S&W 547

[razmuz]

I understand that this revolver was the most expensive to manufactur that S&W ever produced.  The 9MM revolver was made for the French government.  When the contract fell through S&W sold what were left to the public.  How rare are they?  Are they priced above most revolvers of this type?

[g8r]

The 547 was basically a model 10 or 13 made in 3" roundbutt or 4" squarebutt and chambered for the 9mm. The difference was the way the rimless 9mm cases were extracted. Instead of the normal star extractor used for cases with rims, the 547 used an arched titanium leafspring built into the ejector. This was, to the best of my memory, one of the first uses of titanium in the firearms industry and at a time when titanium was considered hard to work with. That's the reason for the added expense.

I have a 3" and wouldn't part with. It's actually kind of unique how you can pick up a case out of the cylinder even if it fell off the ejector just by dropping it back down and letting the spring pop right back into place.And no damn moon clips to play with.

Hope this helps. :wink:

[S.B.]

Rare, some what. Expensive, yes.

[poules'deau]

Razmuz,

The M547 is pretty scarce.  S&W produced approx 10,240.  Published production dates are 1980-1985,  however due to problems the first units,  beginning with s/n 6D, were not shipped until 1983 and ended in 1984.  The 3" are RB while the 4" are SB.  You can find them on the auction boards from time to time bringing $750 and up.

Good luck in your hunt.

Jim