Hello there, brand new member here.

I wanted to start off by posting a topic about an isue I feel we have to act on as a shooting community. I'm talking about Smith and Wesson's internal locks, also known colloquially as the "Hillary Hole".

I don't know too much about this, but if I remember correctly, Smith and Wesson was pressured by the Clinton government into agreeing to only sell guns to certain people, and to introduce locks and other safety features on their guns.

Naturally, the shooting community boycotted Smith, and their pofits went down the tubes. So they reneged on the agreement.

But Smith and Wesson was then acquired by a company called Safe-T-Hammer, which proceeded to implement many of the Clinton agreement's features, most notoriously, the internal lock.



Now, Smith had supplied guns with trigger locks. An internal lock is only necessary in Maryland, I believe.


What's so bad about the internal lock? Well, it's a bit ugly. It doesn't detract too much unless you are trying to notice it, but it's there.

What's worse is that it introduced a new way for a revolver to fail. And fail they have.

Paul Pluff and Herb Belin, two of Smith's PR and development guys, claim it doesn't fail. An article in American Handgunner claimed it was all "hysteria".



But there are documented accounts of the lock failing, on everything from small J-frame magnums to X-frame guns, and even L-frames such as the 686!

Granted, most failures ocur on scandium framed guns firing magnum loads. But failures have even occured on "normal" S&Ws!

HEre are some accounts:

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/08/s-revolver-safety-failure.html

Mike BAne's 329PD locked up after firing some Buffalo Bore 44.



686 locks up!

A later article in American Handgunner derided the locks. A 329PD even flew apart after firing!

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_173_29/ai_n7578382/

And even a 45 ACP revolver is too much for the lock:

http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/2007/01/sw-and-hillary-hole.html

Granted, it's the troubled 625-10, but still...

If S&W had not put locks on these guns, all these failures would not have happened.

This could cost a life, and the locks are unnecessary. Put a trigger lock in the box.


Sorry for the rant. 

Anyone here agree?