Since blog reader feedback on the last couple of entries – regarding new Smith & Wesson products – had gone so heavily toward discussion of the internal lock feature on S&W revolvers, I had planned to make that the topic of this blog entry. However, the recent death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy eclipses it for news value, as it did on TV news stations for the past few days, which seem to have been “all Ted Kennedy, all the time.”

There’s actually a connection between the two topics. Kennedy vehemently supported mandatory internal locks on all firearms, and all manner of other Draconian measures that would have profoundly infringed on the civil rights of the firearms owning community…and sometimes did.

We can all understand the visceral reaction he must have had to his two gifted brothers being shot to death by assassins.  What was harder to understand was his blaming of objects for human hatred, and his willingness to punish and dis-empower good people because of the acts of bad ones.

They called him “the lion of the Senate” when he died, but his advocacy of banning private citizens’ ownership of certain firearms because it would somehow enhance the public good, smacked more of “lyin’ in the Senate.”

I’ve worked for decades as a Trustee of the Second Amendment Foundation with SAF stalwart Dave Workman. HERE brother Workman provides a rich trove of links and reading for those who want to refresh on what the late Senator from the Bay State tried to do to gun owners and their rights, occasionally succeeding to a degree.

As you remember the last of the Generation of Princes in America’s Royal Family, remember him whole.  His commitment to civil rights seemed to be limited to the ones he approved of.  I recall Ted Kennedy’s private bodyguard being arrested for attempting to carry a fully automatic Beretta machine pistol into a Government building.  Apparently, the guns he didn’t want the peasants to have were OK for protecting the Royal Family, whose immense wealth allowed them to hire high-priced private Praetorian Guards…

I’m just glad I managed to get through all that without mentioning Mary Jo Kopechne.

Finished the S&W seminar last night, and the thirteen or so of us who were there were by and large pleased with what we saw of the latest introductions.

On the rifle range, we were all impressed with the accuracy and smooth function of the Thompson/Center high powered, bolt action hunting rifles. T/C was famous for accurate, value-priced guns even before they became an S&W subsidiary. The distinctive Icon Precision Hunter, new this year, lived up to its name with groups well under an inch at a hundred yards. Even their low-priced ($500 manufacturer’s suggested retail price) Venture model was doing under an inch at that distance. We were shooting the Precision Hunter in .22-250, and the Venture in .30-06.

Those cute little .22s I mentioned in the last blog entry endeared themselves to all. Factory insiders told us to expect an inch and a half shot grouping for five rounds at fifty yards. We did that easily with CCI Mini-Mag ammo, which is a small game hunting and general purpose round. Chris Christian, who writes for Outdoor Life, got 1.1” in a strong crosswind. In the course of two days we put thousands of rounds through an assortment of these cute little AR15 clones, and I never saw one malfunction. It’s going to be interesting to see, down the road, what these rifles can do with standard velocity Match grade ammunition. I’m down for two of ‘em, one for me and one for the Significant Other and Adult Supervisor.

The comments on the previous entry on this topic showed the intensity with which firearms traditionalists dislike the integral lock system that S&W has been putting in its revolvers for the last several years. The keyway is an unsightly hole above the cylinder release latch, and the key that comes with the gun can be used to lock the action frozen, preventing firing if the gun gets into unauthorized hands. This produces a visceral negative response from gun folks on several levels.

First, it changes both the appearance and (subtly) the frame shape of the gun. It’s an esthetics thing. Second, it’s like dumping mandatory helmet laws on motorcyclists: experienced practitioners believe they can handle their own safety needs, thank you very much, and don’t like someone else’s safety concepts being forced upon them. Third, it’s a constant reminder of the anti-gun Clinton Administration’s attempt to force unwanted things down the throats of free American gun owners, which is why so many disparagingly call that little keyway the “Hillary hole.” Finally, there have been a few – not an epidemic, but definitely, a few – cases where the damn thing has locked itself spontaneously during firing, and that just sends cold chills down the backs of those who rely on firearms for life-saving purposes. I’ve generally run across that happening only with the very powerful guns in very light formats, the Model 329 super-light .44 Magnum with hot loads for example.

I discussed this with the S&W folks at the seminar, and frankly, long before then. There is strong sentiment among some at S&W to get rid of the lock, just as there is among those consumers who prefer classic firearms. However, the company is going to stay with them for a while because of the liability climate, and the fact that integral locks are required to sell their products in jurisdictions such as California. The feedback S&W gets from firearms retailers and general consumers is that only a small, hard-core group of gun fanciers consider the lock a “deal-breaker.”

For those who don’t like that feature, S&W added this year another gun to their “lemon-squeezer” line, a retro re-introduction of the Model 42 revolver of 1952. “Hammerless” in external configuration, it has a grip safety that will only allow the trigger to be pulled when in something approximating an intentional firing hold. Action was sweet, workmanship was good, and the little Model 42 snub-nose (weighing under a pound thanks to its aluminum frame Airweight construction) shot where I put the sights. Buying one of this series, also available in all-steel from an earlier introduction, can help send S&W the message that you’ll spend your money for their guns if they DON’T have those internal locks you don’t like.

More later…

Here’s the new version of the classic-style K-22…

Chris Christian of Outdoor Life got this 1.1 group with the 15-22 in a crosswind at 50 yards with CCI Mini-Mag .22 LR ammo.

This is the reincarnated Model 57 in .41 Magnum.

Newly introduced .38 Special Airweight Bodyguard, the Model 438, is blackened stainless with aluminum frame. Red arrow points to the internal lock keyway…

…while the lock is notably absent from this Model 42-1 Airweight .38 Special “lemon squeezer.”

Industry wide, a lot of the new guns introduced and promised at the SHOT Show the first of the year have been held up. The reason is that demand for certain current-line models has been so great that to keep up with it, the newer entries had to be pushed to the back burner. It’s true of many companies, and it is certainly true of Smith & Wesson.

I’m presently at a gun writers’ seminar in Tulsa, on the splendid USSA (United States Shooting Academy) range. We’re getting to play with some of the cool new rifles and handguns from this maker that should have been available to the consumers by now…and would have been, if the post-election gun buying frenzy natinwide hadn’t thrown production schedules into a cocked hat.

As nature gave us a panoply of its broad range of Oklahoma weather through the day — by turns windy and still, pouring rain and unremitting sun — we got briefed by S&W executives and engineers, and got to put lots of rounds downrange.

Star of the show, I think, was the coolest little .22 rifle to come along in a while. It’s the .22 Long Rifle version of their M&P 15, which in turn is Smith & Wesson’s take on what has truly become “America’s Rifle,” the AR15. Rendered with lots of polymer, including even the accessory rail, it weighs only about five pounds or so. More than a dozen of us poured 25-round magazines of CCI ammo through it, and I didn’t see a single malfunction. Accuracy was good on the “practical range,” shooting all sorts of steel knockdowns and silhouettes. We will be taking it to the longer rifle ranges tomorrow and hope to be able to bench test it for accuracy. It will sell for $499.95 suggested retail, and I predict it will definitely be a hit.

We plan to work with a precision rifle from Thompson/Center, now of course a Smith & Wesson subsidiary, tomorrow.

On the handgun side, the adjustable sight version of the 1964 Model 57 in .41 Magnum proved eminently “shootable.” Something of a “niche cartridge” these days, the .41 Mag has always had a strong following among those who really knew their guns and appreciated a heavy-duty outdoorsman’s revolver. We also got to shoot the new iterations of the great old K-22, in both 6″ barrel Model 17 and 4″ barrel Model 18 configurations. These are recent additions to S&W’s successful “retro” line they call the Classic Series.

There are also new variations in their super-popular Military & Police semiautomatic service pistol line, and their 1911 series semiautomatic pistols, and more.

I’ll get back to you after tomorrow’s shooting session, with more info, and should have some pix for you by the end of this week.