Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Are new S&W Airweights any good?

50 rounds of the Winchester 130gr FMJ 38spl in a S&W Centennial resulted in my trigger figure bleeding.

The gun torqued in my hand. Rear edge of the trigger eventually dug through my skin.

I suspect the 357 version would be carry lots , shoot little.

To the original question …yes

The updated sights look awesome. I would love to shoot one. But ,the updated price does not. Theses days the QC of S&W is a pot luck dinner, read that as all over the place and not in a good way!

My 2 inch airlite will last a lifetime because after 5 rounds I am done shooting it. It replaced an air weight whose frame cracked under the barrel sent back to smith and they offered and upgrade and charged me for the difference. If I can shoot 7 rounds of .380 into a 4 inch circle at 10 ft, why carry a hand bruiser that shoots 5 and is uncomfortable to practice with? To top it off I am not as accurate with it. Get a Glock 380 or a Kahr 380.

JFC not this BS again, the usual cast of geriatric Fudds lamenting some passed along tale of woe or single astronomically rare experience of poor QC that was dealt with post haste at no expense to said Fudd in regards to "newer" 'Smiths. Buy with confidence, they're great guns, probably aren't but a handful of guys here that could ever wear one out. Pre 1982 is never coming back, deal with it.

Exactly what I'm talking about in this and the N frame QC thread, Fudd when being honest has to admit that his prized OLDER 'Smith's (just like anything else) are equally capable of breaking, and that in what's left of his lifetime will never come close to wearing one out much less go through a box of shells. JFC....
Second example in this thread alone of Smith standing behind their product with excellent customer service and replacing without fuss a piece that had issues. Buy one and shoot it, you can't lose.

I recently bought a NIB 637. I've only put 37 rounds through it so far (testing different loads) and dry fired it (on snap caps) a couple of hundred times. So far so good.
I'm going to carry it with a handloaded 125 gr JHP at 948 fps. Shoots to POA at 7 yds.

Do I qualify as a geriatric Fudd at 71?

You've disqualified yourself from Fudd status, you've (gasp) bought a post 1982 S&W revolver and fired more than 5 rounds though it, refraining from steering someone away from a purchase based on nothing more than your thirst for nostalgia, or rumors of poor QC that you've "heard" about, giving results based on first hand knowledge. You're in the clear.

My oldest 642 has an unbelievable number of 148 wadcutters and 158 gr LRN & SWC at 650-750 through it. Not counted recently but it’s long broke 10k I’ve not run a lot of +p through it but I always thought it’d break before or around 10k. I go through 38 reloads like potato chips. That particular one a bent a pin on it long ago… I fudded it up. S&W fixed it lickity split. I really find all this talk about new Smiths not being any good as hilarious. For one, S&W sells a a ton of revolvers. I’ve bought 2 dozen new revolvers not a one had had a problem. I had a Ruger SP101 that was a steaming pile of $hit though. If there is something wrong with your S & W, they will certainly fix it.
S.

They're still good, still got attitude...

Great book!

The only "advantage" of 3" barrel on .38 Special is extra challenge in finding a holster one really wants. Alternative to light weight S&W are LCR/LCRx from Ruger.

Not really

Well Rugers are cheaper, in every sense of the word.
As far as recoil goes, I load my own. My 629 shoots full factory fine. I prefer higher mid-range loads.
For super light revolvers I load hard cast and not full case of H110.
The 380 ammo is the highest priced stuff out there. If you shoot much it will hurt your pocket book.
I went to the local gun shop and picked up a 380 for my daughter-in-law as a gift. I picked up a box of ammo while I was at it. The pistol was cheaper, but with only one box of ammo the price was higher than the similar 9mm with one box of ammo. Besides my son has a 9mm too.
She will not be burning up lots of ammo.
If you don’t reload, you can buy low recoil 38 ammo, I’d lean towards the 357 and shot 38 in it if recoil was an issue and if you don’t reload.

Go to a dealer with a range to rent a revolver or two along with ammo.

For me, no question at all - S&W all the way.

The best period guns to look for are those with magnum J-frame ca. 1997 or later. The internal lock came about 2002 if that bothers you. This is good if you plan shooting lot of .38 +P out of gun. The advantage to .38 with +p compatibility stamped on barrel is less cost over gun chambered for .357 magnum.

Oh hell, that was funny!