Smith and Wesson Dark Side?

[RDLouks]

First of all I want to go on record and state that I DO NOT agree with Chuck Hawks in this article. I just posted it for any Forum Member that may not have read it.
Any Opinions?

The Dark Side of Smith & Wesson

[bruce]

CH has an opinion... and a nose, just like everyone else. His personal experiences are his own. He has a right to his own opinion. He does not have a right to his own facts. And, his personal experiences do not constitute anything more than his own experiences. Were his experiences the norm, S&W would not likely be the largest handgun producer in the world. If he feels that S&W has given Colt, Glock, etc. a raw deal, tough. S&W is not required to cut them any slack in a competitive environment wherein manufacturers routinely are informed by the developments/improvements, etc. made by other companies. Why... if memory serves me, Colt only was able to develop the 1873 Peacemaker after the White patent, owned by S&W, expired. Of course there are other examples.

[DocZeus]

Never heard of Chuck Hawks before......If half of what he said was true, than S&W would have been out of business YEARS ago.

S&W has had some issues in the past, with management and quality control, but as a whole, I've found their revolvers to be excellent weapons. The old "Bangor-Punta" days, and the Klintoon Sellout, too, have been black eyes on the company, but they've survived it, and done better. The Internal Lock seems to be their biggest problem these days, at least the biggest PERCEIVED problem, by the owners. I've only bought one "new" S&W in the past 15 years, a Model 649 last year, and after performing the cursory "lock surgery", it's been a great carry gun and accurate shooter. But, the fit and finish was not even CLOSE to the "old days", that's for sure.

DocZeus
AKA
David

[bruce]

Re: OP. Just a brief further comment. A little over a year ago I found and bought a NIB 21-4 Thunder Ranch revolver. For years I'd looked for a 21 that I could afford. But realistically there was no way I could afford the prices commanded by nice 21's in very good to excellent condition. The new 21-4 that I bought ha a round butt. I would have preferred a square butt. It has MIM parts. I would have preferred the more traditional parts. It has the internal lock. I would have preferred no lock on the revolver. That having been said, this 21-4 demonstrates a level of fit and finish that is in every way fully the equivalent to any S&W revolver I've ever owned or fired, and I've been buying and shooting S&W revolvers since 1980. Further, I've owned S&W revolvers made from 1960 forward. The polishing is without exception outstanding. The bluing is flawless. Some object to the Thunder Ranch logo on the sideplate. For me, it doesn't matter. Some may object to the roll stamping on the barrel. Personally I much prefer it to the laser method that S&W has used. This 21-4 is wonderfully accurate with both standard .44 Special ammunition as well as the 200 gr. Gold Dot H.P. loads. In fact, the revolver hits POI at POA w/ the Gold Dots at 15 yds. The single-action is crisp breaking like crystal, the double-action is outstandingly smooth with no glitches, etc. I put a pair of Pachymer presentation grips on the pistol just to see if I would prefer a square butt grip. I concluded that for me, it really doesn't matter.

[Forester]

No one appreciates Chuck Hawks more than Chuck Hawks.

[RDLouks]

No one appreciates Chuck Hawks more than Chuck Hawks.

Are you trying to say "He is a Legend in his own Mind"?

[Forester]

Are you trying to say "He is a Legend in his own Mind"?

Did I beat around the bush too much?

[Forester]

BTW, S&W certainly is open to fair criticism based on some poor business decisions they have made over the years.

[19and41]

Yeow, he has cut and pasted nearly every detrimental thing S&W has been involved with! He hasn't kept track of any resolutions, though. I see he didn't write about S&W driving Colt into the grave by stealing the closely guarded secret of the 1911A1's design from them. I guess the AR15 design wasn't quite Colt's to steal, but I'm sure S&W had impure thoughts about that too.