Another Good Revolver (Actually 2)--Smith & Wesson Models 25 and 340 PD

After last week’s review of a couple of good revolvers I wanted to add another one to that list, give a quick update on another revolver, and talk about a darn good semi auto as well.

Over the past several years Smith & Wesson has gotten back into the revolver game in a big way. They are also producing some premier 1911 pistols making them one of the most diverse handgun manufacturers in business today. Probably only Taurus rivals them in terms of the number of different revolver and auto pistols models being produced. My only complaint with Smith & Wesson is the going retails for their products. They are very expensive.

This year Smith & Wesson has introduced their “Classic” line. I am eagerly awaiting their re-introduction of the Model 1917, a true classic .45 ACP revolver which is set to ship in March of this year. Along with the reintroduction of their classics for the Smith & Wesson catalogue S&W has also produced limited productions of some great classics for Lew Horton Distributors. Horton has asked S&W to bring back their “Registered Magnums” which are the premium Model 27 with a five inch barrel and one with a three inch barrel. Trivia time—a three inch barreled Model 27 was carried by G. Gordon Liddy when he served with the FBI. As an update, these new 27’s will sport an eight round cylinder.

Smith & Wesson Model 25


















Today we are examining the Model 25 produced for Lew Horton which is a three inch barreled .45 ACP built on Smith’s large “N” frame. Here are the specifications:

Model: 25
Caliber: .45ACP
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Barrel Length: 3"
Front Sight: Red Ramp
Rear Sight: White Outline
Grip: Wood Square Butt
Frame: Large
Finish: Blue
Overall Length: 8 7/8"
Material: Carbon Steel Frame and Cylinder

The wood grips on this specimen are absolutely beautiful and the white outlined rear adjustable sights paired with the red ramp front sights provide a very good sight picture. My age is clearly shown when I realize that this sight set-up is now considered old fashioned, but was all the rage when I started shooting 21 years ago.









I added a Tyler T-Grip adapter to the wooden stocks to improve the “gripability” of this revolver.









How She Shot

The double action trigger pull was stiffer than I prefer, but not by much. Hopefully a little more trigger time will improve the pull. Here are the targets”









The first target was placed at 21 feet and shot with 50 rounds of CCI Lawman 185 grain FMJ ammunition.










The second target was also placed at 21 feet and absorbed 50 rounds of CCI Lawman 230 grain FMJ ammo.











The third target was shot at the same distance with 25 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ ammo.











The fourth target was placed at 50 feet and took 18 rounds of the same Remington ammo.
















The last target was placed at 21 feet for some double-taps point fired from a two handed-waist high presentation.

Update on the S&W model 340 PD

As any reader of this blog knows, my favorite concealed carry piece is my Smith & Wesson model 340 PD which is a scandium framed 12 ounce revolver with a 1 7/8 inch barrel. Well, curiosity finally took hold and I decided to try some .357 Magnum rounds. The target below was fired at 21 feet with three rounds of 140 grain CorBon jacketed hollowpoint ammunition.

Now, you may be asking why I only fired three rounds. I would like to tell you that I was being thrifty to due the high cost of a 20 round box of CorBons. However, three rounds were really all I could take. I was impressed with the accuracy however. Maybe I should load the make the CorBon the first and last load separated by three +P cartridges.

A Good Revolver

Back in the early 80’s I recall reading in Guns and Ammo magazine where the late great Colonel Jeff Cooper was lamenting the fact that many new students were showing up at his Gunsite Academy with new double action 9mm pistols or “Wonder-Nines” as they were then called. Those who are familiar with Colonel Cooper know that he was probably the greatest modern-day proponent of the Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol. Not since General Blackjack Pershing commented that he wanted one issued to every soldier in the American Expeditionary Forces of the Great War had anyone extolled the .45’s virtues like Cooper. In fact, when I first started reading Guns and Ammo back in the mid-1970’s Cooper was sort of a rebel. Almost every article was written about the Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece in .38 Special, the S&W Model 19 in .357 Magnum or the .357 Magnum Colt Python. The 1911 pattern .45 ACP pistol was pretty much only manufactured by Colt and was considered by everybody except Cooper to be inaccurate and unreliable with too much recoil. My how times have changed! Cooper was pretty adamant that the 9mm cartridge did not have the power necessary for a combat pistol and he was equally disdainful of double action semi-automatic pistols. He was frequently quoted as saying that the double action pistol was the solution for a nonexistent problem.

In getting back to the original story, while frustrated at the number of people attending Gunsite with double action 9mms like the Beretta 92 and the Smith & Wesson model 59, Cooper received a call from an interested future student who stated that he owned a .357 Magnum revolver and wanted to know if it was O.K. to bring the revolver to Cooper’s Academy. Cooper enthusiastically responded in the affirmative stating that a good .357 Magnum revolver was better than any 9mm pistol. In fact, Cooper’s affirmative statement probably began with an equally enthusiastic expletive.

So today we look at two revolvers of which Colonel Cooper would probably approve. The first is the Smith & Wesson model 22 chambered for the .45 ACP and the second is the Smith & Wesson model 586-L Comp in .357 Magnum. The model 586 is an offering from S&W’s Performance Center and features a 3 inch ported barrel and a front night sight.

Both of these revolvers offer good combat accuracy, however neither are tack-driving Match-Grade handguns. Cooper would probably approve of this as well. In one of the last columns published in Guns & Ammo prior to Cooper’s death last September the good Colonel remarked that people put too much emphasis on shooting tight groups and stated “If I was interested in shooting a tight group I would only shoot one round per target”.

I have written about both of these revolvers before however they have been slightly enhanced since I last wrote about them.

S&W Model 22 in .45 ACP

The model 22 is a reintroduction of the Smith & Wesson model 1950, which was a reintroduction of the S&W model 1917. The model 1917 was manufactured in response to General Blackjack Pershing’s desire for every soldier in WWI to be armed with a .45 ACP pistol. When jumping into one of the enemy’s trenches the .45 ACP pistol came in pretty darn handy. The only problem was that Colt could not produce enough of the 1911 .45 ACP pistols to meet Pershing’s needs. The Army turned to the two largest handgun manufacturers in the country and told them they could take all of the revolvers they could produce, however in order to keep logistics and supply lines simple the Army required the revolvers be chambered for the .45 ACP ammunition which was a rimless cartridge for use in semi-automatic pistols. Both companies solved the problem by producing stamped-metal full moon clips that held the .45 ACP cartridges in the revolver’s cylinders and aided in the extraction of the fired rounds. Colt then began re-chambering their New Service model revolvers for the .45 ACP cartridge and Smith & Wesson re-chambered their Hand Ejector model for the .45 ACP as well. The designation for both companies’ revolvers became the model 1917.

Here are the technical specifications of the model 22:

Model: 22
Caliber: .45ACP
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Barrel Length: 4"
Front Sight: Pinned Half Moon Service
Rear Sight: Service
Grip: Altamont® Wood
Frame: Large
Finish: Blue
Overall Length: 9 1/4"
Material: Carbon Steel Frame and Cylinder
Weight Empty: 36.8 oz.


The enhancement made to this revolver since the last time I wrote about it was the addition of a gold dot front sight replacing the rounded “half nickel” sight on the original revolver. The gold dot greatly aids in faster sight alignment.












Here’s how she shot:

The first target was placed at 21 feet and fired upon with 25 rounds of Remington 230 grain FMJ ammunition.















The second target was placed at 50 feet and absorbed 40 rounds of the same ammunition.















Again, not exactly match accurate, but close enough for defending yourself against two-legged carnivores.

Smith & Wesson Model 586-L Comp

One of the interesting features of the 586-L Comp is that Smith & Wesson was able to squeeze a 7th round into the cylinder so you can stay in the fight one shot longer. This revolver was a limited edition made for Camfour Distributors and featured a great set of slim rosewood boot grips. The only problem was that there was no place for my little finger and this was far from the best arrangement when shooting full power factory magnum ammunition. I replaced them with a nice-looking set of light cherry service grips augmented with a Tyler T-grip adapter. While better it was still not the optimal set-up for a magnum handgun. I finally found a set of Pachmayr rubber grips that fit the revolver and my hand extremely well. With these grips and the ported barrel shooting the full power magnum ammunition is no problem.









Here are the technical Specifications:

Model: 586 L-Comp
Caliber: .357MAG/.38+P
Capacity: 7 Rounds
Barrel Length: Full Lug 3" Ported
Front Sight: Ramp with Tritium Dot Night Sight
Rear Sight: Adjustable Black Blade
Grip: Altamont Rosewood Checkered Combat
Frame: Medium
Finish: Black
Overall Length: 8"
Material: Carbon Steel
Weight: 37.5 oz.

Here’s how she shot:

This target was placed at 21 feet and fired at with 50 rounds of Magtech 158 grain semi-jacketed soft point .357 magnum ammunition.


So here’s to Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper may you rest in peach and may your wisdom live on.

Nothing Fancy, Just Plinking

Today’s Range Report is just for fun. A relaxing morning at the range spent with a couple of Smith & Wesson revolvers just plinking away at some fun targets.

The first revolver is the Smith & Wesson Model 317 in .22 Long Rifle. This is an ultra light weight handgun and here are the technical specifications:

Model: 317
Caliber: .22LR
Capacity: 8 Rounds
Barrel Length: 3"
Front Sight: HI-VIZ Front
Rear Sight: Adjustable
Grip: Rubber Grips
Frame: Small - Chiefs Special Style
Finish: Clear Coat
Overall Length: 7 1/4"
Material: Alloy
Weight Empty: 11.9 oz.

This is a comfortable revolver to carry and to shoot. Recoil is hardly an issue, the rubber grips fit my hand very well, and the green fiber-optic HI-VIZ front sight is easy to see. Even though this revolver is produced on S&W’s small J-frame they have managed to squeeze 8 rounds into the cylinder.

How She Shot

Fortunately this revolver comes with adjustable rear sights. I had tried several brands of ammunition CCI Stinger, CCI Velocitor, CCI Quick Shok, CCI Blazer, and Federal Game Shok. The CCI Quick Shok and the Federal Game Shok turned in the most consistent groups which allowed me to dial the sights into my point of aim. The groups were somewhat disappointing in light of Smith & Wesson’s website information about this revolver which states:

“Smith & Wesson's line of Rimfire revolvers is the perfect choice for competition, plinking and small game hunting….The small frame Rimfire is built on an aluminum alloy frame with a 2" or 3" barrel, chambered for .22 LR, is perfect for target competition.” Target Competition? I don't think so!

The targets shown here were all shot with Federal Game Shok ammunition which has published ballistics of 1240 feet per second and 137 foot pounds of energy.

The first target was placed at 21 feet. I do not recall how many rounds were fired at it; I was plinking and when plinking you don’t count. I can tell you that it only took 3 rounds to hit the small quarter sized bulls eye in the upper left corner. I fired 8 rounds at the bulls eye on the right and did not manage to land one.






The second target was place at 31 feet. It is certainly not match accuracy but all in all it is not bad for a 3 inch barreled revolver.














Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece in 38 Special

I have written about this revolver before and really like it. For a full review I would recommend that you go back into my archives and locate the complete review. This revolver is ultra accurate and the double action trigger pull is fairly light and smooth as butter. The only thing that bothers me is the grip. The rubber grips are rather thin so they focus the recoil into the web of my hand. I would also like a more visible front sight however; with the inherent accuracy already in this revolver my gut tells me to leave well enough alone.


Shooting the Combat Masterpiece

The first target was placed at 21 feet. The center bullseye was fired at with 15 rounds of Magtech .38 Special 158 grain Lead Round Nose ammunition. The quarter sized bullseye at the upper portion of the page was fired at three times with the same ammunition.








The next target was also placed at 21 feet. I wanted to see how this revolver would perform with some hotter self defense ammunition. I fired 12 rounds of Winchester .38 Special +P 158 grain Lead Swaged Hollowpoint ammunition. The accuracy was again, superb. I tend to like the heavier bullets in the Smith & Wesson ammo as the 158 grain bullet was the load that the Smith & Wesson K frame revolvers were designed around. The published ballistics show this round moving at 890 feet per second with 278 foot pounds of energy.










The next three targets were placed at 35 feet with Magtech 158 grain .38 Special ammunition.

In the first one the Terrorist is attempting to assassinate a Fox News journalist. It is rare to see this terrorist actually brandishing a handgun since he has sponsored so much legislation against them. His normal weapon of choice is ill-conceived socialist dribble although when he began his career as an assassin he used a 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88, a rickety bridge and a shallow creek.








In the next target the terrorist is attempting to assassinate the 2nd Ammendment. Although she wants Ammendment #2 to get whacked, intelligence reports that she received the last concealled weapons permit before they were permanently banned in her residence within the USSF (the Union of Socialist San Francisco).













In the next target two Tikritan Terrorists are blocking rush hour traffic. Fortunately I was able to convince Darryl and his other brother Darryl that they are Fallujah Sh*t.