Acquired what I believe is an older S&W 42 Airweight. Not finding much on GB about them.

Ser number 499** range, as you can see, excellent condition.

So... what's the "general" value of these? I assume parts are available? Avoid +P ammo?

Squeeze cocker, avoid +P and I wouldn’t sell it for less than $600.

Thanks for the reply.

Maybe a third party has some. But Smith & Wesson might tell you the F off

It's my understanding that so long as it's model number marked, it'll handle +P ammo. Your hand and wrist might not appreciate a steady diet of it, but the gun will handle it just fine. Apparently, the cracked frames many people attribute to +P ammo are actually due to over torquing the barrels during assembly at the factory.

Nice gun, by the way. I'd love to find a Model 42 (and a 042) to go with my 3 442's and 642.

I saw that thread... shame....

There is absolutely no reason to run plus p in this or really any alloy J frame. A lot of seasoned experts ( and I fully agree) will tell you the best option for both carry and practice in the J’s in simple old fashioned 148 grain target wadcutters.

The near absolute rule in snub ammo:
If it expands it won’t penetrate
If it penetrates it won’t expand

The WC’s have a number of advantages over more modern ammo or bullet shapes and weights in the snub:

Light manageable recoil
Hit to point of aim
Cut a sharp hole as the penetrate, more likely to cut and damage tissue than a rounded profile that tends to push tissue out of the way to flex back undamaged
Relatively low cost ( real inexpensive if you reload)
Usually easy to find/ available
Consistency in meeting fbi penetration standards

The grip safety 40/42  came originally with a pin to allow you to pin the safety in the on position which seems like a good idea too
I love old classics and this would be hard to find or replace if you break it so that is a factor also

The problem with using 148 grain wadcutters is finding them.  

For the average person who's not going to buy a ammunition online, you can walk into pretty much any gun store and find some sort of defensive 38 special ammunition. Most of it might be +P.  

Personally, I haven't seen 148 full wadcutters in a store since W was President. There might be some old timey gun shops that cater more too that.

I still have a stash of old Nyclad 158gr for my 66-4, so I'm obviously not buying too much new 38spl ammo

I am a long time reloader, and 148 WC’s have been a bread and butter load for me since the 1980’s. I do have a box or two of factory I carry, but all my practice ammo is reloads. As time has gone on, 38’s have become much more expensive ( I know what hasn’t!) in the old days when 38’s were the standard police cartridge in this country sub $5 per box 38’s were common. These days a typical box of 38’s is $35-30 per 50, can’t build proficiency at that price, unless you are a wealthy person. My wadcutter reloads cost me about 8 bucks a box to reload making high volume shooting practical
Bottom line if you really want to shoot enough to be proficient be rich or get reloading