Wishy Washy...it never ends!

[Nightcrawler]

Well...just when I had more-or-less decided to buy a 3" 629 Trail Boss to compliment my 5" 629 classic (and for easier carry), I noticed I'm getting a hankerin' for a 625 again.

I had a 5" 629 Classic. I sold it to Correia because I wanted a .44, and the 5" full-underlug N-Frame is a bit much for a mere .45ACP. (Fun to shoot, but weight inefficient.)

But...I can get a thousand rounds of .45ACP ammo from Georgia Arms for $130.00 less than the same amount of their practice .44 Magnum LSWC loads. It'd share ammo with my autopistol, wouldn't beat me up so much, would let me focus on my revolver fundamentals (which need work), etc. All of the reasons I, you know, bought one in the first place. :banghead:

Heh. Charlie Brown, you blockhead! Stop being so wishy-washy!

I'll get a 4" this time if I do get one. The extra inch doesn't do much for a .45ACP and the weight isn't necessary.

Still, I'll have to think it over. I wish they made a 3" 625, but the only one available now is a limited run of blue-steel guns from Lew Horton. I know this is blasphemous, but I actually prefer stainless steel and full-underlug guns.

Oddly, the "standard" 4" 625 has been discontinued, with only the "Jerry M." Model now available. (Though, the JM model has better sights than the flat black sights, I just don't like the grooved trigger. I bet my dealer's distributor still has some of the standard 4" guns in stock, though.)

 

[sm]

1. Go by Larry's shop with cash with Wishy-Washy list.

2. Larry surprises you with one of these guns when it comes in.

3. You of course buy lunch and bring a bag of M&Ms when you arrive to pick this gun up.

4. Repeat the above.

5. Wishy-Washy list, and upcoming lists are resolved.


Larry, you are welcome.

 

[Nightcrawler]

You know, I might as well stop kidding myself. I should just give Larry my trust fund, my life insurance, half of each paycheck, and just sleep on a cot in the upstairs of FBMG.

Think of all the awesome guns I'll have!

Seriously, you know what my problem is? (A flurry of people speaking up, raising their hands, offering suggestions, etc.) I keep thinking that I can find this one handgun that'll be my gun and then I'll be happy with it.

In reality, I think I just enjoy shooting too much to settle down like that...

 

[Iggy]

I keep thinking that I can find this one handgun that'll be my gun and then I'll be happy with it.

Whut you been smokin' Willis??

I been lookin' for 50 years and ain't found the right one yet. It's sure been fun lookin' though!!!

 

[20nickels]

I've never shot a five inch, but my underlugged four feels pretty well balanced. I would purchase or trade that grooved JM trigger from you if that made your decision easier, I actually like those, contact me if interested.

 

[mnrivrat]

Get the 4 inch 625 and cut it down to 3 inch - now you have "your" gun.

 

[Stainz]

I bought one of the first 625JM's. After the second moonclip, I hated that sharp-edged trigger. Still, I loved shooting that thing - it was as good or better than my previous 4" 625-8 sold some 7-8 months earlier. That night, as I rebandaged my finger, I cut a couple of lengths of emery cloth - and dehorned that trigger's sharp edged grooves. A friend bought one last year - and wisely did the same thing to his prior to shooting it the first time.

The easily changed front sight is great - mine finally got a HiViz Overmolded Front Sight (.250 red - Brownell's #638-000-052) the first of this year. It changes in seconds. I loaned it to a range friend at a steel plate challenge earlier this year... had to go after it before he 'acquired' it - great sight.

I like the grip - a sort of acquired taste. Mine came with an eased ejector star, for fast reloads, and must have had the best 'new' trigger I've ever tried... post de-horning those sharp edged grooves, of course. Nothing wishy-washy about it - a great real 'big bore' revolver - and frugal, both in ammo cost and recoil.

It's odd how we keep the 'search' for the ultimate revolver up. Even with glee of the 625JM, I, too, went back to looking. It is a form of gluttony... I'll be back at the 'pusher's' this afternoon - for my weekly drool-fest. Still, odd how we react - I love that 625JM - the JM PC627 V-Comp I traded for over a year ago - my first S&W, a 625MG - all treasures. What goes to the range EVERY trip lately? A LNIB 4" .32M SP101 bargain from the first of this year - something I had really been looking for. Oddly, after regripping, respringing, and cleaning up the action, it is pure fun. But, without my basement ammo-factory, the 625JM would be more frugal to shoot - and easier to find ammo for, as well. Get the 625JM - and some emery cloth!

Stainz

 

[Z_Infidel]

I've been kinda wishy-washy on the 625 as well. I once owned a 4" 625 and liked it, but sold it to fund another N frame with a tapered barrel. Now I've decided I liked the full underlug for shooting the .45ACP and wish I still had it. But then I ask myself "what's it for?" (sorry for the Cooper-ism). Yeah they're fun guns to shoot and that's good enough reason if you can afford it, but I've really come to like shooting the FBI load .38Spl+P in revolvers because of its relatively low pressure and good effectiveness.

So, I've kinda standardized on .45ACP in my pistols (1911 guy here) and .38 for revolvers. If I ever need a big-bore revolver for protection out in the field it will likely be a .44 Magnum. I would still enjoy shooting a 625 but to tell the truth I have really taken to my new production S&W Model 10 -- what a great shooter it is. Now I'm trying to find a blued GP100 in .38Spl to compliment it. But someday I suppose the lure of the 625 will prove too much for me... again.

 

[Brian Williams]

I can't quite love an N frame, but a 3" 625 in 45ACP would be sweet. So would a 58. other than that I really can't quite love Ns.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Ah, the 3" N-Frame. Ever since the original 3.5" FBI Magnum way back when, there's been something about it.

Check out this 625 at Hi-Powers and Handguns. LINK

 

[crebralfix]

3" N-Frames with square butts in 45 ACP are available now.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Yeah, but...why put a square butt on a short barreled gun? It just adds bulk. 'Sides, I prefer stainless.

I'm really leaning towards getting the 4" 625. So the Jerry M. model has improvements that the standard 4" 625 doesn't have? It's worth the extra money?

 

[Brian Williams]

I have talked with Mark Hartshorn at Pinnacle High performance guns and he is not impressed by the JM series. He had a JM gun in his shop that had a horrible trigger pull. Just get the standard version unless you NEED the replaceable front sight. Not worth it to me, I do not like a sharp trigger or the grips, I do like the gold bead front.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Well...I want to put night sights on it, is all. Hmm...

 

[Stainz]

The JM was initially $27 more, MSRP, than the standard 4"/5" models. Now, it is up to $40 more. The gold bead Patridge sight will cost you more than that... and have to be pinned on a 'standard' 625. Yeah, it's worth it for the front sights alone to me... seconds from now, I could have the searchlight HiViz off and that Patridge back on. The hard-chromed hammer & trigger 'look' a lot better than the MIM parts. The trigger may be a crap-shoot, but if they all have the eased ejector star entries, add another plus. If you don't like the JM grip, I have some Hogue/S&W's I don't need... I have become accustomed to that JM grip. My wife insists that 'JM' means 'John's Money', so...

The main thing is to get what YOU want and like. I sold my first one because a salesman insisted that the 625MG to be produced next was in .45 ACP - and I love the partial lug look. Wrong! I sold my fine 625 for no reason, except 'I didn't like full lugs!'. As a genius explained - after I sold it - you don't see the lug when you are shooting it! Life was once again bliss, for ME, when I got the 625JM 2/05 - ordered locally for $10 over the in-stock 625 prices. My cut trigger finger healed over two years ago, so I see it today as I remember it - a true bargain in a new S&W.

John (aka 'Stainz')

 

[Nightcrawler]

Thanks for the info. My grip of choice is actually Pachy; the Hogue grips make the gun point funny for me.

It might be worth the JM to get that interchangable front sight. I'm not digging the logo on the side, but whatever.

I'll price some things this weekend and see what's what.

 

[steveracer]

What you want is cheaper than you think.

Get the model 22 non TR, with pinned front site.
Get it Hardchromed if you have to have that type of finish.
Get a front tritium site pinned in.
.45ACP pencil barrel 4" with the site you want and finish fr about $850
Will that work?
Steve

 

[KINGMAX]

Get a S&W 686 in .357 w/ a 4 inch barrell, fill lug

 

[20nickels]

Nightcrawler,
"It might be worth the JM to get that interchangable front sight. I'm not digging the logo on the side, but whatever".
Agreed, that is the ONLY thing I don't like about my 625JM. My initials are not JM. Unless this becomes some kind of collectors gun, and I doubt it, I will probably put something over the logo. I picked up a box of lead today for 1/2 the price of the other boxes of .45 bullets because ACP autos won't feed them. This revo kicks a--.

 

[ewayte]

It looks like the 625JM is the only 4" 625 being offered by S&W at this time. Why they kept the 5" and dropped the 4" is beyond me...

 

[Billy Sparks]

You are aware the the 625 with a 3" barrell and in stainless has been produced aren't you? They were made for Lew Horton in the 90's and you can occasionally find them on Auction Arm or Gun Broker altough I can't find one now. I know because I had one, bought it for IDPA and my attention changed.