concerting, to say the least. To say the most, it stings.
Having a bit of rubber twixt skin and steel when shooting
Magnums is as welcome as a dusting of talcum twixt
skin and skivvies on a hot day.Grabbing a fistful of 640
Pro, its handle feels about as stable and comfortable as
a custom piece. While all shooters are justifiably finicky
about grips and handles, most should like the feel of this
setup. The downside is that the grip extends the handle’s length by 5/8”. The extra length, while increasing
purchase, does nothing to enhance concealment.Okay,
enough sightseeing. Beauty is as beauty does. If the
proof of the pudding is in the eating, then proof of the
gun would be in the shooting. Shooting plain-Jane .38
SPLs and +P loads with bullet weights from 110 to 158
grains, the 640 Pro was a 640 Pussycat. Recoil with run
of the mill .38s was gentle, straight back and with zero
muzzle flip. Shooting +Ps was literally a blast, since a
handsome jet of muzzle blast accompanied every shot.
Nevertheless, even shooting the stouter +Ps, there was
very little muzzle rise and recoil was quite tame.Be advised that loading the moon clips with most brands of
ammo was easy, but I struggled with one brand in particular. Depending on whether a shooter uses the supplied or aftermarket clips, it might be that some brands
of brass or steel won’t fit as readily into the moon clips
as might others. However, once loaded into the clips, all
the brands of ammo that I tried functioned without flaw.
The sights that looked so impressive during pre-flight
functioned slightly less impressively. Although the Trijicon sights are absolutely a step up from the pitiful sights
on most J-frame revolvers, I found the three tritium dots
to be too small for rapid target acquisition. The front
sight was especially difficult to use. I ended up ignoring
the dots and aligning the revolver as if I was shooting
with plain patridge sights. Not connecting the dots
proved to be faster than aligning them as they were
meant to be used, and actually improved accuracy.The
trigger was about what I expected from a Smith & Wesson snubby. It was smooth to be sure, but as heavy as a
Christmas fruitcake. Conan might be able to press this
trigger with the pad of his pinky finger, but I had to use
the power crease of my trigger finger. Using the distal
joint changes the finger action from a press to a curl,
which can lead to inaccuracy. Which is what I got. I was
unimpressed by this revolver’s ability to drop rounds into
the red. Shooting the 640 Pro was like opening Forest
Gump’s proverbial box of chocolates – I never knew
what I was going to get. At seven yards, I could cover my
groups with my hand. However, every shot was as far to
the left as a Massachusetts politician. Not good.The
front sight seemed to be off center, so the armorer got
out his little hammer and brass punch and drifted the
damn thing to the left by almost 1/16th of an inch. Drifting the sight did exactly what it was supposed to do, but
the gun remained untrustworthy in terms of pinpoint accuracy.Just to make sure that I wasn’t merely having a
bad day, I loaded my personal Model 642 with the exact
same .38 SPL commie range ammo and fired off a quick
GUNS & AMMO
five. I was on the money with the 642, but still spraying
shots with the 640. Considering that the 640 has a
slightly longer barrel and full size grip, I expected better.
The problem wasn’t too difficult to diagnose. Simply stated, I was using too much finger, thereby pushing the
revolver to the left. But diagnosing the problem and curing it proved to be two different things. Had I been able
to squeeze off shots rapid-fire using the pad of my trigger finger, I would have been on target. I would also
have given myself tendonitis. The 640 pro’s trigger was
far too heavy to get a smooth pull with the pad, forcing
me to use my “power crease.” Blasting away at the target and point shooting, I was able to cra