Smith 642 pre-lock on list? UPDATE

[jazman]

They do now

Sweet. Who was that other out of state dealer that wouldn't ship to California but changed their mind after hearing from a lot of Cal Gunners? I tried to search for the thread but had no luck, anyone know?

[allenst65]

Anyone, particularly in SoCal, had any luck tracking one of these down or can anyone confirm if they've been able to channel one via RSR ?

My dealer seems to be getting some resistance from RSR as apparently his contact is saying they can't ship to CA. Yes, I know these are marked as 642-1 and I know that this model designation is already on the approved roster ... just getting the dealer and distributor to realize this is another matter. Thanks !

[461]

Lipsey's has them as well.

[allenst65]

Got ahold of RSR to clarify. This rep acknowledged that these are 642-1's and although he was aware that this is on the CA approved roster, he said their legal team was overly cautious and marked the sku for this particular version as LE restricted only within their computer system.

He said unless the dealer is selling to LE or has a high cap magazine permit (in which case they assume that dealer will be selling to LE) then a regular FFL such as mine will be blocked from purchasing these when they try to place the order. Presumably others in CA who've had orders go through RSR did so via high cap mag permitted FFL's with RSR being none the wiser as to the status of the final purchaser.

[allenst65]

Lipsey's has them as well.

Just called Lipseys and I was told they too are excluding sales from CA dealers. The rep said even though the model designation "642-1" may be on the CA approved list, the sku for this particular version of the 642-1 is new and has not been approved, thus they will not sell this 642-1 to CA.

Since when is there a separate mfg's sku list that must correspond to a specific model number the CA DOJ published roster ???

[461]

That is total crap!! I'm thinking I'm going to be telling my dealer to not order anything for me through RSR. It's bad enough we have stupid laws without having out of state idiots making them even worse.

[jazman]

I have ordered my new Smith 642-1 NO LOCK at what I think is an excellent deal and wanted to share the information. I considered a couple of out of state dealers after asking in an earlier post if any Calguns dealers wanted to quote a price and getting no response. I have decided to go with:

DiscountGunDealer [mailto:info@discountgundealer.com]
Brad Kromminga
DiscountGunDealer.com, LLC
10800 Lyndale Ave So, Suite 220
Bloomington, MN 55420

Brad so far is a great guy and my FFL, Roger's Relics, has done a lot of business with him in the past. He also has perfect feedback on Gunbroker with 1700+ transactions. Brad will sell NIB Smith & Wesson 642-1 NO LOCK to Calguns members for $429.00 SHIPPED to your FFL. I have been looking for one of these for a while and not only couldn't find a no lock one, I couldn't find a new one with a lock for that price. Looking forward to my new Smith.

[tonelar]

Does Rogers Relics still receive and DROS handguns for $25 plus $40?

I was at City Arms today and their 642 Airweight is a no-lock model. Sticker price was @ $450 IIRC.

[jazman]

Yep, so out the door under $500. which I tried to do buying locally but couldn't. The shops I like are more and I didn't want to take a chance on waiting, far as I have heard on line S&W only made 4,000 total of the new no locks using frames they already had and when they are gone that's it.

[tonelar]

That's a great deal, Jazman. If only they had the blue- Airweight in Non-lock as well... that 42 or 442 is my fave...

I'm thinking of getting the one at City Arms... figuring out the door for $5-$10 over $500 is acceptable to me. I need to buy more from them as well... they've been really nice to my P6 Group Buyers.

[jazman]

That's a great deal, Jazman. If only they had the blue- Airweight in Non-lock as well... that 42 or 442 is my fave...

I'm thinking of getting the one at City Arms... figuring out the door for $5-$10 over $500 is acceptable to me. I need to buy more from them as well... they've been really nice to my P6 Group Buyers.

Thanks, I'll keep you/everyone posted on it, I sent off the Postal MO today.
I am so pumped to be getting a no lock one, amazing S&W decided to make these 4,000...although I am hoping when they see these sell quickly they will make more no lock models.

[tonelar]

S&W says its to clear off a group of frames they had from the pre-lock days...

However it could be a fishing expedition to see if its true that people aren't buying their new models in favor of pre-lock examples. If these sell out quickly; the bean counters in corporate will push to get rid of their locks.

How's that for justifying purchasing more than one?

PS I'm amazed that counter people think the lock was S&Ws workaround to the CA drop test requirement.

FUD spreaders.

[MotoGuy]

PS I'm amazed that counter people think the lock was S&Ws workaround to the CA drop test requirement.

FUD spreaders.

I got a similar response at Targetmasters.

[jazman]

Update #2, 8/7: This is interesting, I am liking the soon to be mine 642-1 even more:
Grant Cunningham is a renowned "Revolver Smith", and is one of the top 2 or 3 Colt Python smiths in the world. He is so good he had to close down his waiting list last year and is still backed up about another year. I saw this on his blog:
REVOLVER ALERT: Non-lock S&W revolvers for sale!
Monday, August 04, 2008 Filed in: Revolvers

Regular readers know that I'm not a fan of the internal locks on current Smith & Wessons, and I refuse to personally carry a gun so equipped. I've documented far too many cases of spontaneous lock activation, which renders the gun inoperable in the middle of a string of fire, to ever feel confident in that mechanism for self-defense applications.

If you have the same opinion, you'll be excited to learn that Smith & Wesson has released a very limited run of Model 642 Airweight Centennials without the internal locking system! These are new production guns made with "leftover" non-lock frames, according to S&W. In addition, these guns have the traditional screwed-in barrels, as opposed to the sleeved liner type that the company is now using.
They were able to put together approximately 4,000 of them, and there will be no more.

The unexpected availability of these guns makes it possible for the person who wants a "non-lock" gun to get one new in the box, as opposed to hunting gun stores and gun shows for an example in decent shape. I urge anyone interested in an Airweight Centennial to pick one of these up.

RSR Group is the exclusive distributor of these revolvers. Their stock number is SW103810FC, and as of this morning they had 1,136 left in stock.

RSR Group is a distributor, not a retailer, and require an FFL and a dealer account with them to order a gun. Ask your local dealer to contact RSR and order one in for you - chances are that there will be more than yours in the package, as the dealer will probably want one for personal use too!

Folks, these won't last long. You'll need to move fast if you want one!

-=[ Grant ]=-

[allenst65]

I can only assume renowned "Revolver Smith" Grant Cunningham doesn't live in CA, otherwise he wouldn't be so advertorial for RSR.