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S&W Airweight
FGColonel
Member Posts: 18 ✭✭
I RECENTLY PICKED UP A STUBBY AIRWEIGHT AND THERE IS NO MODEL STAMPED ON FRAME, RIGHT SIDE BBL 1 7/8 STEEL BBL SAYS AIRWEIGHT 38 SPC CTG SQUARE DIAMOND GRIP S/N GRIPS YOKE FRAME MATCH C406XXX RAMPED FRONT SIGHT, SEE 4 SCREW HEADS TRIGGER GUARD, 2 FRAME AND 1 FRONT GRIP TAG SAYS MODEL 10 CASE HARDENED TRIGGER AND HAMMER MAY BE ALLOY FRAME, ON SURFACE ON CYLINDER ARM 48127 THEN LOOKS LIKE A m AND A 6 OR A 9 NO S/W LOGO ON LEFT SIDE FRAME. DEFINITE A ALUMINUM FRAME STEEL CYLINDER AND BBL, WAS WONDERING WHAT MODEL IS THIS , COULD IT BE A PRE MODEL 10 BUT THE AIRWEIGHT IS THROWING ME OFF,AND YEAR OF MFG , NO BOX, VERY LITTLE CYLINDER WARE S&W LOGO DIAMOND WALNUT GRIPS MINT WITH CHECKERING , THANKS update 6 shooter alum frame checked with magnet, steel cylinder and bbl no model 12 stamped anywhere, thanks for the information. the auction tag had it listed as a model 10 , there is no s&w insignia on left side of frame either , i will try to post pics this evening, thanks for all the help and info. Marc update the auction was an estate sale of my neighbor who passed away recently. He was a career lawyer and was a CO in the Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB, he was 83. I was out of state deer hunting during auction and had my neighbor pick it up if it went for a certain price. THey had advertised 3 model 10's and this one was the only stub nose and only one with diamond walnut grips, i didnt have a chance to talk to the auctioneer but i was very happy when i seen it. bbl and cylinder looks like a polished blue if that makes a difference. never mind what looks like scratches on frame, no model number on crane either
Comments
Those little snubbies, particularly Airweights, are no fun to shoot.
Tremendous muzzle blast and very heavy felt recoil, along with a giant flash, combine to make them very unpleasant, unless you're shooting SOMEBODY.
Frankly, I'd find a different firearm.
You could maybe try standard load .38 Special range loads, but you aren't going to make those nasty characteristics go away.
Practice is very important.
Maybe an all-steel J frame, or a steel K frame 3" would help.
Best wishes.
Hope you hang around - this is a great place. Take a look over at the "General Discussion" Forum as well.
Doug
I carry a Magnaported S&W 340 Airlite Sc. loaded with 125 gr. of Federal's low recoil .357 magnums. Muzzle flip is greatly reduced, and recoil is a bit more manageable.
I most certainly like that little gun.
Magnaporting will reduce the felt recoil and perhaps different grips will help with control.
She'll be able to hit with them.
Weightwise and sizewise the Airweight J-Frame S&Ws can't be beat.
I preferred Uncle Mikes Boot Grips over factory wood grips.
The short muzzle also makes quite a loud "bang" and provides lots of muzzle flash too, which adds to the subjective unpleasantness.
A firm (I'd say "deathlike") grip is critical to controlling the recoil on these light revolvers.
As a suggestion, I've done the "Pepsi" challenge with this very gun, and going from the factory issue compact two finger "boot" grips to full sized padded three-finger grips improves the PERCEIVED recoil immensely.
The factory issue grips are GREAT for concealment, but the fact that your pinky is left flapping in the breeze makes for a potentially uncomfortable and weak grip. You really need to squeeze down with your WHOLE hand to get a nice good solid grip, plus the extra surface area of the larger grip spreads out the recoil over a larger part of the shooting hand, meaning less "slap".
Swapping to an all rubber full hand grip (eg like the Hogue or Pachmayer) makes a BIG difference; its like night and day.
The only drawback is that these bigger grips can compromise concealability. In a purse, I doubt this will matter, but the larger grips make carry in many pockets impossible.
Stock "boot" grip (edit: the Smith stock boot grip is made by Uncle Mikes).
Three finger-type grip (this one is a closed backstrap Hogue):
One other quick thing. A friend of hers carries a .32 revolver. It is S&W 432 I think, not really sure. The wife likes the look and feel of this gun but has never fired it. What is you opinions of this gun, or any .32 for that matter as a carry gun?
Wadcutters in the gun she now has will not only be pleasant to shoot, the larger mass of a .38 delivers more energy to the target by staying IN the target. The 1st generation of US Air Marshal's used the .38 WC for exactly this reason.
The only thing I would suggest besides WC's & a larger rubber grip is a set of Woolf springs; it's possible that the heavy trigger pull is a contributing factor to her dislike of this gun.
Neal
Magnaporting may be an idea too.
Personally, I wouldn't. IMO porting is best left to competition type guns that are being shot in good light and can receive high maintenance.
Yes, this will reduce muzzle flip, but besides being expensive, magnaporting increases both muzzle flash and noise.
Both of these things already contribute to the perceived unpleasantness of firing a .38 snubnose.
Increased flash in particular could be a problem with a defensive gun in a low light situation.
quote:
What is you opinions of this gun [Smith 432], or any .32 for that matter as a carry gun?
Edit: Sorry Smtih 432 is in .32 H&R magnum (not .32 long). I had .32 long on the brain from that last post from Polite Psycho.
IMO .32 long is obsolete for self defense nowadays. If that's all I had, I'd use it, but there are better choices out there in my opinion, even for recoil-sensitive shooters.
The .32 H&R magnum round is ballistically similar to .380 ACP in that it fires a relatively light bullet at high velocity.
You can duplicate these ballistics using the .38 special with light weight bullets, plus then you get the flexibility to use the heavier loads *if you want to*.
Personally, If I'm going to be carrying a gun the SIZE of a .38, I'd want the ability to have that power, if necessary.
Only real advantage of the .32 is the ability to hold one more round in a similarly sized gun. But again I'd still rather have 5 .38+Ps than 6 .32s.
Two significant disadvantages of this round are that it can be considerably harder to find than ordinary .38 special, and if you do find it, its going to cost quite a bit more money. More cost = less practice per dollar.
In factory ammunition, those full wadcutters are your best move.
When it comes to grips, the more hand filling they are the more any recoil forces will be spread out in the hand.
The best grip option for taming felt recoil is a wider, soft rubber grip that covers the rear of the grip frame - as shown in beantownshootah's second pic. The thicker and broader this layer of rubber between the web of the hand and the wide/flat upper portion of the grip frame the better.
quote:Originally posted by Fred Dodd
Magnaporting may be an idea too.
Personally, I wouldn't. IMO porting is best left to competition type guns that are being shot in good light and can receive high maintenance.
Yes, this will reduce muzzle flip, but besides being expensive, magnaporting increases both muzzle flash and noise.
Both of these things already contribute to the perceived unpleasantness of firing a .38 snubnose.
Increased flash in particular could be a problem with a defensive gun in a low light situation.
quote:
What is you opinions of this gun [Smith 432], or any .32 for that matter as a carry gun?
Edit: Sorry Smtih 432 is in .32 H&R magnum (not .32 long). I had .32 long on the brain from that last post from Polite Psycho.
IMO .32 long is obsolete for self defense nowadays. If that's all I had, I'd use it, but there are better choices out there in my opinion, even for recoil-sensitive shooters.
The .32 H&R magnum round is ballistically similar to .380 ACP in that it fires a relatively light bullet at high velocity.
You can duplicate these ballistics using the .38 special with light weight bullets, plus then you get the flexibility to use the heavier loads *if you want to*.
Personally, If I'm going to be carrying a gun the SIZE of a .38, I'd want the ability to have that power, if necessary.
Only real advantage of the .32 is the ability to hold one more round in a similarly sized gun. But again I'd still rather have 5 .38+Ps than 6 .32s.
Two significant disadvantages of this round are that it can be considerably harder to find than ordinary .38 special, and if you do find it, its going to cost quite a bit more money. More cost = less practice per dollar.
I VOTE FOR A 110gr hollow point in .38 spec....a stopper with low recoil
But all in all, I say practice with the weakest, lightest .38 you can find. And then carry a .38 round that is evidenced to be more of a man-stopper. Reason being that if even a weak, small woman is attacked, during that attack she will have so much adrenline pumping that she will not notice even if she was shooting a .44 magnum in an effort to stop her attacker.