Smith 637 Birthday Gift.

[mmc45414]

I did indeed put a 642 hammer in a 637.

Where did you snag the part?

[Lon]

Where did you snag the part?

eBay, as I recall.

[MDFA]

Apex Duty Kit, XS Big Dot Tritium Front Sight, Boot Grips of your choice, Comp-1 Loaders and or Speed Strips. JMCK AIWB or Phlster City Special or the Harry's Holsters Icon as in the photo. 148gr. Wadcutters. You'll notice certain trends here among J Frame users. Congrats on your new revolver. And I think my Wife has a Sister after all. LOL

[mmc45414]

I think it was @Lon that put a 642 hammer in his friend's 637.

I did indeed put a 642 hammer in a 637. It was pretty slick.

Where did you snag the part?

eBay, as I recall.

Well, ya never know what thread the Good Idea Fairy is a gonna show up in!

I went a little silly on the whole J-frame thing. I have the 637 pictured upthread, and I splurged on a 360PD, and I like them both, but for what I paid I would kinda like to love the 360. I also have a 340 and a 638 (actual favorite) and I have them all configured with different grips, and that makes them all a little different, at least that is what I keep telling myself. I got the 637 as a companion to my dad's 60 (no dash...) that sits in the safe, but like it more and more. And the 360PD is very light and works well without a belt, but both of them eventually poke me with that tiny pointy hammer. I will acknowledge this is probably more of a girth problem than a hammer problem, but I can easily buy an alternative hammer.

So I went looking for the 642 hammer and found them at MGW. Out of stock, but in my browsing I see they do have a 638 hammer. And in the description it mentions:
"this OEM factory original hammer is manufactured for the J Frame 317, 638, and 649 model revolvers chambered in .22 LR, .357 Mag, and .38 Special"
and I realize, holy hell, this is that funky little hammer they used on the old 317 Airlite, and that might just be perfect, and they are only $15, so I put two on order:


I also ordered another Apex kit for the 360. And I recently ordered my bolt release for my Beretta 391, I am starting to think I have been overlooking MGW as a nice source for stuff.

When I get these and get around to installing them someday I will put a thread in Revolvers, but that might be a while, I got motorcycle tires to install and yard to maintain right now.

[mmc45414]

Am a big fan of the XS Big Dot, here is my thread where I detailed the installation.

I splurged on a 360PD, and I like them both, but for what I paid I would kinda like to love the 360.

Another thing about the 360 is that, for like $800, it didn't come with the night site. It has the nice overmolded made by HiViz, but I like the big dot better and my new enthusiasm from this potential hammer swap had me shopping. And it looks like they now make orange and yellow and plan to discontinue the white, I really like the yellow/green. I added the links to my post about the installation.

[TheNewbie]

I really wish S&W would bring back the 337, sans the lock.

Could bob the hammer and convert to DAO. My dream j frame.

[JWintergreen]

I really wish S&W would bring back the 337, sans the lock.

Could bob the hammer and convert to DAO. My dream j frame.

That is a great little revolver. The J frames I would like to see brought back are the three inch, fixed sight Model 60 and 640 in .38 Special Only. On the medium frame side of things they should offer a new 3" Model 64 and a 3" Model 619. Giving the C frame another shot would also be a wise idea.

[TheNewbie]

That is a great little revolver. The J frames I would like to see brought back are the three inch, fixed sight Model 60 and 640 in .38 Special Only. On the medium frame side of things they should offer a new 3" Model 64 and a 3" Model 619. Giving the C frame another shot would also be a wise idea.

What is the C frame? I know you’ve mentioned it before.


A DAO bobbed hammer 337 would replace my LCP as a pocket/NPE gun.

[JWintergreen]

What is the C frame? I know you’ve mentioned it before.


A DAO bobbed hammer 337 would replace my LCP as a pocket/NPE gun.

The C frame (Model 73) was Smith and Wesson's sadly abandoned attempt to offer a D frame sized, six shot small frame revolver. The J frame class (pocket sized five shooters) and the D frame class (small frame .38/.357 six shooters) are the two categories of small frame double action revolvers. There are pros for both sizes. A lot of folks wanted Smith and Wesson to offer a competitor to the ever popular Colt Detective Special. S&W finally gave this a shot in 1973. Unfortunately, they decided it would be best (more cost effective) to scrap the frame size after some early production issues. This is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

In the last several years, D frame sized revolvers have made a big comeback. Taurus offers the 856, Charter offers the Police Undercover/Professional .357, Colt offers the Cobra/King Cobra, and Kimber offers the K6S. With all of this new competition, S&W should give the C frame another try. If they can make a Z frame to compete with the Taurus Judge, they can certainly do this.

[Lon]

The C frame (Model 73) was Smith and Wesson's sadly abandoned attempt to offer a D frame sized, six shot small frame revolver. The J frame class (pocket sized five shooters) and the D frame class (small frame .38/.357 six shooters) are the two categories of small frame double action revolvers. There are pros for both sizes. A lot of folks wanted Smith and Wesson to offer a competitor to the ever popular Colt Detective Special. S&W finally gave this a shot in 1973. Unfortunately, they decided it would be best (more cost effective) to scrap the frame size after some early production issues. This is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

In the last several years, D frame sized revolvers have made a big comeback. Taurus offers the 856, Charter offers the Police Undercover/Professional .357, Colt offers the Cobra/King Cobra, and Kimber offers the K6S. With all of this new competition, S&W should give the C frame another try. If they can make a Z frame to compete with the Taurus Judge, they can certainly do this.

Gundigest pic: