Our gunshop sells a tad over 150 Smiths a year and we are in contact with numereous other shops in our area. There hasn't been an incident of a lock failure ever reported among us since they were introduced. OTOH, anything or any component can fail on any machine. Is this similar to transfer bar safeties on single action revovlers? Again, no malfunctions reported. How about integral safties on rifles. We haven't had any reported issues here, either. Ruger has integral locks on their single action series and their Mark III series -- no failures reported. Bersa has integral locks as well -- no failures reported. Combined, these sales represent thousands of firearms over the past several years.
Will there be failures on the S&W integral lock. Certainly there will as simple product of numbers, but, I suspect it will be less than other revolver related failures that cause the firearm to malfunction, such as frame mounted firing pins, loose ejector rods that bind the cylinder, magazines on pistols that fail, ad nauseum. Far more critical to handgun problems is the type of owner maintenance or failures to maintain. As an example, there have been three cases in the last year where the cylinder was bound up simply because the owner neglected cleaning under the ejector plate and accumulated crud caused the problem.
We get to choose those things we consider critical and we get to align ourselves with any wave of hysteria that appeals to us solely on the basis of our predispositions or the inconsequential "chatter" on some subjects on websites and forums. And such it is, IMO, with the Smith and Wesson integral locks. A non issue, really.
Last edited by Handloader; 08/09/09.
