Amazing what you can learn when you read information ... that you already have. I just hadn't read anything past revolvers before.

 

[surveyor47]

After shooting a S&W57 41 Magnum, I dont find the CS40 to have stiff recoil at all. My problem with the CS40 is that it is a 40S&W, which seems a near unreloadable round. It seems that everyone has a 40S&W reload horror story, which is the greatest single argument in favor of the 45ACP, which is easily reloaded.

 

[redsfan2]

After shooting a S&W57 41 Magnum, I dont find the CS40 to have stiff recoil at all. My problem with the CS40 is that it is a 40S&W, which seems a near unreloadable round. It seems that everyone has a 40S&W reload horror story, which is the greatest single argument in favor of the 45ACP, which is easily reloaded.

Late last year ... or early this year, I got a model 66. When I told the shop owner that I'd take it, he said ... before you do. It doesn't like reloads. Odd ... Some do ... some don't.
Only reloads I've used have been factory ... and they've been no problem so far.

 

[surveyor47]

A S&W 66 that doesnt like handloads: BALONEY! I know the ins and outs of the 66, 19, 13, 65, 586, 686 and have loaded for every one of them. The one gun that I ever had that didnt like a 38 target load consisting of 158 grain 358 diameter cast lead bullet with Bullseye at about 700 fps was a S&W 19 2 3/4 inch and it likes 148 grain HBWC with Bullesye at about 700 fps- shoots like a laser gun. These guns also like Remington jacketed bullets, particularly the 140 and 158 grain at about 1000 to 1100 fps with Unique powder- a light to moderate 357 load.

The one thing you have to watch with a 66 or any other K frame is velocity. 110 and 125 grain bullets at high velocity - about 1300 fps- can crack the forcing cone. You have to avoid certain powders such as Lil Gun, because it can push a 158 grain bullet in excess of 1300 fps. If these guns cant take a 125 at 1300 fps, they sure wont stand a 158 at 1300 fps. Limit your velocity with 357s to about 1100 fps and I dont think you will ever have a problem.

I dont like shooting factory ammo, because I consider it a waste of my money. My ammo is much cheaper and more accurate, tuned to the guns.

 

[SMMAssociates]

surveyor:

I've never really done any reloading.... Can't say how the .40 would be any more difficult, other than an idea that the working power range might be rather tighter than most people are used to. In short, there are only a few good loads, maybe. I know (I've been reading about this stuff for more than 40 years) that the .38, for example, can be loaded in ways that are difficult to describe without blushing .... (Or running from the range....)

redsfan:

The M66 should be fine with anything that's happy in that design.... I'd suspect that your dealer (or whoever told him) just didn't know what was necessary. You don't have to get silly about absolutely matching the load to the gun, but you do need to deal with the "well, you really didn't need that forcing cone anyway" issues....

You might run into a semi that gave you problems - very wrong loads or somebody tinkered with something or other, but the usual suspects ("suggested loads" from the various manuals) all ought to function reliably. (YMMV with respect to the guns willingness to feed various sorts of projectiles, though.)

It is possible that some manufacturing defect (stacked tolerances maybe) cause some reloads to have primers that project too far out of the case to let the cylinder, or case head thickness issues, or even extractor problems, but a good smith ought to be able to at least diagnose these.

A buddy of mine lucked into a beautiful Springfield EMP (9mm near-clone of a 1911) a couple years back. The original owner paid full price, more or less, put a few rounds through it, and returned it - swapped for something else. My friend got it for about $400 under MSRP!

He brought the gun out to our club range and basically couldn't get two rounds out of it in succession without much cursing and a stick....

Thinking about limp-wristing, he asked me to try it. I put some WWB through it with no problems. (My XD9SC does some interesting things with my favorite reloads )

Then the light came on.... The thing wouldn't extract.... Dirty or small chamber? Close.... Joe's casings came from a sort of random cache that included a lot of cases that came out of Glocks.... Glocks have an area of the chamber that's essentially unsupported, and the result is a bulge in the case. The EMP didn't like those at all.... Joe's other 9mm, a Beretta M9 variant, didn't care....

Something under $30 for a special full-length die to clean up those cases! (He also bought one for .45ACP 'cause he was occasionally having minor problems with a 1911. Fixed that, too.)

Anything can happen....

Regards,

 

[redsfan2]

Surveyor & Associates .. Thanks for your input. I generally stick to the routine loads for what little shooting I do. I don't usually put more than a box thru the gun at a time .. and I usually only shoot every couple of weeks or so ... so abusing a gun or any part of it with the wrong ammo just isn't going to happen to me. I do put +p's in my model 36 when we go out .... and I've also shot +p's thru it just to practice and see the difference. ( didn't really see any ).

One thing that I have learned ( among many here ) is that shop owners don't always know as much as I at first assumed they did. I took note of what he said ... but didn't really consider it imporant enough to follow up on. Out of manners, I won't argue or question a man in his own shop. Its unseemly I think. If I don't like the item and / or I think he's pushing junk and lying ... I just don't do business with him.
I'm not anticipating any trouble with my 66 or my ( not home yet ) CS45. When I do get him home and take him shooting ... of course I'll let you guys know how it went. You can also be sure that if I do have a question ... I'll ask here first.
Thanks again.

 

[surveyor47]

For reasons I dont fully understand, the 40S&W seems to be a real oddball, because the case design makes the taper crimp very difficult, both for reloaders and manufacturers. There have been a number of cases where 40S&Ws have gone KABOOM!, destroying the gun. This has happeened with borh factory and reloaded ammo. It seems that crimp friction is sometimes insufficient to prevent bullet setback into the case, as in the case of a police officers gun, unloading and reloading the same round daily. When the bullet is deeper into the case, it results in a pressure spike. This round is a high pressure round to start with, so there isnt a lot of safety factor for a deepsly set bullet. Some people have successfully loaded this round and some of these same people have reported "I only blew up one gun" (too many). I think that I will stick to reloading tamer rounds, like the 357, 41, 44 Magnums, 9mm, 45ACP.