robert1804
Member
Bought this pair new as my first on-line purchase. They arrived in perfect condition except for two slight tool marks across the rifling of the 627 which disappeared after shooting it, so no worries now. My accuracy is limited by 62 year old vision so I brought along my 14-3 with it's known accuracy load as a sort of calibration or control tool. I had 600 rounds of various .38 and .357 loads, 200 of which were swaged lead plinkers, to see if these guns had any tendency to lead.
The 627 PC favored 140 and 158 grain magnum loads and was very close to the 14-3 control gun's accuracy. It's the best gun I now have with full magnums and quite a surprise. A few lesser loads showed promise so there is some fun to be had finding an accurate light loading for this gun.
The real surprise of the day was the 27 classic 4". It's average grouping was only a little looser than the old 14, probably due to the 2" shorter barrel or sight radius. However, it wasn't the least bit picky about ammo. Fast or slow, heavy or light, the best to the worst groupings weren't very different. A 6" 27 Classic is now on my to-buy list.
After a cleaning I got another nice surprise. There was no leading. After a recent nasty leading experience with some commercial hard cast in a 586 4" classic and a new 686 6", this was a relief. The 27 and the 627 both had beautiful forcing cones and rifling. BC gap is .007 in the 27 and .0035 in the 627. I love my old Smiths but have had great luck with several of these newer lock and MIM guns.
The 627 PC favored 140 and 158 grain magnum loads and was very close to the 14-3 control gun's accuracy. It's the best gun I now have with full magnums and quite a surprise. A few lesser loads showed promise so there is some fun to be had finding an accurate light loading for this gun.
The real surprise of the day was the 27 classic 4". It's average grouping was only a little looser than the old 14, probably due to the 2" shorter barrel or sight radius. However, it wasn't the least bit picky about ammo. Fast or slow, heavy or light, the best to the worst groupings weren't very different. A 6" 27 Classic is now on my to-buy list.
After a cleaning I got another nice surprise. There was no leading. After a recent nasty leading experience with some commercial hard cast in a 586 4" classic and a new 686 6", this was a relief. The 27 and the 627 both had beautiful forcing cones and rifling. BC gap is .007 in the 27 and .0035 in the 627. I love my old Smiths but have had great luck with several of these newer lock and MIM guns.
