Models 619 and 620

[CW3RDL]

Are L Frame Model 619s and 620 still in production? If not did Smith give an explanation?

 

[murphydog]

They are not; these were intended to replace the K frame models 65 and 66 with a lighter L frame alternative, but by that time the semi-auto duty gun ship had already sailed.

 

[k22fan]

They are not; these were intended to replace the K frame models 65 and 66 with a lighter L frame alternative, but by that time the semi-auto duty gun ship had already sailed.

I have my old life guard rescue hold around the revolver market keeping it afloat in the wake of the semi-auto duty gun ship.

I suspect the reason the 619 and 620 were dropped is their non-full lug style barrels were only manufactured as "two piece" barrels and "two piece" barrels weren't accepted by the conservative revolver market. It could be S&W's marketing department confused the "two piece" barrels' negative impact on sales with a lack of interest in non-full lug 686s.

The only other non-full lug L frames I know of are Mountain Guns and a 5" distributor special made in the mid 1990s.

Member Scooter123 loves his 620 and likely will add info when he spots this thread.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I bought one of each when they came out. Both shoot very well with a slight nod to the 619 in accuracy. The two-piece barrels got slammed badly by breakage problems experienced by a police agency. There was lots of talk on this forum about it.

If you put a bad product out these days the internet will destroy it quickly. The only hope to save it seems to be a total recall. However, the market for 619s and 620s is so small S&W apparently chose to drop the product.