Smith Model 40 Centennial

[4011]

I think I want one of these model 40's. Anyone have are have you heard any good and are bad things about the new ones ??

Thanks

 

[JcMack]

I assume you want a new repro. The best thing is they have no IL. They also don't have the little pin hidden in the grip that lets you deactivate the grip safety. The new ones I've handled I've had some problems maintaining the grip safety off while fireing. That could be my problem. What will you use it for?

 

[J.P.60]

I suggest you do what I did - find an ANIB early issue Model 40 and go with it. I paid $600 for pistol, box and papers and have seen them for a bit less and a bit higher.

Unfortunately, my 23 year old daughter loves it (she has a Kimber she CCW's) and, so, it'll be hers for Christmas. I, on the other hand will simply buy a 2" Python I've been eyeing and it's price is double the Model 40. Oh well...

 

[skipr77]

My blue Model 40 is due to arrive from Bud's any day now so I will let you know after I shoot it how it (and me) do. It will make a nice companion to my NO IL 442 that I carry all the time!

 

[Tracer_Bullet]

I have a 40-1 in nickel, it's a good little carry gun. I had to get a Tyler T-grip for it so it would fit my hand better, and I am now very happy with it. I had no problems with depressing the safety, but feel more confident that it is fully depressed now that I have the T-grip. It hits dead-on to point of aim out to at least 7 yards (the farthest I have tried shooting it so far), is easy to slip into a pocket, is rated for +P ammunition, and it has gone "bang" every time I have pulled the trigger. My only gripes are that the nickel finish could have been a little better (seems to have some very light stippling on the side plate) and the serrations in the grip safety make my palm sore after several cylinders of +P ammo. I can't complain too much though, I got it on sale for $100 off and got an additional $50 rebate from S&W.

 

[Loco Weed]

I bought the whole works. I have a 40-1 in nickel, plain steel and color case hardened. Also, to round out the style, I have a 42-1 airweight. Sorry, haven't fired any of them yet... they have become safe queens.

 

[BudD]

I've owned one of the new Model 40s, a blue one, for about a year. It's a pretty little thing.

I shot a few hundred rounds with it the first week I had it, and found that the grip safety was bruising the bone at the base of my thumb. I got a Tyler T-grip for it, and that pretty well solved the problem.

I also found that my gun came very stiffly sprung from the factory, including the spring for the grip safety. At the direction of a couple of guys on this forum, I clipped 2 or 3 coils from the very stout grip safety spring (the safety comes out easily after you remove the grips), and now it takes just a reasonable amount of pressure to depress the grip safety -- still more pressure than required for the grip safety on my 1911.

I also put a lighter Wolff rebound spring and hammer spring in it. That sweetened up the trigger pull, and not once has it failed to go boom in the couple thousand rounds I've shot since then.

 

[JcMack]

The original 40 was introduced as a kind of "repro" of the Smith safety models. The idea being a small childs fingers were not long enough to pull the trigger while deactivating the fairly heavily sprung grip safety. The originals included a very small pin sandwiched between the grip panels that could be used to deactivate the safety. To bad the feature is not included on the new ones. A friend of mine used to borrow my 40 for his wife when he went out of town. They had 3 girls under 5. His wife was gun savvy, but preferred borrowing my 40 as opposed to keeping one of his 44 Rugers in the drawer by her bed.