Chiefs Special 45 ACP

dfletcher

Just bought one in a local gun store, old stock NIB. They're harder to find in CA so I probably paid too much. But I like the small 45 ACP pistols & recoil doesn't bother me.

Can anyone relate likes or dislikes about the pistol, what they may have changed, upgraded or in general fiddled with? I don't like the grips and have read on the S & W forum how to switch out with Smith factory "delrin" grips for the 4513, 457 series. Requires a bit of cutting & finesse - if anyone's done that or knows where to get good wood grips that would be great to know.

charliemeyer007

With a 3.25 barrel I'd be making sure it was loaded with Bullseye or W231.

rufe-snow

My experience with a old stainless Deltonic,(the one with the rear sight over the ejection port). Was opposite of Charlies. It wouldn't lock back after the last shot in the mag. Using fast burning powder, (Bullseye). Had to use Unique. Guess it had something to do, with the short barrel and burning rate of the powder?

yoshmyster

What was S&W .45ACP I saw not too long ago for $1200? My buddy picked up a S&W 1026 about the same time or that price. If I could've scraped up the $1200 I would've but at least I know where one is now. Anyways the days of $500 Gen. 3 S&W is long gone.

I had to send back my S& 1076 for the "faulty" de-cocker back in the late '90's/very early 2000. I asked them while they had her to swap out the grip with the straight backed one.

Now if you're going to mod out a factory grip I'd rather buy a Hogue and do that. Now the Hogue rubber grips will be wider and they might still have wood grips for your Smith.

62fuelie

I had a 4516 for some time, it is the direct ancestor of the Chief. The fix I found for the grips was to put a slip in grip cover - Pachmayer or others with the small palm-swells in them. One thing I found out the hard way is that you can't run the longer magazines for the 645 in them UNLESS you use some care inserting them in the mag-well. If you slam it home mine snapped off the nose of the ejector just a neat as you please. Otherwise it is a pretty good shooter and gobbled up 230 gr. Hydra-Shok with no problems.

dfletcher

quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
My experience with a old stainless Deltonic,(the one with the rear sight over the ejection port). Was opposite of Charlies. It wouldn't lock back after the last shot in the mag. Using fast burning powder, (Bullseye). Had to use Unique. Guess it had something to do, with the short barrel and burning rate of the powder?


Funny you mention the Detonics - that was my 1st shorty 1911, got it about 1979 and still have it. About 10 years back I bought a stainless MkVI to go with it. I used to load a H & G 260 grain SWC that was intended for a 45 Colt, the thing feeds everything. That and the 260 grain Speer with 700X IIRC always worked well.

If Gen 3 Smiths are hard to find in the real world they're harder than heck in CA.

I bought two factory sets of grips for the 4513, supposedly these make good donor grips for replacing the Hogues - bought two in case I screw up one. I understand that the thing kicks a bit, but the oversized rubbers are just way too big.