by Drizzle on Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:45 am
642 was my primary carry gun for several years. Now I switch off with a G42, depending on whether I want to pocket carry or not.
I had one of those that had flaking finish, and sent it back to Smith some years ago. They fixed it, plus free shipping both ways, at no charge.
There's a way to shoot a 642 where you can stage the trigger with a quick pull for 3/4 of the travel, then a short pull for the last bit to fire. Takes a bit of practice (and a well broken in gun-do a lot of dry fire with snap caps if yours is brand new), but it almost replicates cocking a hammered j-frame. Bennie helped me improve my technique.
I have six or seven snubbies; hammer, hammerless, shrouded, round butt, square butt, blued, stainless. All great for pocket carry, but if you don't care how big the butt is, find some bigger rubber grips, and you'l like shooting it a lot more. I've got some big old Herretts on my Colt Agent, and it's fun to shoot. The boot grips that came from the factory are what's on my 642, and they work well. Not much protection for your hand with the exposed backstop, however.
I have a couple I would part with for a reasonable price. PM me if you have any interest.