New Model 19 Strength

[41special]

Watch this. This respected shooter claims the M-19 is now stronger than any L or N frame. I found that statement quite surprising.


41

 

[Kivaari]

Kinda' makes me rethink the new mfg if your going to put a lot of 357 down range.
Wow, sure don't want Miculec shooting at you even at long range.

 

[b737lvr]

Revolver guy did a long write up sourced from his interviews from smith & Wesson employees about the improvements that have been made to new revolvers. The short of it is that the MIM parts are actually harder than the post WWII parts (post WWII parts were soft steel pressed parts that were case hardened, not forged like most believe). The two piece barrel allows for a hydraulic machine to perfectly torque the barrel while providing a perfect sight alignment. The barrel pin lost its functionality after WWII as the pin no longer touched the barrel. The frame mounted firing pin is more reliable and resilient. There’s more but I can’t go through it all.

But yes, the current production Model 19 is the strongest best built model 19 ever made.

 

[swagmeister]

When Jerry speaks, people listen!

 

[cadmike]

I heard him say “strong as”, not “stronger than”.

 

[instymp]

Love my new Carry Comp.

 

[41special]

I heard him say “strong as”, not “stronger than”.

I hear him say....stronger than L frame, and stronger than N frame.

 

[BoulderTroll]

I heard him say “strong as”, not “stronger than”.

I hear him say....stronger than L frame, and stronger than N frame.

If you turn on closed captioning, he says, "stronger than L frame, as strong as an N frame". That said, closed captioning is not always accurate. I think it depends on whether the CC was done manually or by AI.

 

[jamesallen]

Watch this. This respected shooter claims the M-19 is now stronger than any L or N frame. I found that statement quite surprising.


41

Note that he says at 2:37 "If you wanna shoot .357 Magnum you can do it till the cows come home." Apparently once the cows get home you have to stop, since the loud noise probably scares them.

 

[BillyMagg]

Note that he says at 2:37 "If you wanna shoot .357 Magnum you can do it till the cows come home." Apparently once the cows get home you have to stop, since the loud noise probably scares them.

Nah! the cows don't mind the noise, but they want to be fed! Nothing is more demanding than an old Heifer looking for some alphalfa

 

[stansdds]

Well... the redesigned K-frame 357's are definitely stronger and more durable with full power ammo than the original design K-frame 357's. The barrel shank is not as thick as that of the N-frame, there simply is not enough room for that diameter of shank. I'd say the new K-frame 357's are probably as durable as L-frame 357's and few people will ever shoot enough 357 Magnum ammo in one to wear it out.

 

[Beancounter81]

Also, the redesigned K-frame 357's do away with the forward locking bolt for the extractor rod. Instead,
the forward lockup occurs with a ball detent at the front of the yoke, which is supposed to be stronger.

 

[Yendor357]

The new Model 19 stronger in the barrel area than it used to be, and that’s all well and good. There’s more to a gun’s strength other than barrel shank size. And yeah, I get it. It locks up differently. But it’s still a K frame.

But there’s no way a19 cylinder is as strong as that of an old 6 shot 27.

I find it hard to believe that a 27 or a 686 is going to shoot loose before one of the new 19s.
I like Jerry as well as everyone. But never forget from whom his paycheck comes.

 

[mckenney99]

S&W engineers may have designed stronger and more durable guns but if manufacturing and assembly continues to drop the ball on quality control, all the money spent on design is wasted. I'm sure Jerry is just sent the next gun off the line for his evaluation, just like the rest of us. (sarcasm)

 

[65Whelen]

They came out with the L-Frame to address the issue that the K-FRAME couldn't hold up to a steady diet of heavy 357 loads. Which I think was an excellent move. Now it appears S&W came up with some creative design changes to address the K-FRAME shortcomings, kudos to S&W. And if Jerry says it's so, when it comes to revolvers he's the man and I don't doubt it. Does this mean the L-Frame is going away? I hope not I'm waiting for a 10mm L-FRAME. Or? Maybe a 10mm in the new K-frame.

 

[Yendor357]

You have to admit, S&W has a lot better marketing team than Bud Lite. Jerry gets paid to say nice things about Smith and Wesson.

Anything they did to the K frame, if they did anything but the barrel shank, they could also do to an L or an N. In the same design, bigger and more metal means stronger.

K frame stronger than an N? Before I believe that, I’d need report from an independent source, not a company spokesman.

 

[Beju]

I can see the current Model 19's internals holding up better than a pre-MIM L-frame or N frame for the reasons b737lvr stated, as well as heat treatment/stress relieving being more consistent these days (which probably extends to curent production springs as well). Guys like Darryl Bolke and Steve Shields (High Desert Cartridge Company owner) can tell you about how the original L-frames certainly addressed the K-frame forcing cone issues, but other parts still broke with a steady diet of Magnum practice.

Devil's advocate with that durability claim with the modern revolvers, I can see the K-frame putting less wear on the cylinder stop. I remember on another gun forum several years back, there was a guy documenting feeding his current (then-new) production Model 66 a steady diet of Magnum rounds. He eventually stopped documenting it because the Model 66 just kept trucking along. IIRC, it was mostly 158 gr, but better metal heat treatment probably also withstands 125 gr better as well.

Shooting rapid DA like Jerry Miculek can be pretty rough on cylinder stops and stop notches. FWIU, the K/L/N frames are all using the same cylinder stop, and with 6 shot models in particular, the L and N frame cylinders are likely to have more inertia due to wider diameter, heavier cylinders. Higher capacity cylinders may have less weight in the cylinders themselves, but then you've got the added weight of an extra round or two (at least for the first shot or two).

 

[SWFan27]

I own a 66-8 and a 19-9, and nothing is going to hurt them. At least when using factory ammo.

 

[richrd]

No doubt the new guns are stronger. But I still prefer the 19-3 I'm buying. Film at 11:00