Please honest first hand knowledge only

Do not reply of you know somebody whose brother in law may have had an issue
Do not reply if you read about it on the Internet ( even arfcom )

HAS anybody had an issue that can be attributed to the lock


Edit - in the market for a revolver and I'm curious to learn. For years I have read "don't buy the ones with the lawyer lock" . I will try to find a pre lock for collectibility but as far as shooter ??

I haven't.   M29 - M640.

Yeah, in a rolling fire fight at the local mall against a horde of goths, my S&W revolver locked up, then blew up taking off both of my hands, getting me killed the street, three times.

629 PC with several thousand rounds through it, no issues.

Back some time ago (10-12yr?) I bought a 617 from a LGS that was having "S&W day" . Special price and lots of great help and info from the S&W factory guy who was on site.

Drove the 5 miles home and was messing about with the gun and locked it and couldn't get it unlocked . It was near closing time when I bought the gun so I hightailed it back to the shop and  caught the factory guy as he was about to pull out of the lot .

He messed about with the gun and got it unlocked . I came home and tossed the key into the back corner of the safe and have not touched it since.

I have 3 or 4 lock type S&W's and have never locked any of then since that day and never had a problem with any of them except for that once.

I have heard stories from guys at my club but when I ask it has never been hands on problems , just stories they heard 3rd hand

I am a revolver guy first and foremost. I got all hung up in the "mim" debate and avoided the lock guns at all costs. "How could the quality be the same as old-world craftsmanship".

Several years ago at a Cabelas I saw a cool looking 640PC gun (with a lock) and I had to have it. Next, I purchased an M625 for IDPA. Thousands of rounds and several guns later, never a hiccup.

From experience, Buy a lock gun with confidence, Carry a lock gun with confidence, you won't regret it...and they are cheaper than the "pre-lock" predecessors.

Now if you want to debate "pinned and recessed", well, I'm a sucker for those oldies

I've owned my S&W Model 686 Plus 4" barrel for about eight years now.  Shot thousands of rounds though it.  Majority of them .357 magnum ammo.  Not once I've had a problem with the gun locking up because of the ILS.  It is a great shooter and darn accurate.  I bought a S&W Model 638 about three years ago.  Again it has the ILS and I've shot many rounds though it.  No problems with it at all.

I've only ever owned 1 with a lock. It was a steel 357 J frame and I did have a part break, it had less than 500 rounds. I did fire some 357 through it but I mostly used +P 38 level reloads. Sent it back and had it repaired then sold it.

You'll be hard pressed to find an actual first hand account of a failure and even the rare one I've heard was suspect.  I think it was blown way of proportion due to the almost universal dislike of the lock.  I don't like the lock, I don't see a need for it at all but it doesn't get me all bunged up either.  I wouldn't even remember it had one except for all the horror stories repeated based on what they heard happened.

My S&W 629 V-Comp .44 magnum with the lock has never hiccuped even shooting a .44 magnum only diet.  I wouldn't be concerned about carrying it in big bear country let alone for fun.

don't own any with a lock & outside of massoud ayoob I have seen no creditable claim

ayoob said he witnssed problems with heavy 357s in j frames and very heavy 44mag loads

None.  Never heard of any either.

340sc with a lock, never had a problem, dont even know where the key is if we are being honest

no - 637 - took it out

I did

329pd.

The lock would engage itself about halfway while firing.  
Gun would stop firing, I would have to unlock it.

Sent it in to S&W, got it back then sold it.

If I remember it only did it with heavy 44s. Shot a lot of specials out of it and it didn't occur.

None here...removed the components and plugged immediately.

I think it is a matter of principal too, even if the lock functions 100% as advertised. Why support S&W for making these locks? The lock is unnecessary, unless for some gawd awful reason you don't own a gun safe. And if you ever did lock it, it is highly unlikely you'd be able to unlock it in time to stop a home invader. A gun is first and foremost a tool for protection, and crippling your protection is completely counter productive to the point of absurdity.

I refuse to buy ANY gun with a lock.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/219915-internal-lock-failure-poll-now-open-rational-data-discussion.html

I think I did. It was a few years ago, and the details are foggy now but I recall being at the range with my 638 and the gun suddenly wouldn't fire. Yep, the damn lock engaged.  I took the gun home and promptly removed the lock mechanism. I ran it for a while with a piece of tape over the hole. Then, I found "THE PLUG" offered for sale on the S&W forum, bought one, installed it and never looked back.

Regardless of whether the lock fails or the little misses forgets to unlock the gun in a moment of need, an internal lock is a fuck-up waiting to happen. They are dangerous and they should not be installed in firearms. I blame Hillary Clinton personally for this scourge on humanity.

Is hot-linking so difficult?

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1980-present/219915-internal-lock-failure-poll-now-open-rational-data-discussion.html

 
Was it the lock that broke?

Trying to remember.........wanting to say it was the hand, but I can't guarantee that.

I heard all the stories about a friend of a friend's lock malfunctioned and figured all the hate for the lock was just because it's a useless part on our beloved S&W revolvers, nothing more. So I bought a 317 snub, two 642's and a PC Model 66 F-Comp with locks to go along with all of my pre-lock guns and had many thousands of trouble free rounds.

I understand WHY the lock possibly COULD malfunction, especially if you are the one in 100,000 owners who actually use the lock and wear in the parts. It's actually very simple. Look at which direction you turn the lock to engage it. The same direction it could potentially turn if it stays in place under recoil. I still thought it was all BS.

Then it happened. This is one lock issue even I would call absolute BS if it didn't happen to me. Between the combination of the gun and ammo, I don't see any reason it did happen, but it did. It was with my F-Comp I purchased used. I was shooting .38 Special standard pressure 158gr reloads. Everything was going good until I couldn't pull the trigger. No matter what I did, it wouldn't work. I put the gun away and shot another revolver for the rest of my range trip.

When I got home I tried unlocking the lock after seeing that little flag sticking up. Yup, it did actually happen to me. With the combination of the all SS K-Frame and the .38 Special loads I can't see any reason it did happen, but it did.

The only S&W I own now with the lock is my 317 .22 snub, since it's just used as a plinker and putting down sick animals around the property. The way I saw it if it happened to one it can happen to them all. You never know when or which one so I'll never trust my life to a Smith revolver with the lock. I found a 642 new at a LGS that was from an LE overrun without the lock and picked it up. With all of the pre-lock guns out there I don't see a reason to trust your life to something that could possibly malfunction and make your life saving tool useless. I know that some people own 50 Smiths with the lock and never have a problem, but it's that one in a million handguns and that one in a million rounds out of that handgun that make the lock fail. Unfortunately, I've been that one in a million. They say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice but I've watched it strike a high tension power like tower across the far field twice in the same storm. With my lick, I'll have another lock malfunction when I need it most.

If you insist on owning a Smith with the lock, disable it. And to all the people why say it's disabling a safety and it's a bad idea for a carry gun due to liability, that's absolutely BS. How many people do you know who carry a cocked 1911 without the safety engaged? Nobody, because it's a SAFETY. how many people do you know who carry their concealed Smith revolver around with the lock engaged? Nobody, because IT'S NOT A SAFETY! It's an access denial device, no different than a safe, trigger lock or cable lock.

Similar... shot a buddies 329PD.  It locked up on round 4.

I don't know for sure his usage of the lock or it's state prior to firing.

I do know that I ground the locking portion off the lock on both my 'hillary hole' equipped Smiths shortly thereafter.

It wouldn't keep me from buying a new Smith, but I'd do a bit of work to the lock prior to considering it anything beyond a range toy.

Only had a problem with a gen 2 lock. Can't believe they sent me old tech

Nope but I disabled the lock on my only lock gun and used "the plug" that the guy on the S&W forums makes.  It's easy to pull the lock plate out and grind off the nub so it can't engage.  The majority of the failures you see reported seem to be on the Airweight .357s and .44s and given that the .360PD weighs around 15oz I didn't see taking the chance when the fix was easy- and can easily be undone by swapping in new parts if needed.  I'm not a subscriber to the defensive guns must remain bone stock theory.

Over 2500 rounds through my 625PC. The lock has never engaged.

Thanks for posting your whole post.

I have had two instructors that say they too have witnessed it firsthand. One was Mas Ayoob & the other was Michael Bethencourt. Both instructors recommended getting no-lock snubs.
But if you can't or don't want to Mas of course recommended never altering the lock. Michael recommended it only if you're going to never sell the gun.

As for the lock being a safety device: It was defined to us in Michael's snub course as an "Access Denial Device" - not a safety.

Cheers!

-JC

I have a model 60 with the pointless lock, w/ about 2K rounds through it. I have never used the lock or had it interfere with the operation of the gun. I have shot a friend's .500 S&W Magnum. It doesn't get shot all that often but my friend has never mentioned a problem. I would think that if recoil were going to cause the lock to engage, you would definitely see it on the .500 S&W Mag.

S&W revolvers WITHOUT the stupid lock command more money but AFAIK the lock itself isn't creating any problems ( I am sure somebody on the Internet will disagree )

In short; leave it alone and it will leave you alone. As always-YMMV


ETA- For the designed purpose of the stupid on board lock, a simple padlock or cable lock is FAR superior. It would be cheaper to supply, does not interface with the firing mechanism, is immediately identifiable as being "engaged" and leaves no doubt as to the loaded/unloaded status of the gun and can tether the gun to a immovable hard point. Also, it is my understanding that ALL these S&W on board locks are keyed alike. With so many keys floating around, how can that provide any sort of reliable safety or security? On the contrary, it actually lures newb gun owners into a false sense of security in the belief that all they have to do is "lock" the gun rather than learning and practicing timeless and proven firearms safety and security practices (e.g.; treating all guns as being always loaded all of the time, using a real SAFE to secure unattended firearms, verifying the loaded/unloaded status of a firearm EVERYTIME you pick one up.)

S&W is still making version of the 642, 442 and M&P 340 in no-lock versions.

442 with Lock.  No issues. Maybe 1000 rounds through it, which is saying a lot for an airweight.