The Revolver Lock Nobody Asked For
BY Herschel Smith
1 month ago
Chris Baker does a good job with this video.
Twice he has to say, “But look, I’m not a lawyer.” He should have said, “I’m not a lawyer, my parents were married and I have never eaten puppy meat.”
Anyway, I have S&W wheel guns that do have the lock, but probably wouldn’t have any others. Like Chris, it’s beyond me why S&W would continue to do this in spite of the legal requirement going away.
Chris failed to mention that while S&W was having a hard time financially before this ill fated decision, their choice to include a lock almost killed the company.
And yes, I can ignore the hole (although I’ll probably remove the locks at some point), but it’s wrong to say that wheel gun aficionados mostly ignore it. I can tell you they don’t. Or actually, Chris said regular shooters mostly ignore it – which may be true.
But aesthetics matters. And as for malfunctions, you bet that matters (although I suspect that comes primarily from limp-wristing the gun).
Finally, I’ll remark that it’s duplicitous for the NRA to have done this while at the same time supporting the Clinton era AWB, and before that the NFA and GCA, and the Hughes amendment, and after that the bump stock ban.
On February 13, 2025 at 8:09 am, jrg said:
A lot of people complain about Ruger inscribing each and every firearm with the ‘You Can Get Free Information About This Firearm’ because it really looks tacky, at least to me. But refusing to buy the Ruger because of it – nope, I don’t see it. It still makes me shake my head though.
The same with the Winchester ’94 lever safety button on the rear receiver that relocated to top of tang. Yucky, but they bought the rifles, grudginly.
On February 13, 2025 at 10:04 am, george 1 said:
S&W is testing the water. What that test will show them is that their sales will go up significantly in favor of the guns that are lockless. They now make lockless versions for the J-Frames, the L-Frame and the N-Frame guns. Those frames are probably 90% or more of the revolvers they make. The newer Colt revolvers are probably eating in to some of their market share to boot and of course have no lock.
I would imagine that the demand for the models with the lock will decrease rather quickly. I have a couple with the lock. Not sure I would sell them to get the lockless ones but if I ever purchased another I would buy the lockless versions.
My guess is S&W will continue to sell the lockable versions. They will probably sit on the shelves if the no lock versions are readily available.
On February 13, 2025 at 1:11 pm, Original Grandpa said:
Well, not on topic- but we just had a carrier collide with a merchant ship in the Med…
On February 13, 2025 at 2:20 pm, Chris said:
Also not on topic – but a file picture of the Carrier (USS Truman) shows it to be a rust bucket. Maybe Trump can institute some military discipline and get our naval vessels cleaned and painted, and looking like a first world navy again.
On February 13, 2025 at 5:11 pm, PGF said:
If they throw in the biometric fingerprint safety I’m game. Redundancy matters.
On February 13, 2025 at 7:12 pm, Dan said:
AKA. The Hillary Hole…..
As for the NRA…with friends like the NRA, gun owners don’t need enemies.
On February 14, 2025 at 8:20 pm, Steady Steve said:
The NRA is rapidly becoming a has been, footnote among gun rights organizations. It will be an example of what not to do re 2nd amendment advocacy to future generations.