Speedloaders for J Frame S & W

[russp1]

My 442 has the lock, her 642 (with pink grips) does not. We've put about 250 rounds through each so far with no problems.

 

[surveyor47]

With only 250 rounds, you really dont know how the gun performs. As my gunsmith explained: "John, you have carried this gun for years without ever really shooting it and never knew what problems it had or didnt have. Now that you are shooting it, you are finding the problems that have been there since day one. Send your gun back to S&W."

 

[russp1]

I get problems can develope over time with anything (guns, motorcycles, refrigerators) but I don't see how firing more rounds would cause the guns to quit dropping the spent shells; at least as long as I keep it clean.

 

[surveyor47]

You have to shoot the gun to know EXACTLY how it performs. My J's each have had no less that 1000 rounds each through them and I shoot 100 rounds practice every quarter. You cannot take it as a matter of faith that the gun will operate as intended. Very frequently, a brand new gun has to go back to the manufacturer for adjustment or replacement of parts. These are not the 1950's and 60's when S&W was producing the finest handgun ever in the history of the world.

"NEVER TAKE AN UNPROVEN WEAPON INTO BATTLE"

 

[russp1]

We put 50 rounds through each J frame and 100 through our Sigma every month to keep current so we should know soon enough if the guns are worthy of the trust we're giving them.

 

[J. W.]

My 442 has never given me a problem ejecting empties if I give the ejector a good smack. They will hang up if I ***** foot around with it though. Its the nature of the beast with the short ejector's.

FWIW, I like HKS speedloaders and many times will carry one in a jacket pocket and a speed strip in the change pocket on my jeans. Generally speaking I find speedloaders to be too bulky to carry.

 

[everReady Rob]

My goodness, don't let this become personal surveyor47.

My experiences are w/my 642-2 and are related in MY statement about reloading via speed loaders, NOT YOURS in which you choose to take a very liberal interruption of my statement.

I have not had the experience you have had w/your 642-2.

Okay, ?, over, done. No more from me.

 

[surveyor47]

Absolutly nothing personal intended and I hope that nothing is interpreted that way.

What I am trying to point out is that many people, myself included, are guilty of not adequately testing guns through shooting on a regular basis. There are those who say that these guns are intended to be "carried a lot and shot a little" and people consequently dont shoot them very much. I have learned the lesson of "never taking an untested weapon into battle" (Ghost & the Darkness- Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer) through repeated failures of (2) diferent brand new S&W revolvers, requiring multiple trips back to the factor to make them right. I have also seen bramd new S&W revolvers owned by security guards fail on the range. I dont believe that it is valid to assume tjat a gun is in proper operating condition simply because it is new and well maintained. I have seen too many failures of new guns - including my own- to make that assumption. The police have a good policy to require qualification with backup weapons, because it not only tests the shooter, but the weapon as well.

I bet that you dont see these kinds of weapons failures on S&W semi automatics, because if you did, they would not have police contracts very long. This is something reserved for the public.

 

[everReady Rob]

I agree with EVERYTHING you said, and well said it is. I'll buy you a beer or a doctor pepper if we ever should meet. I'm in Colorado, and I'm not kidding. Life's too short man, let's go shoot some paper.

 

[surveyor47]

Hey Bob,
Look what happened to a guys Ruger GP100 on the 2nd shot! Talk about a snubbie!

Not a good way to start the year... - Topic Powered by Social Strata

 

[photoman]

surveyor47 makes an ~excellent~ point regarding thoroughly testing a gun before trusting your life with it. I can't tell you how many times I've been shocked by someone telling me they carry a gun that they've never shot. Yikes!

I've shot thousands and thousands of rounds through over a dozen different J's, just about all of them Airweights. I've never had problems with any of them ejecting empties I'm happy to say. I would be very reluctant to ever use the gun in question for anything other than casual shooting since it has proven to have problems with ejection.

 

[Dump1567]

I like the HKS, as I use those regardless of frame size.

I love the Pachmayr compact grips (got big hands). I took a dremel to the side of the grip until I felt confident the HKS worked properly.

 

[Savoy6]

I like the Jetloader, which nobody has yet to mention, best for J frames. (They're available from Brownell's.) They are very similar to the Safariland Comp III. However, they're also long like the comp II, which may be a drawback to carry in your pocket. For me, these have been far superior to any HKS loader.

 

[photoman]

I've used the Jetloaders and found them to work very well.

 

[sam3]

jetloaders here to.

 

[Faulkner]

I use full moon clips with my moon clip version 442. Open cylinder, dump moon clip with empties, drop in loaded moon clip, close cylinder, resume shooting.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Jetloaders here, in K-frame. Great! The best! Safariland Comp I or Comp II for everything else, but I'm sure Jetloaders would be slightly better if I had them.

 

[Szumi]

WRONG on a 642-2!!! at least mine and it has been back to S&W 3 times over cylinder issues.
Open cylinder.
Hold gun vertical.
Hit ejector rod with left hand.
MANUALLY REMOVE 2 or 3 empties with ends of cases still in chambers.

Grab the star, pull all of them out. The rod is short, the travel is long enough. So far my 442-1 is dropping cases but it is new and clean.

Szumi

 

[SR]

I shoot revolver in ICORE, IDPA, Steel Challenge, USPSA, and the new sport PCCA.

Any time I've seen a S&W with extraction problems one or two of the holes in the cylinder are slightly oblong. We see it on old guns and new guns. (Yes, that's right, I said we find the problem on older guns also.)

On new guns S&W is great – they send you a mailing label, you drop it off at a UPS hub and about 10 days later it’s back. On my 625 they changed the cylinder, reclocked the barrel and found one or two other items that they fixed.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

I found speed strips work just fine for me. They are easy to conceal (I keep two in each jacket I wear) and with practice it's amazing how fast you can reload. That's the key, practice.