S&W 625-5 Sad Story

[Doug M.]

Wow. I'd have been all over the idea of a 4" MG barrel on that gun. That would be unique, or nearly so, and a much more useful revolver. I hate the full lug barrels with a passion. Ugly and annoying. I had one revolver with one (a 5" 625-6 Lew Horton) that got stolen, and I miss it. That's the only one I would not consider changing the barrel on, because it was so well built.

 

[wng-2]

I bought this 625-5 in .45 Colt back in '94 brand new. It was one of my favorite Smiths. The 5" barrel was just the right length, the gun balanced well, and was a pleasure to shoot. On top of it all, it was in .45 Colt. The gun has an "SDS" serial number, which meant it was a stocking dealer special. Not too many of them made from what I understand, and they only went to the larger S&W dealers at the time.
Anyway, the sad part of the story. I was shooting the gun a while back, and all was going well. Shooting at 25 yards, the gun was grouping as well as I could shoot it. I took a few shots on a new target and didn't even hit the paper. Took a few more shots and still not on the paper. My first thought was that the rear sight had gotten loose, and so I checked and everything was tight. Nothing seemed wrong, so I took one more shot. Still not on the paper. It turned out that the barrel cracked right at the frame. It did not split lengthwise at the forcing cone, but broke almost all of the way through just in front of the threads. The barrel was skewed off to the right, and I believe that one more shot would have blown the barrel clear off the frame.....I was able to unscrew the by a few threads to take these pictures.
So...after the shock wore off, I contacted S&W and told them what happened. They asked that the gun be returned to them for warranty repair.
Long story short, S&W fixed the gun no charge...Except, they didn't have any barrels like the one that came with the gun. All they had was a 4" barrel, or one of the new (ugly) mountain gun barrels. I had no choice but to have the 4" barrel installed. On top of it all, I asked Smith to return the original barrel to me. They assured me that they would, but I never got it back. It turns out that their policy is not to return old parts from a warranty repair....
Now, I'm looking for an original style barrel to put back on this gun. It's a 5" full underlug s.s. barrel with laser engraving on both sides. Left side of barrel has "Smith & Wesson" and "45 Colt" and right side has "625 Classic".
It also has the interchangeable front sight.
If anyone knows where I may be able to find a barrel like this, I would appreciate it. My searches so far haven't turned up anything. Thanks for reading this long post,
Steve

Did you ever find out why it failed? I bought the identical gun today. # 366. It's a sweet shooter. But now I am wondering if I should shoot it?....

 

[murphydog]

Did you ever find out why it failed? I bought the identical gun today. # 366. It's a sweet shooter. But now I am wondering if I should shoot it?....

The OP just passed his seven year anniversary - of absence from the Forum. Probably best to start a new thread for other opinions.

 

[wng-2]

The OP just passed his seven year anniversary - of absence from the Forum. Probably best to start a new thread for other opinions.

Thanks, I bought the gun yesterday, and was actually on the Internet searching for a holster, and bumped into that thread. I really like the gun. I was wondering if that failure was a one off, or if it happened to others as well....

 

[ken158]

I would keep the gun as is since it is unique and factory and just buy another 5" if you miss that model so much.

 

[452x6]

I have a friend who has had an SDS 625-5 Classic for a long time and has shot it quite a bit. He hasn't had any problem at all. I believe if barrels were routinely popping off of guns it would get a lot more press than this old thread. The truth is that any mechanical item can fail in a variety of ways due to a manufacturer defect or mistreatment.

One thing you do need to be aware of regarding any S&W 45 Colt revolver is that there are multiple power levels of 45 Colt ammunition available (as well as reloading recommendations). Stay away from any load labelled as "Ruger Only". While a load like that probably wouldn't flat out blow up your S&W 625, it is a lot of stress on it mostly due to the thin spot in the cylinder at the bolt notch. Due to the large case size of the 45 it is considered the weak point for the 45 caliber S&W N frame. The 44 is enough smaller cartridge that it allows 44 magnum pressure to be safe in essentially the same gun. The 45 Colt S&W is definitely not weak, but not as strong as a heavily built single action revolver.

BTW, There were only something like 1550 of the 625-5 Classic guns made so it is a bit rare and is highly regarded.

 

[wng-2]

I have a friend who has had an SDS 625-5 Classic for a long time and has shot it quite a bit. He hasn't had any problem at all. I believe if barrels were routinely popping off of guns it would get a lot more press than this old thread. The truth is that any mechanical item can fail in a variety of ways due to a manufacturer defect or mistreatment.

One thing you do need to be aware of regarding any S&W 45 Colt revolver is that there are multiple power levels of 45 Colt ammunition available (as well as reloading recommendations). Stay away from any load labelled as "Ruger Only". While a load like that probably wouldn't flat out blow up your S&W 625, it is a lot of stress on it mostly due to the thin spot in the cylinder at the bolt notch. Due to the large case size of the 45 it is considered the weak point for the 45 caliber S&W N frame. The 44 is enough smaller cartridge that it allows 44 magnum pressure to be safe in essentially the same gun. The 45 Colt S&W is definitely not weak, but not as strong as a heavily built single action revolver.

BTW, There were only something like 1550 of the 625-5 Classic guns made so it is a bit rare and is highly regarded.

Thanks, great information. I reload for .45 Colt, so I can do accordingly. It's a sweet shooter being as heavy as it is. It would be a shame to not shoot it.

 

[ddixie884]

I'm probably the only one, but I like the 4" 625s better than the 5".................

 

[HamHands]

I love this place

I've ordered Smith and Wesson and Mossberg surplus parts and Numrich had the best shape OEM parts. A walnut stock set needed no sanding or refinishing to complete a WWII style 12-Gauge trench-gun clone that is just beautiful.

Numrich bought out most Smith's vintage parts deemed vintage parts that likely wouldn't be needed for servicing such as all 3rd gen Smith semi-auto's, etc...

 

[ddixie884]

My .45 Colt M-625-5 Mountain Gun

I am so glad everyone is safe and that S&W made it all right.

But I almost stopped reading when he said ugly mountain gun barrel.

Is one of my favorite S&Ws and really shines with 250 to 260 SWCs and JHPs on 9gr of Unique or Universal or 18gr 2400. Of course a lot of my shooting is done with lighter powder charges but full weight bullets. 230 and up...........

 

[Scrateshooter]

I would keep the gun as is since it is unique and factory and just buy another 5" if you miss that model so much.

Have you seen how much those 625-5s are going for?

 

[StrawHat]

I am sorry I could not sleep about this

Ugly really?

What are we seeing here? A Mountain Gun in 45? And a Model 22-4, 45 ACP?

Both are good looking revolvers. I have a few 4", 45 ACP revolvers.

Kevin

 

[steve696]

The OP just passed his seven year anniversary - of absence from the Forum. Probably best to start a new thread for other opinions.

I'm still around...I haven't checked this post in a while, and other hobbies (hot rods, even more expensive than guns) have taken up most of my spare time. Still active in shooting, but not the 625-5. I never did find another barrel, although I still see the 625 Classic for sale now and then. Mine has just been sitting in the safe unused for some time now.
I still intend to have this re-done though. If I decide to invest the money in it, a custom gunsmith (Bowen perhaps) should be able to replicate the original, even down to the DX style interchangeable front sight. The only thing that may not be duplicated is the original laser engraving on the barrel.

 

[wellthought1]

Glad you didn't get hurt. Sorry your gun did that. I know how hard it is to lose a great Smith & Wesson revolver! I've lost them simply by selling them when I needed the money really bad. I hope you can find a suitable replacement barrel that makes you happy about the gun again.

 

[Green Frog]

Bowen has stopped working on Smiths... but if it is a barrel change, Andy Horvath of LaGrange, OH would be a good man to call. Neither of them does reboring themselves though. They both use specialty shops for that. I had Andy build my Project 616 and he laser marked the new caliber on the rebored 617 barrel.

Froggie

 

[cmj8591]

I know this is a very old thread, but that is a breathtaking barrel failure! I've seen a lot of broken guns but I've never seen that.

 

[steve696]

Thanks for all the kind words...
Had I to do all over again, I would not have sent the gun back to Smith, even though it was a warranty issue. Had the service department told me at the time that I would not receive the original barrel back, I would looked to someone else to repair/restore the gun. I even contacted the Performance Center at the time and they were unable (or unwilling) to help.
It's still a shooter, just not a favorite anymore.