Is the 640 PRO worth the extra cost

[1sailor]

I currently carry an M&P340. Nice light pistol, easy to carry, and pretty dead on out to about 50ft. This is way more than satisfactory for up close protection. As you get past the 50ft mark it starts drifting off to the right pretty quickly. I'm not sure if it's the sights or if because of the ultra light weight I'm pulling it off to the right as I pull the trigger. I have a 2.5" K model that I can shoot dead center at 20 meters in DA. I've been thinking about getting something a little heavier to carry when we go to the city. I'm hoping the heavier pistol will allow me to be a little more accurate beyond the 50ft mark. My K frame is not nearly as easy to conceal as a J frame. I tried a Shield .45 and it will shoot amazing groups out to at least 20+ meters but it just doesn't conceal as well on me as a J frame. Anyway, I've been looking at some M640's which can be had used for around $400 in the original box with all the stuff they come with and in excellent condition. Or I can also get a 640 PRO which has the drift adjustable sights. Of course with the PRO model I'd be paying at least $200 more than the standard 640. I hate spending an extra $200 but at the same time I don't want to end up wishing I had spent the extra money if the standard model doesn't give me what I'm wanting. I'm sure a lot of you guys have 640's and I'm hoping at least some of you have at least been able to compare the standard and the PRO models. I'm pretty sure that anyone who owns a PRO is going to be happy with it but how do it and the standard 640 compare in real world shooting.

 

[dubshooter]

I have a recent production standard 640. Shoot it very well. We qualify out to 25 yards and I have no problem. Little orange paint on the front sight and I was good. Carries great in my Lobo Leather offset belt clip. It's with me everyday, at work or off duty.

No experience with the pro models. I like the idea of the sights, but I don't like 3 dots. I prefer an all black rear sight. So the standard model is just fine for me. And I found a good deal on it.

Only change I made was a set of UM boot grips instead of the standard 3 finger grips it came with. I like flush bottom and exposed back strap

 

[Mister X]

The 340 will be perfectly adequate in the vast majority of civilian defense scenarios you are likely to be involved in. Unless you are making some really bad decisions that put you at risk, the odds are relatively low that you'll ever be forced to fire a weapon in self-defense and astronomically low that you would have to make hits past a few feet or yards. Civilian defense encounter are almost always close, quick and short lived. If the 340 wasn't adequate in a particular situation, I think it unlikely the 640 would be either since the most likely shortcoming would be capacity and the only solution there would probably be an autoloader. I'd simply stuck with the 340 since I don't see a practical need to burden yourself with a heavier, more difficult to carry gun for no added benefit, but if you do, I would just go with a standard 640.

 

[1sailor]

I mostly agree with you regarding defense situations. While living in big cities I was jumped twice and successfully robbed once. Both times it was up close and very personal. The thing I am thinking of is when we take trips up to the city. These days it seems to have become more common for insane people to take there final acts of aggression out on crowds of innocent people. For these situations if I did need to draw and fire I would prefer to keep as much distance as I can between me and the A.H. doing the shooting. The nice thing about the standard 640 is that I can swap out the front sight so my sight picture is nearly the same between it and my M&P340. On the other hand there's no reason to spend the money on a pistol that won't offer the advantages I'm hoping for. Although it would still make a great gift for somebody now that xmas is coming up.

 

[dubshooter]

Mister X, sometimes people come to gun boards with outlandish scenarios theyve concocted just as an excuse to buy a new gun. And you've gone and ruined this mans excuse. Now he has to think up another reason to buy that 640 that he wants!

It's a great gun. I want a 340 due to the light weight aspect. But I have a M38 that isn't much different. And my 640 can do everything the 340 can. But I still want one.
The 640 is also a lot more fun at shoot.

 

[sdb321]

640 PRO??

Is the 640 Pro worth the extra money? I have one and knowing then what I know now I would buy a standard 640 and have a action job performed on it. When I bought my pro it suffered from a long ratchet. So I had my smith fix that and do a deluxe action job while he was in there. Although the night sights are super. "Pros and cons. LOL

 

[ContinentalOp]

My thoughts, for whatever they're worth...

I don't have experience with either the 640 or the 640 Pro. I will say that for several years my "grail gun" has been the 640 no-dash. I think having a steel J-frame has a lot of merit if you already have a lightweight snub. I belt carry 99.9999999999% of the time, so in that sense the weight difference between a 340 and a 640 wouldn't make much difference (not that I wouldn't notice the difference, just that it wouldn't make much difference to me). I do like the idea of carrying a lightweight snub and having a similar, but heavier, steel snub for the bulk of my practice (periodic practice/training with the lightweight snub would still be necessary). It would also make longer training courses more comfortable.

The difference is really in the sights (the Pro is cut for moon clips, but that's a moot point for me). I prefer my self defense guns to have, essentially, the same sight picture, which is one of the reasons I prefer plain black sights. I was curious so I compared the M&P 340, 640 Pro, and 640. As it turns out, both the M&P 340 and the regular 640 have pinned front sights, so it looks like you could get the same front sight mounted on the 640. The front sight on the 640 Pro is dovetailed, plus it has the 2-dot tritium rear sight.

So, if I were in your position, I would get the regular 640 as a supplement to the M&P 340. Then I would have the same front sight as the M&P 340 installed on the 640 (I have neither the tools nor the skills to do it myself). Paint the 640's rear sight black to match the 340's finish, and you have two guns with the same sight picture, a light one for regular carry and occasional practice and a heavier one for regular practice and carry at other times. Or, if you felt the need, carry both.

Just my opinion.

 

[GTBL]

Have the 640 Pro and carry it everyday. To me, it was worth the extra money. Love the Night Sights, the fluted barrel and option to use Moon Clips.

 

[1sailor]

There's a couple of nice 640's coming up on GB soon so lets see what happens. My feelings on it are pretty much the same as continentalOp. Dubshooter, you might be partly right but sadly that scenario is maybe not as outlandish as it once was.

 

[Mister X]

One consideration would be how you plan on carrying it. I've previously owned both 640's and 340's in the past and found the 640 wasn't ideal for pocket carry while the 642/442 pretty much hit the sweet spot for me in terms of weight, cost and proven dependability. I have two 642's and do most of my hard training with an old beater 442. Most people do find the 640 more pleasant to train with and less so with the air-weights, but how much depends on the individual and I personally don't find it prohibitively unpleasant to put as many rounds down range as I want to with the 442. Plus I like training with a weapon that is identical(aside from color) to my carry gun.

I honestly don't spend too much time worrying about active-shooter scenarios because despite all of the fanatical media coverage they receive, they are an exceedingly rare occurrence and there are much more important and common potential personal defense encounters to focus on. However, if you are one of the select unlucky few to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and there is a substantial gap between you and the shooter, my recommendation would be to get yourself and your family away from the scene as quickly as possible. I for sure wouldn't recommend getting into a long range shootout against a homicidal/suicidal individual armed with an AR or AK when all you have is a snub revolver if you can avoid it. My recommendation would be the same even if armed with a Glock 17. In very close-quarters, the dynamics probably wouldn't differ all that much from any other defense scenario and there isn't going to be much difference between the 340 and 640 in such cases except maybe the latter would offer a bit more recoil management and perhaps make for a slightly better striking implement if things were to become that desperate. I travel to many of the largest cities in the country on a regular basis and feel well armed and well served by my 642.

 

[Joe4d]

Hey if we were all realistic we'd all only have one gun. So any excuse to buy a new gun is a good one.
Logically ? buy a good concealed holster for that K frame. Its not all that much of a size difference.
Far as the 340 ? trade it, I wont own an unaccurate gun, I dont care if it most likely will only be used point blank .
Then use the money to buy the 640 pro.
Better sights.
Better windage adjustment.
Moonclips.. I like moon clips.
easy enough to black out rear dots. I like a dot front but hate anything but black rear.
All my other handguns have Bomar or Novak style rear sights.

 

[luangtom]

I mostly agree with you regarding defense situations. While living in big cities I was jumped twice and successfully robbed once. Both times it was up close and very personal. The thing I am thinking of is when we take trips up to the city. These days it seems to have become more common for insane people to take there final acts of aggression out on crowds of innocent people. For these situations if I did need to draw and fire I would prefer to keep as much distance as I can between me and the A.H. doing the shooting. The nice thing about the standard 640 is that I can swap out the front sight so my sight picture is nearly the same between it and my M&P340. On the other hand there's no reason to spend the money on a pistol that won't offer the advantages I'm hoping for. Although it would still make a great gift for somebody now that xmas is coming up.

I did just what you suggested...I put the XS-Sight Regular-Dot on my standard M640. Works very well out to 25-yards.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[JohnRippert]

I think the sights alone make it worth the scratch. That is the only thing I would change on my two 640-1's.

 

[dubshooter]

Speaking of the active shooters, at 25 yards, even with faith I could make the shot with adrenaline pumping, my biggest thing I consider is how many people are running in between me and my target that may run right in front of me when I pull that trigger? Or who or how many people behind him?

But that's a side note. I think you will be very happy with either 640 you purchase. Very easy to carry tucked appendix IWB.

 

[Bill In Texas]

I, like Continental Op, like my carry guns to have as close to the same sight picture as possible. My main carry is a 640-1. I painted the front sight bright green and blacked out the rear. I did the same with my bug, a 637-2 with a bobbed hammer spur.

Now, I'm no long distance shooter, but this works for me out to 15 yards or so with either gun. My recommendation would be the standard 640, however either makes a great carry piece!

 

[Jingles]

I got a Pro because of the sights and they turned out to be the better than I hoped. They are the best sights I have ever found on a compact defensive revolver.

Smooth action, moon clips, fluted barrel are all just icing in the cake compared to the sights.

 

[springer99]

Personally, I suggest you actually look at the nite-sights on the Pro version to make up your mind. I had a Pro version of the Model 60 and the nite-sights were so small as to be almost useless from a practical standpoint. I don't use moon clips so I find that the standard 640 is fine for it's intended purpose.

 

[1sailor]

This is where you guys living in a city have an advantage. It's a long drive for me to any real gun shops and usually impossible to even find a pistol I want to look at. Finding two that I can compare side by side has never actually happened.

 

[les.b]

Well, I have a bunch of these little guys, and I love the sights on the 640-1 Pro Series. Here are some of my centennials together, where you can compare them a little.

Best Regards, Les

 

[digiroc]

640 Pro Series is worth it ...

I have three J frames in .357 Magnum and the 640 Pro Series is the only one that I run Magnum ammo in.

The Crimson Trace laser grips offer an air channel over the backstrap that reduces felt recoil to manageable levels.

The night sights on the Pro are the best of any J frame that I have handled. This feature alone make the Pro Series worth the price of admission.

The Model 60 Lady Smith has the lightest pull and best trigger of all the J frames. The small wood grips are great for concealment but harder to hold onto with Magnum loads so I feed it +p's in .38 Special.

Putting an XS Big Dot Tritium front sight on the Lady Smith makes it an excellent carry gun.

The 360PD AirLite is the lightest, by far, of the three but this very lightness makes it a beast to shoot. Great to carry, but difficult to manage the blast and recoil.

Under a pound loaded and holstered. Shown with the CT laser grip that has been moved to the 340 Pro. I'll be getting another CT grip for this ultra lightweight J frame to help with recoil.

With J frames you pays your money and you makes your choices. If I kept only one, it would be the 640 Pro.

digiroc