going to look at the Smith & Wesson 642 air weight revolver
now I actually really like this gun I love revolvers anyway and I think this
is a really good looking gun and it really just feels great in your hand
this is a very popular concealed carry gun
it's a jframe revolver so it's a nice small compact size now just to give you
a size comparison we'll compare it with another popular concealed carry gun the
Ruger lc9 you can see that it's almost the exact same size pretty much from
from front to back and the height is about the same as well and you can also
compare it to the Smith & Wesson bodyguard bodyguard is actually a little
bit smaller but this air weight revolver is actually lighter than the bodyguard
and because of its lightweight and simple operation a lot of people choose
this type of gun for concealed carry especially for women now I can't even
count the times I've heard guys say I want to get it going for my wife and I'm
thinking about getting a small revolver what do you think or I have women ask me
what kind of gun should I get now I'm going to get into that a little bit
later but first we're going to take a look at the gun itself and then we'll
talk about whether or not this is a good choice for that purpose now let's get in
here and take a look at the gun itself Smith & Wesson is known for their
revolvers Smith & Wesson revolvers are almost always very high quality very
nice fit and finish and the 642 is no exception to that now like I said I
think this is a pretty good-looking gun I'm not crazy about the way that
internal hammer looks with that big hump in the back I think it's kind of funky
looking but this gun has a nice stainless color it's like a satin finish
that's really nice these Smith & Wesson black rubber grips
are really nice and like I said it feels great in your hand these finger gurus
really feel like they're hugging your hand and these ribs on the grip give you
some good traction to get a good hold on the gun and it really only gives
you a two finger grip but that's not a big deal now the most obvious feature
I've already mentioned is that big hump in the back and what that is is because
this gun has an internal hammer it's not hammerless there is a hammer in there
it's just covered up right here and the reason for that is because this gun is
for concealed carry let's say you don't snag that hammer on your clothes or
anything when you're going to draw the gun and that's actually a pretty nice
feature I can see that being helpful however it does mean that this gun is
double action only you do not have the option of cocking the hammer manually to
lighten that trigger pull and that brings us to our next talking point this
gun like most double-action revolvers has a very heavy trigger pull now it's
even heavier than most trigger gauges can read but I have seen it estimated at
around 15 pounds which is pretty heavy but in a double action revolver a heavy
trigger is actually a safety feature it helps prevent you from accidentally
pulling that trigger if you don't want to and that can be a very good thing in
a concealed carry gun and I'll show you what the trigger pull looks like even
though it is long and pretty heavy it is a very smooth trigger pull but a lot of
people may not like this because of that heavy trigger pull now these newer 642 s
come with a locking mechanism that's right there above the cylinder release
and it does come with a key so you can lock this and it actually makes the gun
inoperable so the unauthorized people and kids
can't take it and shoot it and that's really only useful when you're storing
the gun there's really no purpose for it when you're using it for a concealed
carry I actually just leave it unlocked all
the time and just pretty much pretend it's not there now let's get up here and
look at the sights they are just basic fixed sights and it does have a very
low-profile rear sight and a very shallow gap there
and the purpose for having that shallow a rear sight like that is is the same as
having the internal hammer so that you don't accidentally snag anything on that
site when you're drawing the gun like I said this is pretty basic there's no
side adjustment at all but having these basic sights can be a good thing in a
concealed carry gun they're typically very rely
and it's basically impossible to break those sites or to give them out of
alignment no this is a five-shot revolver no it being five shots rather
than six allows that cylinder to be a little smaller so the whole gun itself
is a lot thinner allowing it to be more concealable now this gun has a 1.8 inch
barrel and this gun is really designed to be shot at defensive distances
meaning ten yards or less but it can still be very accurate even at longer
distances with some practice now all in all I think this is a really good gun
it's very high quality and I wouldn't expect anything less from Smith & Wesson
now the question is is this gun or other lightweight snub nosed revolvers a good
carry option for most women or really for most people in general
I teach concealed carry classes and I see a lot of people come through with
these guns and a lot of them really struggle with these guns and hearing my
thoughts on that the general consensus seems to be that because revolvers are
simple to operate and because it's design makes it less likely to
malfunction that means it's the perfect gun for inexperienced people and that's
just not true first of all a 38 special is a pretty good-sized room I'd say it's
more powerful than your average 9-millimeter especially if you're using
plus peas which this gun is rated for now when you pair that with this super
light short barreled gun it's naturally going to kick harder and it's going to
be harder to control so that's number one
number two the low profile sights make it a lot more difficult to find and line
up your sights especially when you're firing multiple realms or in a stressful
situation now I know this is designed for short distance defensive shooting
and maybe it's supposed to be more like a point and shoot gun but to me that's a
big downside to this style of gun especially if we're talking about less
experienced shooters that may not have the fundamentals and the practice and
necessary to know how to line those sights up correctly or to do it quickly
now number three my last and most important point is the trigger pull now
I don't want to offend anybody but most women and old
people don't have as much hand strength as others and that long heavy trigger
pole is difficult for them now I'll use my mother as an example my dad picked
her out this beautiful Smith & Wesson Model 60 Performance Center of over just
a fantastic gun but she struggles with a little bit of arthritis in her fingers
and it was almost impossible for her to operate that double action trigger and I
see that in a lot of my classes some people have a hard time being consistent
with that trigger and at the very least it tends to pull you off target now I'm
not putting down these guns by any means like I said I really like this gun but I
just don't think it's the best option for most women and older people and that
doesn't mean that they can't shoot this gun well there are plenty that can but
that comes with a lot of practice and solid fundamentals now my recommendation
for anybody buying a gun or buying one for other people see how it feels in
your hand see how it shoots and only get a gun that you're comfortable with then
once you get it practice with it regularly most of time for those people
I'll recommend a nice compact striker-fired semi-auto for concealed
carry for men and women you usually have a lot more options with something like
that that's it for today guys this is the Smith & Wesson 642 a great quality
little gun perfect for some but maybe not for all now don't forget to leave
questions in the comments below you can follow me on Facebook at Pilate Patriot