S&W revolvers of today vs. yesteryear-which are better?

[jtcarm]

I'm pretty sure the new guns are more accurate and will work longer than older guns but I'm old and set in my ways and not going to buy one. My wife bought a front wheel drive car in 1984 and I raved and ranted but when it was said and done it was a good car and all our cars since then have front wheel drive. I can remember changing points and plugs at 5000 miles. The car my wife has now tripped 198,000 miles last week and got its first set of plugs. I expect new guns are just as well made as new cars but some of us old people just want to complain. Larry

I love the folks who complain that you can't repair your own car anymore. Well, guess what? You don't have to!
My 08 tundra has gone 150k without a hiccup (much less the mysterious acceleration ghosts!).
My Toyota-certified brother-in-law commented that was nothing.

They don't make em like they used to, and thank goodness!

 

[Big E3]

I think this entire topic is dependent on the age of the people on each side of the issue. If you grew up like I did, you most likely admire the guns of your youth, the guns a father or uncle had when you were a kid on a hunting trip. I believe that drives this topic as much as anything. I also don't have any idea what is meant by "better". Better for what holding? admiring? collecting? hunting? shooting? investment? defense? concealment? bragging? survival? The list is endless we would need to narrow it down a bit. We also don't seem to have any agreement on what is old and what is new. Would a 1969 model 60 be old or new? Oh and yes my Toyota will probably go 200,000 miles without a hiccup but I would trade it a minute for a 69 Camaro Z28 or 70 Chevelle SS454 in the same condition. I like and collect old Smith's because they can never be had again, maybe reproduced but never worth what an original is to me.

 

[hanken]

I told my nephew all these new guns have no class. They are black mate with plastic grips, no high gloss blue with those great wood grips. He is thirty one. His quick response was, they only a damn tool uncle Kenny.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[sw282]

Feb 2014 "Car & Driver" posted an article between a new Tessla electric and a 99 year old Model T Ford..From Detroit Mich to Tessla's lab on Long lsland NY..... Guess who won?? lt werent the Tessla......

Now if l could just find an early Triple Lock to race against my new PC Hunter this debate would be settled

 

[leejack]

I like them all. If I wanted a new one I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. In my neck of the woods the used prices are insane and I won't pay too much for a used gun for the status it brings on the internet. I would however, not hesitate to pay a good but fair price for a used cream puff. A real collector's piece is something all together different, in terms of value.

We all know that times and manufacturing processes have change, they don't make 57 Chevy's anymore either.

 

[TTSH]

In my neck of the woods the used prices are insane and I won't pay too much for a used gun for the status it brings on the internet.

With apologies to Yogi Berra... No one buys used anymore. Demand is too high and prices are through the roof.

 

[andyo5]

The older ones had more hand-worked parts and some were highly polished. They also have the nostalgia 'those were the days' factor. But are they uniformly better? I don't think so. There were some real dogs made during the Bangor Punta period (I had a couple of them). My newer guns have triggers as good (some better) as the older ones.
I think it may be true that more flaws are coming out of the factory nowadays, due to ramped up line rates and the need to control costs. But you can still get a great production gun and if yours has a problem they will make it right for free.
Then again, if nostalgia or brightly polished finishes are what you like, those are valid reasons to prefer the older guns in my view.

 

[DonD]

Feb 2014 "Car & Driver" posted an article between a new Tessla electric and a 99 year old Model T Ford..From Detroit Mich to Tessla's lab on Long lsland NY..... Guess who won?? lt werent the Tessla......

Meaningless comparison, done in jest. The Tesla had to deviate all over to get recharging. The Model T needed a traveling mechanic. Tesla gets rave reviews, 0-60 in 4 sec, Model T, open air motoring, 0-60 in forever not to mention being exceedingly unsafe in modern traffic.

Try the same test between the Model T and the 2014 Corvette Stingray.

A lame try at “they don’t make them the way they used to”. Don

 

[dlidster]

Before last week I believed there could be no comparison between older S&W revolvers and new ones. Of the six I own, issue dates range from 1917 to 1970. Three are pre-war and my S-prefix M&P dates to 1947. I regarded my 1964 19-2 and 1971 36-1 as being as "new" as I'd probably ever own.

However, I ran across a deal too good to pass up on a TALO Performance Center 642. I'm absolutely delighted with it. The trigger is very smooth, doesn't stack, and is just a hair over nine pounds. The anodizing on the frame and the satin finish of the stainless parts is even nicer that that on late 90s Beretta INOX handguns. And Berettas from this time period have the nicest silver-colored anodizing I've experienced to date.

(A brief aside on the Berettas. I'm old enough to be repelled by the use of aluminum in all guns as much as later generations dislike the use of plastic. But I now own six Berettas -- three of which are INOX -- because I came to understand that Beretta, at least, could do anodizing very nicely and make it durable, too.)

In the future I'll continue to buy older S&W handguns because they're just plain nice and still represent a remarkable value for the quality. (I'm not a collector -- I shoot them almost as much as I fondle them.) But far be it from me to knock current S&W production. Based on my singular experience with this 642, overall high quality, fit, and finish are still available in S&W handguns.

 

[357larry]

I will stick with the older revolvers. I have yet to find any newer ones that offer anything I just can't live without. The newest revolvers I own are a 66-4 with a 3 inch barrel and a 696-1. A couple of years ago I was a offered a 686 stocking dealer special for a sweet price. It balanced well and felt good in the hand but I just could not get past the IL and the 2 piece barrel. In retrospect, I should have bought it and turned it as I could have made some money on the deal.

Have never been a fan of aluminum, titanium, or scandium. Solutions to a non-existent problem. Make mine steel, preferably stainless steel.

 

[ChattCat]

Remember when a Big Mac was big?
Production time and manufacturing cost have changed a lot of everyday items into cost prohibitive ventures. All about more money less time!

 

[DonD]

It balanced well and felt good in the hand but I just could not get past the IL and the 2 piece barrel. In retrospect, I should have bought it and turned it as I could have made some money on the deal.

Geeze, hate for 2-piece barrels even if they are superior for high intensity rounds and contribute to accuracy. Don

 

[WaMike]

I like them both, and I'm probably in the camp of being a little reluctant to shoot a couple of my real collector firearms.

My first "new" S&W was a 21-4. Now, I know it has a cylinder that has the same dimensions (except for the chambers, of course) as a Mdl 29, and I was a bit perplexed by the round grip frame (I swear, the factory grips seem like they would fit on my J-frames). The grip issue was solved by Hogues.

Best of all, it's one of my best shooting handguns. By that, I mean accurate, nice handling, fun to shoot. As an icing on the cake, it's got that spiffy case-hardened frame (so detested by traditionalists), which never fails to impress all (except said traditionalists).

But then, I pull out my 27-1 or 24-3.......(sigh).

It's like comparing Maureen O'Hara with Jennifer Laurence. Ya' gotta love 'em both......

....except I can touch my Smiths......

 

[GM4spd]

I can't believe this questuion is being asked Pete

 

[akjaeger]

Depends if you are gonna look at it or shoot it?
In my modest collection the guns built after about 1980 are all very accurate, have the correct dimensions and usually have good actions, the N frames from the 90's on have the durability package.
The S&W's I have from the 50's 60's and 70's are much more finicky and fragile.

 

[WaMike]

.....In my modest collection the guns built after about 1980 are all very accurate, have the correct dimensions and usually have good actions, the N frames from the 90's on have the durability package.
The S&W's I have from the 50's 60's and 70's are much more finicky and fragile.

Oh, oh....stop that kind of talk. Pretty soon you'll see:

WARNING!

We have a new policy on Bashing Older Production Guns.
You are strongly advised to......



(BTW, I approve of the existing policy)

 

[jtcarm]

With apologies to Yogi Berra... No one buys used anymore. Demand is too high and prices are through the roof.

Well, ya know, 50% of your preference is half mental

 

[michaelnel]

The new ones and the old ones are both better. Let's stop beating this dead horse.

 

[jtcarm]

This is pretty much piling on now, but the gunsmiths I talk to tell me the NIM parts and lack of quality workmanship in the current production Smiths leaves room for improvement.
These changes have been brought about by corporate leaders trying to appease the stock holders. It is the same with any large company. Companies used to make products to help improve our daily lives, now they have to cowtow to their share holders.

That is the exact opposite of what I've heard from gunsmiths. They prefer MIM because they do not vary nearly as much in dimension as the forged parts.

 

[BCDWYO]

Yeah this thread is really baiting some of us to ignore the BIG RED WARNING!

I'll leave it at this: As others have stated, for me it really comes down to the IL. I actually like many of the features of the newer and current production S&Ws, but I have a hard time getting over the IL. I know it can be removed, but for some of us it is also sort of a matter of principle. I would buy MANY more new S&W revolvers if that feature was removed.