New Classic Series from S&W

[Mohawk]

    Anyone bought and range tested any of these beauties yet? I wanted to know before I bum money off of Hammerdown, and SB to purchase me a couple......

[Ken ONeill]

I passed through Kansas City 2 weeks ago on my way to go Buffalo hunting, and stopped in Cabela's. They had a Mdl. 22, a 3 1/2" 27 and 1 of each of the 3 versions of the 1917. I was in temporary deep lust, but I wondered the same questions you are asking. I was particularly wondering about the chamber mouths on the .45's, being concerned that they might be the same too-large specs as the originals, rather than the .452's of the 625's. Anyway, I left them all laying there...Cabela's was pretty proud of them.

[GLC]

I bought a Model 25 Classic in 45 Colt a few months back.  Chambers are uniform at .452.  With light target loads (Unique or Titegroup powders) and 255 LSWC bullets, it shoots real nice.  Very accurate and mild to shoot.  I bought mine locally for a decent price.  Cabela's in Hamburg, PA has a few of the classics and they are really pricey there too. 

[Hammerdown]

    Anyone bought and range tested any of these beauties yet? I wanted to know before I bum money off of Hammerdown, and SB to purchase me a couple......

Hello Mohawk
I have seen the retro revolvers and although the fit & finish was Decent, they no way compared to the Originals. Sadly, I can buy the original ones at a cheaper price than the new Retro-Line. I suppose if selection of the classics in your area is limited, it is an Option to buy the new ones, but I will always Pick the vintage originals over the new ones...Here is a classic Pair for you to Lust over the model 25-2 in .45 ACP and the Model 25-5 in .45 Colt Caliber.. Hammerdown

[Kenneth L. Walters]

    Anyone bought and range tested any of these beauties yet? I wanted to know before I bum money off of Hammerdown, and SB to purchase me a couple......

This is Smith's third attempt at this.  The first were the Heritage revolvers from their performance center.  Then there were some revolvers of this sort made specifically for Lew Horton's.  Now these.  I have experience with the first two.  Liked them both.

[Turk]

I originally wanted an old 1917 and could find a few in the $500-$800 range most of these would require re-bluing and the cylinders were not very tight.  The ones in great shape ran in the $1350 range up.  Yes I know it’s a mortal sin to re-blue an old gun but I want gun that looks good not one that has character?  I then looked at the 1917 Classic yes I know it has a lock and a transfer bar for the firing pin but things change and I you can’t go with the flow don’t buy it.  My daily shooting load is a Redding dropped bullet SWC in 250 grains with Accurate #9 behind with LBT lube it’s a accurate load.  For my woods carry I use Speer’s 200 gr. Gold Dot +P here in Ohio it will take care of any four or two legged predators we have. If your looking for a nostalgic feeling then by all means get an old original but for a shooter the Classic is a great choice.  I really like the feel and weight over my 57 or 629 and it is accurate.  I wanted a flap holster to carry it and had a Welby style made at http://www.ourbanditleather.com/id103.html the top holster on the web site is my holster and it is well made and I highly recommend their holsters.

Turk

[Davemuzz]

This is Smith's third attempt at this.  The first were the Heritage revolvers from their performance center.  Then there were some revolvers of this sort made specifically for Lew Horton's.  Now these.  I have experience with the first two.  Liked them both.

This m-29 PC is my latest Smith acquisition. I traded a Colt Gold Cup that was sitting in my safe for 2 years doing nothing but collecting dust. I hate it when a gun just sits there doing nothing. So, I went to gun-broke-now and found a guy to swap for this. Great accuracy! The factory wooden grips are a real joy to shoot as they just seem to absorb any recoil the gun has.

[dbriannelson]

Posted some of the problems with my new Model 21 here.

-Don

[Davemuzz]

Don,

Did you give Smith a call about this leading issue and the roughness of your forcing cone? Or, it would seem to me that you should be able to smooth this out with some bore paste and some kind of tool that Brownell's sells?

Dave

[dbriannelson]

Dave, I didn't call Smith.  Even if they'd offered to fix it, I'd still want the 11-degree forcing cone and open throats for cast bullet shooting.  On another forum somewhere I read a long, detailed account of the history of S&W and Ruger and bullet diameters and such.

Bullet makers reduced the diameter of their bullets to reduce pressures in the .44 M.  Ruger left their throats the same, while S&W reduced throats to match the smaller bullet diameters to sustain accuracy.  But in doing so pressures, especially for normal .431 cast bullets went up and serious leading ensued.  So I'm bringing the throats back to where they should (and used to be) be for cast bullets - I never use jacketed pills anyway.

The S&W forcing cone at 9.5 degrees is actually pretty close to the agreed optimum for cast bullets of 11 degrees, but cutting a new one gives me an excuse to buy the tools.  And of course the tools give me excuses to buy more .44 revolvers.

BTW, the forcing cone on my 351PD is pretty sad too, but jacketed .22 Mag bullets don't smear lead and I'm not much concerned about accuracy with that one.

-Don

[Davemuzz]

10-4

[CyberSniper]

I recently bought a Model 24 Classic in .44 Special, and a Model 27 Classic in .357 Magnum.
Been using cast bullets, and so far leading is not a real problem.
The .44 seems a bit less prone to leading than the .357 Mag.
I have not used very heavy loads in the .357 yet either, just target type speeds.
Both guns appear to be pretty accurate, no complaints there.
There are some minor differences on these, compared to vintage models.
The grips appear to be the same as used in the past at first glance, but they are thinner in fact.
I was able to put a pair of vintage grips on the .357 without any problem, but
oddly this was not the case with the Model 24. Vintage grips did not want to go
on without some fitting. I find this odd. Back in the day, I never had this problem.
The bores on both appear to have pretty deep grooves also, for what it's worth.
They also appear much smoother than vintage bores did. The lands look like
a mirror finish, very shiny.