Tag Archives: new Smith Wesson

You now have a choice between War Daddy and Indy

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Smith & Wesson went the extra mile for wheel gun enthusiasts this week, paying tribute to the famed M1917 while also adding a revolver fans have waited years for.

As we have detailed in the past, the U.S. Army Model 1917 revolver in .45 ACP was one of the company’s first big N-frame “triple lock” revolvers. Using two 3-round “half-moon” clips or a single six-shot “full moon” to accommodate the rimless .45 ACP, 150,000 S&W M1917s were delivered to the Army before the end of the Great War, and they were often standard-issue for specialist soldiers such as dispatch riders, military police, tankers, and machine gunners through WWII.

Wartime S&W M1917s had plain wooden grips and a lanyard ring. (Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps image circa 1918, via the National Archives)

The new “no lock” S&W Model 22 is headed to market in both a 1917 clone with much the same features as the original, along with a Classic variant that recalls the common conversion often seen with such “war babies,” primarily a shorter 4-inch barrel as seen in the famed “Stembridge” guns used by Dr. Jones in the 1981 classic, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

The new S&W Model 22s, with the more “Indy” 4-inch Classic on the left, and the more “Fury” 1917 on the right. (Photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Side by side, you get a better idea of the differences. Both are N-frame .45s, but the Classic can use either .45 ACP or rimmed .45 Colt in its cylinder. Meanwhile, the 1917 is ACP only.

Both have smooth wood grips and a lanyard ring, recalling the revolver that was originally meant to fight the Kaiser.

Note the barrel-profile differences: the M1917 uses a simple half moon, while the Classic carries a red ramped front sight, like what you would see on a more modern combat magnum.

Either way, these are great-looking revolvers that look like they “belong in a museum” while still being range-ready.

Plus, with the Classic especially, you could make a case for it as a good sidearm for those headed into dangerous predator country when loaded with heavy cast bullets.

The MSRP on the new Smith & Wesson Model 22s in .45 is $1,299.

Smith reboots the 9mm snub nose

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Out of production for more than a quarter century, the moon-clipped S&W 940 snub-nosed wheel gun has been resurrected – and modernized.

The original 940 was a 9mm companion to the classic .357 Magnum Model 640, a hard-wearing stainless five-shot double-action-only J-frame Centennial series revolver with a snag-free concealed hammer. Using a moon clip to hold the rimless 9mm rounds, it was fast and easy to reload while opening the revolver to a wide range of easy-to-find ammo.

While the 940 was only produced between 1991 and 1998, huge advances in bullet and propellant design have made 9mm more popular than ever, meaning that in many cases, the variety of self-defense loads available at local retailers in the caliber is greater than any other. With that in mind, rebooting the 940 makes sense.

Further, the new model ships with an XS Tritium night sight in front, something the old model never had. Oh, yeah, and it has VZ black cherry grips and a fluted barrel.

The new S&W 940 in 9mm is a five-shot DAO snub-nose with a concealed hammer. Note the 2.17-inch 1:10 RH twist stainless-steel fluted barrel. Height is a pocketable 4.38 inches. Weight is 23.5 ounces.

The MSRP is supposed to be $999 on these.

18 Months with a Mini Bull along for the ride

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I’ve been living with the Taurus GX4 micro compact 9mm for a year and a half on a daily basis and put well over a thousand rounds through it. It has surprised me, for sure.

Taurus introduced the GX4 to the world in May 2021, and I was able to get an early test model from the company slightly before. A good sequel to the company’s budget line of increasingly well-made and dependable G2 and G3 series pistols, the GX4 was more of the same, only smaller and with a better trigger.

When compared to more recently introduced double-stack micro 9s with similar magazine capacity, the GX4 was smaller than a lot of the big names, seen stacked side-by-side with the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro, SIG Sauer P365 XMacro, and Kimber R7 Mako.

Designed for personal carry, the GX4 proved such an easy carry – just 24.8 ounces when fully loaded with 14 rounds of 124-grain Gold Dot– that it has become my go-to of late. Of note, that is the same magazine capacity as on the vaunted Browning Hi-Power, my first carry gun back in the late 1980s.

I’ve been carrying the GX4 in a DeSantis Gunhide Inside Heat, a bare-bones minimum IWB holster built from black saddle leather, and it just disappears. The pistol is, realistically, just slightly taller than a pocket gun but comes ready with 13+1 rounds.

More in my column at Guns.com.

On Deck for 2022: Colt Combat Pythons and S&W Firestorms

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Although they haven’t “officially” announced them, both Colt and Smith & Wesson seem to have new handguns inbound for this year that mines at the tried-and-true vein of gun culture nostalgia.

Smith’s new CSX (Chief’s Special X?), a single-action-only subcompact 9mm that is hammer-fired, has an alloy frame, and a 10+1 or 12+1 magazine capacity, could be a hit with folks that don’t want polymer striker-fired micro 9s and are more familiar with carry-friendly M1911s such as the Colt New Detective or Sig Sauer P938.

The S&W CSX

It also, in my opinion, looks a lot like the old Star Firestar M43, although with a larger magazine capacity.

The Star Firestar was made from 1992-97, and would probably still be in production if the Spanish gunmaker was around as these were well-received little guns

Then there is the Colt Python with a 3-inch barrel.

While Colt produced the original Python in several barrel lengths between 1955 and 1994, including 2.5-inch snubs and commanding 8-inch Python Hunter, Python Silhouette, and Python Stalker models, the big I-frame snake gun rarely came with a factory 3-inch barrel. This was reserved for a short run of “California Combat” guns and a batch of 500 “Combat Pythons” made in 1988 for Lew Horton complete with a special “K” prefix serial number.

This circa 1974 Colt Python with a factory 2.5-inch snub-nosed barrel is sweet, but folks just went ga-ga for the 3-inch version, and Colt could do well to put such a thing back in production

The rebooted Pythons, introduced in 2020, including both a 4.25- and 6-inch model, with nothing shorter. With all that being said, the new 3-incher could prove both a hit with collectors as well as providing a more “carry friendly” Python for a new generation of wheel gun aficionados.

Either way, SHOT Show doesn’t start for another two weeks, so get ready for much more new gun news…I got my bags packed.

Taurus goes TORO with the GX4

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Taurus’ micro-compact 9mm just got a little better as the company on Friday announced a new optics-ready TORO model addition to the line.

The increasingly American-based company debuted its new micro pistol in May with an 11+1/13+1 capacity and a sub-$400 asking price. This made the gun– which I found dependable in testing— a budget competitor against similarly-sized contemporaries such as the Sig P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat, with about the only rock that could be thrown against it is the fact that it did not come with a slide cut to support popular micro-red dot carry optics.

Well, that has now changed as the new Taurus GX4 TORO series has a factory cut and mounting pattern that supports Hex Wasp GE5077, Holosun HS507K/HS407K, Riton 3 Tactix MPRD2, Trijicon RMR, Shield RMSc, Sig RomeoZero, and Sightmark Mini Shot A-Spec M3 sights.

At an asking price of $468.

Thus…

More in my column at Guns.com.

You get an optics cut! You get an optics cut! Everyone gets an optics cut!

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Smith & Wesson continues with the industry-wide trend towards carry optics by adding new M&P9 M2.0 variants with factory MRD cuts.

The two new pistol variants– the full-sized and Compact M&P9 M2.0– ship complete with Smith’s C.O.R.E. system of seven mounting plates, allowing the user to mount a wide variety of popular micro red dot optics. Tall optics/suppressor-height three-dot sights co-witness through MRDs. A further upgrade is the company’s new M2.0 flat face trigger, a design that S&W says optimizes trigger finger positioning and delivers consistency for more accurate shot placement.

Which has to be a good thing, right?

More in my column at Guns.com.

Smith goes 10!

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Smith & Wesson used to make really good semi-auto 10mm pistols, the 1000-series of third-gen autoloaders.

The S&W 1006, along with variants to include the 1026, 1046, 1066, 1076/FBI model (shown above), and 1086, were produced in the 1990s and left behind as the popularity of 10mm declined for a generation.

However, the company on Tuesday announced a return to the caliber with a new series of M&P M2.0 pistols chambered in 10mm Auto.

The centimeter M&Ps will be available in both 4-inch and 4.6-inch barreled formats with optics-ready slides and optional thumb safety variants. Further, the pistols boast a 15+1 capacity and use Smith’s brand new M2.0 flat-face trigger design, which the company says is designed to optimize trigger finger placement to allow for more consistent and accurate shooting. All models include an optics cut slide using Smith’s C.O.R.E. system and have optic/suppressor height white dot sights in addition to the optics plate.

They ship with two 15-round double-stack magazines and have an MSRP between $654 and $665 depending on the model, setting the new Smith up to challenge the 4.6-inch Glock 20 and 3.78-inch Glock 29 directly.

Glock should probably be worried.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Of My Time with the GX4

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Taurus announced the new micro-compact semi-auto pistol, the GX4, in May, billed as an 11+1 shot 9mm that was roughly the size of a traditional .380 pocket gun that had half the capacity. The specs of the polymer-framed striker-fired handgun– 5.8-inches long with the small backstrap installed, about an inch wide, and 4.4-inches high with the flush-fit magazine inserted– put it in the same boat as the Ruger MAX-9, Sig Sauer P365, Smith & Wesson Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat line.
I’ve been kicking around the new Taurus GX4 over the past couple of months, having run some 500 rounds through it, and have some things to say about it.

The 11+1 shot Taurus GX4 is definitely compact. Micro compact, you could say.

Big Blue Gets Back in the Scattergun Game

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Smith & Wesson is back in the shotgun business after announcing on Tuesday the new M&P 12 bullpup pump-action tactical 12 gauge.

Intended for home defense, the M&P12 shotgun is compact and maneuverable with an overall length of 27.8 inches. Equipped with twin 7-shell tubular magazines with a push-button selector, giving the user a 14+1 capacity, the M&P12 is chambered for 3-inch shells but will also accept standard 2.75-inch shells as well as mini-shell loads.

The new shotgun features completely ambidextrous controls, an M&P grip, a Picatinny-style top rail, an oversized action release, and an AR-style safety selector.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Have $400 and Want a Micro 9 with Change Leftover?

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Taurus is looking to take on the big boys with its new micro pistol, which is designed to deliver maximum concealment without sacrificing capacity or ergonomics – the GX4.

Getting the specs out of the way, the 11+1 shot 9mm is the size of popular .380 “pocket guns,” using a 3.06-inch barrel to tape out to a maximum 6.05-inch overall length. The gun is slender, at just over an inch wide, and it is 4.4 inches high at its tallest. The unloaded weight is 18.6 ounces. Fully loaded with 12 rounds of 147-grain JHPs, I found my test gun to hit the scales at 23.9 ounces.

Compared to other recently introduced micro 9s, such as the Ruger MAX-9, Sig Sauer P365, Smith & Wesson Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat, the GX4 is a dead ringer as far as size goes. Plus, its flush-fit mags hold one extra round over the Sig or S&W’s comparable magazine while being on par with the Springer and one less than the Ruger.

However, where the GX4 cleans house is the price: $392. That’s the MSRP, meaning that “actual” prices at your local gun store will probably hover closer to “Three Fiddy.” 

More in my column at Guns.com.

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