Anyone own or have experience with S&W performance shop revolvers

[Daniel686]

I own several S&W revolvers. I have been looking at S&W performance shop model 627,627 v-comp and the trr8. All of them are 8 shot .357 mag. Im a big .357 guy and an 8 shot revolver! Well you know. They are pricey. But i have the money and i want a really nice pistol. And later would like to customize it further. Does anyone own one of these or have experience with one. I dont know to go with all metal(stainless) or the trr8 which is an alloy(scandium). Dont know if the scandium alloy would hold up? And which of them has the better barrel. S&Ws website has hardly any info other than the specs.

 

[Drail]

My advice from 10 years of doing custom work on S&W revolvers - buy the base/stock model and have a smith customize it the way you want. The Performance Center guns are WAY overpriced for what they are. The Performance Center is more of a marketing research tool to see what the market wants. There are plenty of good smiths in the U.S. who can do MUCH better work than S&W on customization and upgrades. In my opinion most S&W revos don't really need much to be perfect. Any non tool steel alloy is not going to have the service life of an all steel model. And alloy guns are not much fun to shoot. Instead of the gun's mass absorbing some of the recoil your wrist gets all of it. People who think that carry guns should be extremely lightweight are basically just wimps who don't ever shoot very much. A good belt and holster will allow anyone to carry a large frame S&W comfortably.

 

[451_Detonics]

People who think that carry guns should be extremely lightweight are basically just wimps who don't ever shoot very much. A good belt and holster will allow anyone to carry a large frame S&W comfortably.

Or they could be folks who can't carry the weight no matter the how high a quality belt and holster they use. Folks like those with regenerative disc disease and several back surgeries under their belt.

As for the cost of the Custom shop guns versus have a gunsmith modify the gun much depends on what you want done.

 

[AllenM]

I have 2 S&W performance center guns. One is the 627 Times 8 and the other is a 629 Snubbie. My experience with them has been very positive. I love both these guns, The 627 doesn't like the heavier bullets but with 125 gr bullets in it it is extremely accurate and a lot of fun to shoot.
The 629 I am still learning to shoot I am still working on a load for it.
But I like the looks and feel of both these guns. I am not a revolver smith and what Drail has said could very likely be true. I have a couple of stock smiths that are very accurate as well and fun to shoot, but I like the styling the performance center does.

The times 8 is a great gun. If you get a chance to get one on a good deal I would

 

[Osobuco]

Dont know if the scandium alloy would hold up? And which of them has the better barrel. S&Ws website has hardly any info other than the specs.

I have drooled over S&W custom shop guns a lot! I would imagine they are very high quality - hey it's S&W right?! Anyway, I have read that the alloy guns can have issues with cracking etc hot loads butthey should be OK with factory stuff and if there is an issue smith will fix for free forever.

One poster above me mentioned buying a regular smith and having it customized. The only prob with that is you can invalidate the warranty. Also, from what I have seen quality custom work can be very expensive.
I would not risk invalidating the best warranty in the business but that's just me.

 

[Drail]

The Performance Center stuff is not any better quality than the standard catalog models. They have just had some additional hand tooling done or a trick part installed. I know of a fair number of people who bought them and were disappointed after paying BIG bucks for the P.C. logo. I have had them on my bench and was not impressed. And yes I know all about severe spinal problems, trust me. The doctors are telling me to start shopping for a wheelchair. I still contend that even with back problems a steel K or L frame should not be that difficult with a proper rig if you can position the weight at some point on your belt where it's not going to aggravate your problem. If even that is too much then you'll have to go with something like the Ruger LCR or perhaps consider ankle carry. Alloy guns are fine for carry but you shouldn't expect long service life if you like to take it to the range and work out with it a lot.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Does anyone own one of these or have experience with one. I dont know to go with all metal(stainless) or the trr8 which is an alloy(scandium). Dont know if the scandium alloy would hold up?

My advice would be to stay away from the alloy .357s. I have the 327 and the 627 V-comp. The 327 seemed to loosen up just shooting standard .357 ammo. I started getting light primer strikes after about 500 rounds and now I have about 1 FTF every 10-15 rounds. I've tried various ammo with the same results. The 327 is going back for evaluation. Just for that reason, I haven't fired too many rounds through the 627 V-comp. I'm waiting to see what happens with the 327.

I have the .460 S&W Compensated Hunter with the steel frame and 10 5/8" Lothar Walther barrel and it is perfection.The action is slick and smooth with an incredible trigger in single or double action. I wouldn't have any problems with another steel frame Smith, but I doubt if I ever buy another alloy Smith revolver.

 

[Hap Hazard]

PC revolvers are very nice overpriced guns. Follow previous advice and buy a standard model(don't know if the 627 8X is available in a standard anymore).

The Scandium alloy guns are good to carry a lot and shoot a little. They come standard with a blast shield above the forcing cone because the alloy can't take the continuous blast/burn. People who shoot a lot often have the shields eaten through and guess what.......they are not user replacements! The revolver has to go back to Smith. Some don't mind the down time(Smith DOES replace them for nothing) but I personally don't buy a gun that I KNOW is going to need factory work; you might find yourself in an embarrassing need for your revolver while it's getting fixed or in the worst case you might imagine Smith might not be there to fix it. Supersticious, I guess.

 

[Daniel686]

The next step down from the PC revolver model 627 is the pro series. The differences between the 2 is... Finish-the pro has matte stainless steel and PC has matte silver (which i like). The pro has cased hardned hammer and trigger and PC has chromed (which i want). The pro is not as smooth as the PC (so ive heard from several owners). The pro has the standred cylinder detent at the front of the ejector and the PC has the ball detent at the rear (which i want). The pro has a 4" barrel and the PC has 5". The pro comes with red ramp front sight and the PC has the gold bead (which ive heard is a better sight). And the PC comes with the beautiful wood grips and rubber black ones like the ones on the pro. Both are 8 shot. And the price difference is suggested retail of $230. So can a smith do the differences for that much?

 

[FERLACH]

I own 2 performance center revolvers and have the same models in the standard non-performance center gun. They are nice, but I dont feel they are worth the extra money over standard. 640PC and regular 640. 66PC and regular 66. PCs cost about 2-1/2 time as much and I dont feel they are worth the extra cost.

 

[desmodue]

I bought one of the first Performance Center K-Comps built in 1994 (has it been almost 20 years!?!) I thought it was a good value then, and as each year passes and what passes for quality from S&W continues to drop, I think it was a bargain.

My personal yardstick is that my K-Comp was about $250 more than a standard 2 1/2" Model 19. I think I got a lot of value for that $250. Today's PC guns are at a much higher price point (as are the standard models)

I wouldn't pay what they ask for todays PC guns.
I would not but a scandium frame gun.
I would not pay some hack to butcher a good gun.
I would not pay a top-tier gunsmith the exhorbitant prices they charge either. Yeah, the best guys do great work, but I don't see the value when you can....
Buy a clean pre-lock model S&W. It will be at premium. It will seem cheap a few years from now. 8 shots? pfffft. If 6 full load .357's won't get the job done, you have bigger problems than being shy 2 cartridges.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

It's like watches woman and cars. The ones that come decked out from the factory always cost more than taking a stripped out model in for upgrades. It's nice to splurge on yourself and if you have the means to do it go for it. Driving a ZR1 is nicer than a beefed up SS, sucking on natural 34D ******* is better than a mouth full of silicone and though your casio may tell time better than my Rolex it still doesnt compare.

At the end your budget and taste will direct you.

 

[22lr]

That picture says it all, dang im jealous.

 

[Bullfrog80]

I can't wait to see and shoot your new gun... I'm already jealous and it isn't even here yet!!

 

[EPD1102]

I'm with the guys who say to buy the standard gun and have a good gunsmith do the modifications you want. I don't have a lot of experience with Performance Center guns but I do have a S&W 629 Classic and a S&W 629 PC. The Classic shoots as well as the PC gun after some minor trigger work, and maybe even a little better, at a lot less money.