I just traded into an old S&W 645, with 3 mags. These were only made a few years (1985-1988). For those not familiar these were (are) 2nd Gen, single stack 8+1 .45s.

Cool old school .45. Now all I need is an alligator named Elvis and a Ferrari.








Pics are not the highest quality. I used my phone since it was handy.

Cool old gun. I had the 745 for a while.

Walk down memory lane, right there. Good snag.

Nice....I have the third gen 4506 progeny. Fun to shoot and reliable to a T.

4506 resides in the nightstand for me. If I run out of bullets I can beat them to death with it.

That, sir, is a beauty.

Nice...and a set of Pachmayers.... Always thought about getting the same gun in 10mm...

I had one years ago, bedstand gun. Cool gun, but it was a heavy monster. Also had a CJ7 at the same time. Still wish I had the CJ7.

The funny thing about the weight is that this .45 seems heavy to me too, but specs put it as .1 pounds lighter than a 5" 1911. 2.3#s vs 2.4#s roughly.

Great old white outline, orange ramp sights. Very easy to pick up quickly.

If you want to cheap it, polish the slide with Mothers Mag polish and buy a cool pair of sunglasses.

A thought occurred to me that this might make a good platform for heavy .45 loads, like 250 Cast bullets with stiff charges that approach .45 super.

The big down side is that as far as I know parts are pretty much like unicorns or tolerant liberals.


From research many owners indicate that the 645s were/are UBER reliable and known to even feed empty cases.

We will see.

Believe it or not, there is an alligator farm about 30 minutes from here! We have some geothermal pools in the area, and the gators love them. It must be like living at a spa!

On one of the facebook gun sites there is a guy in Boise selling a 4506.

I was issued a 4586 years ago as a trooper and absolutely detested the gun. It was DAO with a horrible trigger. You could knock the fight right out of an aggressive person with it though.

I had a car chase, then foot chase that ended in a dive bar and since my gun was in my hand, and the guy decided to fight, it was used effectively. He literally crumpled to the dirty floor.

I carried the then new 4506 as a duty gun in the mid-80's before switching to the 4506-1 when it was introduced. They were both reliable pistols and we had no trouble with them.

As you're likely already aware, that platform isn't supported by the factory so plan accordingly if you plan on shooting it much.

Magazines are getting harder and harder to find and prices are up proportionately.

In 1980-84 I was working for a KCMO suburb, surrounded by that city and a 10 minute drive from their Metro Patrol Division. Of course we attended their Academy and I'd shot well and made friends in the Firearms Training Section. Might have been spring '84, but I got a hush-hush invitation to examine and shoot a new S&W 45 Auto!! No cameras and keep a tight lip, Patrolman.

It was, of course, the 645; hawked like PT Barnum by a company rep whose name I don't recall. It was the "best 45 Auto EVER! It would FEED EMPTY CASES!!" It did feed empty cases, most of the time, but when I got my turn it choked at least once per mag with the 230 FMJ the guy brought along. He says "Haven't shot an auto much?" I said "I carry a Colt MKIV, been shooting a 1911 since I was 18." He suggested they'd sent bad ammo. I asked for 14 rounds to run through the Colt that was under my jacket. No deal.

In all fairness to the 645, I saw a half dozen at qualifications I ran over the next 15 years; and I shot most of them. All ran fine and they were quite accurate.

So there's my trip down memory lane with the 645, Mackay. If my experience with the model is any indication, the odds heavily favor you getting a good one.

Let us know how it shoots

Bad ass Mackay.




Travis

I've never owned one but shot a friend's pretty extensively. I have owned a 1006 and it was the best 10mm I ever had. Short on firepower, compared to a Glock, but not much chance of a Kaboom this side of 2k fps.

Now that I think of it, that friend doesn't have many guns currently. One he does have is his dad's 4506 from when he was Chief of Police of the county seat. But I believe the one he owned back when we were shooting was indeed a 745. IIRC, the dept. went from 681's to 4506's. At some point before that they had 38-44 Heavy Duties.

And here I thought Sonny Crocket carried a Bren 10.....
Got to try a 745 once. In spite of the heavy, gritty trigger, it shot groups as well as my best 1911....
Never owned either the 645, the 745 or a 4506, but I do own a 1006. Just shot a 2 inch, 4 rd. group at 24 yds. with handload Barnes 155 gr. TAC-X bullets. Somebody knew how to make those guns right. E

One of my favorite gunsmiths specializes in S&W and he says something a little cruder than unicorns about parts availability for autos of that vintage and older, but essentially the same thing.

I would shoot the [bleep] out of it anyway, and figure I'd had a good time.

Oh,

He did use a Bren ten at first. According to the interwebs though it was actually a "Bren ten in .45".

By season 3 he ditched it in favor of the S&W 645.

That is pretty much what I tend to do,even with formerly cherry 29-2s. I figure if I shoot one to the point of disrepair, that I can hang it on the wall and recall all the fun I had with it.

I believe if you put in a heavier spring and use .45 Super brass this gun will take it... The 10mm version of this gun was very highly thought of... Jim Cirillo loved them... If that design will run 10mms it will run .45 +P+...

A soft lead 185 grain hollow point at +P+ pressure would be just the ticket for some of those bazillion jackrabbits in Mackay's neighborhood.

Maybe when the current CIC leaves office he can come play Tubbs to your Crockett; you guys can be runnin' buddies and clean the Cuban narcos out of Arco...

And when you get tired of that, you can re-live your early LE days and pistol-whip the worthless POS.

I had a 4506 for a few years; great gun, bought it because I was watching the full-run of "Miami Vice" on Netflix. Figured it was cheaper than Armani clothes or a Ferrari

MidwayUSA has some small parts and springs still available for the 645. Some third gen parts may work as well. I've installed second gen 9mm safeties into third gen guns, you might be able to backfit a third gen safety and delete that fugly screw thingy.

Numrich also has a few parts.

I had a 4516 when they first came out, and have a 1076 on the night stand right now.

Very cool old Smith. They are a hoot to shoot and will stand up to some stout loads.

The 645 I used to have, digested a bunch of 230 grain Lead Ball, and copious amounts of Unique.

Very nice. I picked up this M39 six or so months ago and it is just a great piece to shoot. Comfortable, accurate, just easy to shoot well.

There wasn't much that looked better in basket weave back in the day. I think the NDHP carried them for years, they replaced their 586's

I am afraid there might be an accidental "blue on blue"

Glock killed the bad ass Smiths.

It's a shame too because they're beautiful and awesome and more better than any 1911.



Travis

..just always gotta be pokin' a finger in someone's eye...

Bob,

Not at all.

They are beautiful. They are awesome. And they are most certainly better than any 1911.





Travis

Now you just need a Galco Jackass shoulder holster to carry that fine old S&W auto in. I beleive that was the holster Don Johnson used in Miami Vice.
I never owned the 45acp version of that Smith, but I carried the 10mm version of it, the S&W 1006, before I finally bought a Glock 20. Wish I still had the 1006, as it was one accurate SOB.

Very Nice

Beautiful gun & I'm very envious.

But it just can't possibly be any good 'cause the safety/decocker is on the slide & all the Beretta haters tell me it's so.

MM

Please feel free to elaborate & enlighten us.

MM

I knew two LEOs whose guns hit the ground out of those rigs when the thumbsnap came undone...one officers twice...both threw them away...

I was just going along with Mackay's "Miami Vice" theme

What were they doing? Backflips? Or did they lighten the fit of the snap to make it easier to release the thumbsnap?

As they come from Galco, the snap is really quite hard to open.............just sayin'.

MM

Love the bobbed grip.

Montana Man is right. I bought a Miami Classic a couple three years ago for carrying my G21 outdoors. I normally use an EPS Tanker for bangin around in the mountains but apparently watching Miami Vice during my formative teen years influenced me years later because I bought the Galco rig.

I pulled the new holster out to check the gun fit before assembling the whole rig and the pistol would barely go in. I backed the tension screw out and pounded the gun into the holster, only to notice the thumb strap was so short the two snap halves weren't even close to meeting. I called Galco convinced that a G17/22 holster has been mis-stamped for a G20/21.

Galco's CS guy assures me that I just need to break in the holster. I eventually do, but it took soaking the thumb strap and pulling like crazy to get it snapped, followed by additional soakings while snapped to get the leather to take a set. Friggin' ridiculous.........

I've got one of the Galco Jackass rigs for my 1076. The snap on mine has never given me any trouble. I don't do backflips, though.

......only cartwheels!

Maybe axsuplex or two if Bobby is around.

George

(sorry Mackay!)

Yep,

I think this old hunk of steel could use a rabbit hunt to draw "first blood"!

I will keep that in mind. If the recoil spring is any indicator, I do not believe this thing saw much use, and it is very clean inside, with minimal indicators of wear.

As far as a Galco shoulder rigs go, while Looking very cool on screen, I will have to pass. The Tanker rig, while out in the hills is fine, but overall I detest shoulder rigs. I did check, and one of my IWB Safariland rigs fits perfectly, as does a thumb break rig I have from when I was issued a full size M&P.

I am not going to spend a bunch of $$ on this guy for leather, as I doubt it will get into the rotation of serious carry rigs.



Travis is doing a fine job pushing buttons with the 1911 comments!

Having a 5" single stack .45 without a grip safety, and great sights out of the box is pretty cool though. Plus the front and back strap checkering is first rate.

S&W did a very fine job on many of these features. I agree that the Austrian wonder pistol totally destroyed the popularity of 3rd Gen Smiths in police circles.

That is a fine looking old service auto. I have noted that prices on these old guns is beginning to creep up. A few years ago, you could barely give these surplus guns away, and now I see guys getting into bidding wars on certain variations, especially .45s and 10mms.

As only he can do in his inimitable style............

MM

[quote][/quote]Nice gun. Jealous here.

sounds like you blew another 10mm case head...

My brother has one of the 745's - I recall it shooting quite well, though for the .45 ACP I'd stick with either a Colt or a Baer

This is the oldest .45 I have at the moment. Rare to find one with matching magazine.



I have yet to find JHP that it shoots well, however. More work is indicated

I still have Dad's nickel Combat Commander, which was the first .45 I ever fired:

Neither were the type to mess with stuff...

The one guy who had it happen twice was carry a SIG. Second time he was investigating an accident and bent over to take a measurement when the gun fell out and hit heal of the butt first with the muzzle pointed right between his eyes. This would have been in the early 1990s.. The Miami Classic beck then didn't have an adjustable retainer and was just friction fit. If the thumbsnap let go the gun would eventually come out.

IIRC Sonny Crockett's Bren Ten shoulder rig was made by the Famous Jackass Leather Co., which was later bought by Galco. I don't know if TFJLC ever called it the "Miami Classic" or if that was an attempt to capitalize on the existent holster's usage in Miami Vice. I wonder if the strap was later added by Galco though.

That's kinda surprising as on all the (newer) ones I've seen right out of the package, the thumb snap is so hard to snap loose that you virtually cannot get enough leverage (backwards) with your gun hand thumb alone to unsnap it if you are gripping the gun with your palm & fingers as in a normal grip. Maybe the older ones were different.............

MM

The retro .45 got a minor workout today.

I was quite surprised by the mild recoil and easy shooting characteristics. It actually was much more user friendly than I would have thought. The sights are very easy to see, and made for tracking targets pretty simple.




I think if I had to rock a non 1911 single stack, that this would not be a bad choice.

Nice

Nice shooting!

Looks like you have lots of jacks!!! Nice shooting!

I think it is going to be a stellar winter for chasing Jacks, based on what I have seen lately.