Hey guys,

A lot of my friends know that I hold the crazy view that the S&W J-frame is actually the best handgun available for everyone but police and military folks. Basically, this comes down to the handiness, simplicity, safety and utter reliability of the piece.

Anyway, for years I have been tempted by the 640 Pro. It is basically a steel .357 J frame with a slightly longer barrel with an extended, shielded ejector, no lock and factory three dot night sights.

Anyway, I was considering getting a K6s but then I decided it would be stupid when the 640 is out there and I have so much experience with them (not to mention holsters, speed-loaders, laser grips, etc).

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr
I have carried an airweight forever. And my current one, already used when I bought it, is a real beater with many thousands of rounds down the pipe. It is fitted with CT laser grips, which I love, so I put a set on the 640 for added functionality and so they would have the same grip profile.

On the scale my 642 with laser grips weighs 14.7 ounces empty. The 640 weighs 22.1 ounces. So you are looking at 7.4 ounces of extra weight for the steel, extra barrel and sights.

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr

The trigger is J-frame: very heavy and smooth. Frankly, this is the way I like it. I have a Wilson spring kit in my 642, and I have an apex spring kit I am going to put in the 640 now that I have test fired it. Basically, I wanted to make sure that the gun didn’t have any issues I would blame on the apex later.

The 640 doesn’t have the lock. Honestly, I have never had an issue with the lock but since some folks have reported issues and the feature is completely useless to me I am happy I don’t have to remove the damn thing.

I fired 100 rounds of 130 grain white box .38 . The gun, obviously, is a pussycat compared to the airweight. I fired 20 158 grain .357 through it and was stout, but completely manageable. I have decided that I will keep .357 Gold Dot in the gun on a moon clip (which the gun is cut for) but I will keep all my speedloaders and speed strips loaded with +P .38 so there won’t be any confusion with my two other J-frames.

I was VERY happy that the gun’s sights are perfectly POA/POI. I tore off a square of duct tape and covered the square perfectly with the front sight and the bullets for both land EXACTLY beind the front sight. Basically, I can run the front sight like an aimpoint which is my preference.

I have a Glaco belt slide for my Jframes and it fit the gun perfectly. I did some drill with the holster and from a pocket holster (my usual mode of carry) and it is, obviously, faster than the airweight. I took a three mile walk with the gun in my pocket last night and I can say it is a bit less fun to pocket carry because you are aware it is there. The airweight basically doesn’t exist in the pocket until you need it, but you can feel the 640’s substance on your leg. That being said, it is easily carried in the pocket or on the hip.

Untitled by stoiclawyer, on Flickr

I had zero issues during this initial outing. And I developed a new drill. I usually do 6/6/6 drills with my autoloaders (3 shots to slide lock, reload, 3 shots from concealment at 6 yards in under 6 seconds). I sometimes do that with my J-frames. Today I did a 2 shot drill, then strip off two rounds off a speed strip and fire 2 more shots. Basically practicing a fast reload where you only peeled two rounds off a speed strip. Much fun. PRACTICE WITH YOUR SPEED STRIPS MY FRIENDS, it is humbling.

The slightly longer ejector rod is very nice. If you do an FBI reload on an airweight (thumb on the ejector, rather than striking it with the palm) you can easily get a stuck case with the normal length ejector. This seems to be just enough to insure smooth ejection every time.

Anyway, it is looking good so far. The three dot sights and extra weight make this a measurably faster gun to get into action. I am going to drop in the apex kit this week and check next week to see if I have any ignition issues.