Losing The Lock

Let me begin by confessing I’m very partial to vintage early 1980s-and-before Smith & Wesson revolvers for a couple of reasons: The firing pins were mounted on the hammers, and there was no internal locking device.

I’ll admit frame-mounted firing pins make sense. I’ve got them on all of my Ruger single-action wheelguns and on my vintage Colt Python, so I’ll acknowledge the silliness of preferring the hammer-mounted firing pin. Just call me eccentric.

But the internal locking mechanism, introduced more than 20 years ago, always seemed unnecessary and a bit of mechanical overkill, but others like them just fine, which is okay. As far back as I can remember, my elders and my mentors drove it into my functional gray matter the “one truth,” which is this: The only real safety is between your ears.

My initial presumption all those years ago was that the people at whom the internal lock was aimed would probably never use it and that it just might slow down someone’s self-defense in an emergency.

I will say this with certainty, however. The folks at S&W, faced with the task of incorporating such a safety into their revolver action did it very well. I have one J-Frame revolver with a lock, and it works. My compliments to the designers, whoever they were. Its presence in my revolver has never been an issue.

So, moving right along, just before the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show opened last month in Las Vegas, S&W announced an exclusive series of revolvers in cooperation with Lipsey’s which do not have the internal lock. There is no keyhole on the left side of the frame, which became known as the “Hillary Hole,” and the mechanism was dubbed the “Lawyer Lock.”

S&W has resurrected the classic “Mountain Gun,” featuring all stainless steel construction, solid tapered barrel measuring 4.13 inches with adjustable rear sights and really handsome brass bead front sights. Chambered in .44 Magnum, this N-Frame sixgun would make Elmer Keith proud. (I will note my first question was whether this revolver will eventually be chambered for the .41 Magnum, and another guy wondered whether there might ever be one in .45 Colt. Okay, I’m eccentric in my preferences.)

I’ve fired several versions of the Mountain Gun and can say without fear of contradiction that the .44 Magnum with full-power loads came in somewhere between “awesome” and “brutal.” My guess is more people will pack the new model with .44 Specials in the chambers unless they are in bear country, where you carry a lot and shoot very little.

The third model in this exclusive offering is a J-frame snubbie chambered for one of my favorite cartridges, the .32 H&R Magnum. It is also a six-shooter, double-action only, made with lightweight titanium and it is dubbed the 632 UC Ti. The barrel length is 1.88 inches, and two versions are available, with either a black or silver finish.

For several years, one of my two favorite loads for the .32 H&R was 10 grains of H110 behind a 100-grain Speer JHP. Just because the .32 has been lately overshadowed by the .327 Federal doesn’t mean the older cartridge is past its prime. It’s a great round, and with this new S&W snubbie, I’m expecting it to sparkle once again.

Tapered Barrel Mistique

The Mountain Gun concept always made perfect sense with its tapered barrel to save weight, the 4-inch barrel for ease of packing either on foot or on horseback. With that barrel length, or even the new version with its slightly longer tube, it has the look of a wheelgun which is fast from the holster.

So, when Lipsey’s and S&W announced their collaboration, the Model 686 Plus in .357 Magnum/38 Special +P featuring a tapered barrel without the full underlug got my full attention. Built on the S&W L-Frame, it’s a seven-shooter with the same features as the .44 (i.e. adjustable rear sight, Patridge-type front with brass bead and Bear Hug grips from Tyler Gun Works). If you are prone to drooling, either of these wheelguns will turn on the spigot.

Bear Hug grips are the “target-type,” which will help tame the recoil for most handgunners. I much prefer target-style grips on big bore magnum revolvers, as they seem to fill the palm of my gun hand better to dissipate heavy recoil.

I’m betting S&W will sell every single one of the Lipsey’s models, if they haven’t done so already. Three words: stroke of genius.

Priorities

Once again, I skipped the SHOT Show this year and for good reason. I had to testify against some gun control bills under consideration in Washington state, and they are stinkers.

One measure would slap an excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition in the state, which many in the firearms community believe is unconstitutional. Another would require obtaining a permit from the police before being allowed to purchase a firearm, a proposition which relegates the right to keep and bear arms to the level of a government-regulated privilege. Also in that mix is a limit on gun purchases to one per month.

The argument against such nonsense is simple: “We’re not talking about guns; we’re talking about rights.” The “I don’t understand” facial expression is one you can identify from a hundred yards away.

Outside of the hearing room, I actually encountered a couple of American Handgunner and GUNS Magazine readers (they’re everywhere, y’know!) who were not happy about the onslaught of gun control they had just witnessed.

It is important for anyone who considers himself/herself a grassroots activist to stay on top of legislation happening in your state capitol right now.

During one of these hearings — about having to get a purchase permit from police — there were repeated statements supporting the notion gun owners should need to be licensed because people need licenses to drive or catch fish. Apparently, these people skipped high school civics, so instead of offering my intended remarks, I reminded the room that driving and fishing are privileges, while keeping and bearing arms are constitutionally-protected rights.

At another hearing, one gun control advocate let it slip that she supports adding a state excise tax on ammunition is a way to make gun ownership and shooting more expensive, which might discourage people from buying more ammunition. “Guns do not work without ammunition,” she said.

This is a revealing comment, perhaps tipping the next strategy of gun banners: Tax gun ownership to the hilt, making it prohibitively expensive for people on limited income.

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