Mine has never given me a problem. If it does its history. I will snatch the thing out.

If you go to the Smith and Wesson forums you will find pages on this subject.

While there is no definitive answer there appear to two main causes.

Shooting very heavy loads in lightweight guns.
Improper reassembly of the locking device.

My brother in law had a 629 that locked every time he shot it. I suspect that gun had the lock installed wrong.

 

I have them with and without and don't care either way. Takes about 10 minutes to disable if you're so inclined.

The real difference is the "lock" has made the price of pre-lock guns go up dramatically...

 

If you go to the Smith and Wesson forums you will find pages on this subject.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve/

Great place for smithy Q's.

 

No. Of course the internal locking mechanism is now gone. It was the second day I had it. Does that answer your question? :wink:

 

I have read other forums, especially the S&W forum and the 25 page long thread that discuss the issue with a few number of actual cases and lots of opinions. And that is fine. It seems to be similar to the Kaboom issues with GLOCK.

The main reason I was asking is that I am planning to sell three S&W revolvers (NIB) to fund another project. And before posting the asking price on the for sale forum I wanted your opinnion on the lock issue.

The revolvers are M629 6" brl (.44mag), M686P 4" brl 7 shot (.357mag) and M617 6" brl 10shot (.22LR).

 

I think your Glock KABOOM analogy is a good one. I have read about issues with locks but never heard of anyone who has had one. I bought one with a lock and don't worry one bit about it.

 

Just be aware that the guns with lock do not sell as fast nor at the same price as pre-lock guns. Don't even try to post an IL gun on the S&W forum as you'll be laughed off.

Also, around here revolvers do not sell as fast as semi's, especially Glocks, so be prepared to wait a bit to get a fair price...

 

No kidding, there are a lot of ppl at the S&W forum pi**ed off because of those locks.

 

No problem whatsoever with the lock in my 642. It has a nice stiff feel to it when you rotate it, and it hasn't budged even when shooting Buffalo Bore .38 +Ps in this 15 ounce revolver (OUCH!!)

Disagree with the Glock analogy, however. Especially since I've witnessed one occur 6 feet in front of me with a factory barrelled 1st gen G23. Case head blew out at the 6'oclock position with someone using factory level 180 gr FMJ loads in Winchester brass on their fifth reload. Shattered the grip and blew the mag out the bottom, not pretty. Use a barrel with better chamber support if you reload your brass, especially for the .40 cals.

 

Disagree with the Glock analogy, however. Especially since I've witnessed one occur 6 feet in front of me with a factory barrelled 1st gen G23. Case head blew out at the 6'oclock position with someone using factory level 180 gr FMJ loads in Winchester brass on their fifth reload. Shattered the grip and blew the mag out the bottom, not pretty. Use a barrel with better chamber support if you reload your brass, especially for the .40 cals.

Hey it was the closest one I could think off. AR's vs Mini's, 45acp vs 40s&w you know...

Any ways, I am keeping the 686p and selling the 617 and 629 on the WTS forum.

 

I will not buy one with a lock. Just personal preference

 

Hi Sir,

I have a light weigh 638 with the lock. I have fired about 300 rounds in it with no problems at all, including a full box of 20 self- defence 38 +p+ loads

I locked it once, just to try it out, unlocked it and forgot about it.

It is really is a non-issue.
I too have seen a bunch of post on the S&W board. Think it is more hype than truth.

Best to all,
broomhandle

 

Taurus

I have two Taurus guns (one revolver, one semi) with the internal security lock / disabling mechanism. A friend of mine has a model 92 with it, too.

All of these guns have been left disabled longer than we intended because we used the internal lock and then forgot to disengage it when carrying the weapon loaded for protection. Two of these guns have been taken out of action by the forgetful owner leaving the key at home during a trip to the shooting range.

As far as I can tell, if you don't USE the locks, they don't cause any trouble. I've never seen one come on by itself. Even while shooting some hot loads

 

It is not so easy to post pictures...

After reading about the controversial Internal Lock on the S&W's, I decided to open my M868P and take a look. So after carefully removing the side plate and the main spring, I took the hammer out.

The left side of the hammer as shown in the picture has two notches where the lock can engage. From left to right, when the hammer is in full cocked position and all the way through halfway cocked. Then the next notch comes when the hammer is at rest. At these locations the lock can engage the hammer and lock it. However, when firing the gun, the hammer moves forward few more degrees to strike the firing pin. At this location, the lock does not have a notch to lock the hammer. Therefore, while the gun is firing, and under recoil the lock can not lock the hammer. It is only when the trigger is released and the hammer comes back to the at rest position that the lock has an available notch to lock.

In my opinion, this just debunks the allegations that it will lock upon recoil.

Now, that little flag is free to rotate (move) if the key is set to unlock position. It is possible that w/o proper lubrication, the side of the hammer could bind the flag and move it up as the hammer rotates back wards. The spring that holds the flag down is quite strong for its size not letting the flag to come up as easily as I thought.

A great improvement to this locking system would be to lock the flag down when the key is set to the UNLOCKED position, preventing locking of the revolver.

 

Yesterday I realized that my S&W revolver was STILL disabled by the internal (key) safety lock.
I used it when leaving my gun in my parked car while doing business in the courthouse on Monday, but forgot to disengage it until more than 24 hours later.

 

I have three that I use in competition, a 686 4" and a 5" and a 929, each with thousands of rounds through them.

It seems to be a rather delicate design and not one I trust either way. HOWEVER, I've only replaced one with a plug. The other two guns have worked fine with no problems, then again I have never engaged the lock, not even to test it. My take is the plug isn't worth the cost, so just leave the stupid thing alone.