S&W Revolver Lock Failure!(DRAT Safety Measure DANGEROUS)

Michael Bane Blog ^ | 08/27/07 | Michael Bane

[Copernicus]

Heard about the internal S&W revolver lock failing for years, but ever since my friend Charlie Petty's scathing article in AMERICAN HANDGUNNER, which essentially said the safety failures were an urban myth (and which I can't for the life of me find on the Internet), I dismissed the idea from my mind...........

I couldn't unlock it; I couldn't uncock it; I couldn't get it to fire. It took me 20 minutes of working v....e....e....r....r....y gingerly with a screwdriver to get the lock to release enough to allow me to bring the 329 to full cock and subsequently unlock the cylinder and empty the gun............

I'd say this was NOT GOOD for a gun billed as a dangerous game back-up gun!

To quote from an old bluesman I once knew, "I ain't tellin' you what I heard; I ain't tellin' you what I read; I'm tellin' you what is."

[04-Bravo]

S&W used to make some of the best revolvers in the world. My favorite is the Model 19.

But I refuse to buy a defensive handgun with an internal safety lock.

Unless S&W changes back, which seems unlikely, I won’t purchase any of their new revolvers. I get particularly frustrated when I see an ad for a reproduction of a S&W “classic”, only to see they included the unnecessary lock.

[cyclotic]

I have a 4” Model 19. Great revolver. Too heavy and big to conceal though. I also have a Springfield XD-9 Subcompact.

I was at teh range once with the 19. Fired off some UMC .357’s and had one overexpand when it fired, locking the cylinder and preventing me from opening the gun to remove the rounds. It still had live rounds so the range wasn’t going to let me leave since I had no CCW at the time. The range was at Bass Pro and they didn’t want me walking through the store with a questionable gun. Very understandable. While trying to clear it, aimed well downrange, it must have loosened up because it fired! My hand was wrapped around the cylinder and got a nice injection of lead, powder, flame etc. I set the gun down and grabbed my hand in a little bit of pain, turned around and noticed about 6 people watching us shoot through the window. I picked up the gun and fired off a few more rounds just for show, then packed up and went home. I had to go to the doctor for the burns. He just laughed.