Talk:Smith & Wesson

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Removed the bit about smith and wesson's announcement that it will be the "first time" the company has entered the market for shotguns, as they unsuccessfully tried to do this back in the 70s with the 916 series shotguns. and the 1000 and 3000 series shotguns.

Gslaterp

Well I added a section. Please improve it as I'm not that great of an editor.

Has anyone considered adding a section about the controversy sparked by the internal locks? I know a good deal of gun owners are unhappy about them.


Wikipedia text:

The Sigma series of recoil operated, locked breech semi-auto pistols was introduced in 1994, with the Sigma 40, followed by the Sigma 9. Sigma pristols bore so much similarity to GLOCKs, that a lawsuit was raised against S&W by GLOCK. Smith & Wesson paid an undisclosed sum (some millions of dollars) to GLOCK for infringement of their patents, and then S&W received the rights to continue the production of Sigma line.
The gun frame is manufactured from polymer, while the slide and barrel can be manufactured from either stainless steel or carbon steel. The Sigma series was improved in 1999, including shortening the barrel and slide, addition of an accessory rail under the barrel, incorporating more comfortable grip checkering and enlarging the ejection port.

Text from Modern Firearms:

The Sigma series of pistols was introduced in 1994 by its first model, Sigma 40F in .40SW, following with 9x19mm version. Sigma pistols bear so much similirality to Glocks, that the lawsuit was rised against the S&W, so Smith & Wesson finally paid undisclosed sum (some millions of $$$) to Glock for violation of their patents, and then S&W received the rights to continue the production of Sigma line.
...Gun frame is made from polymer, the slide and the barrel can be manufactured from the stainless steel or from the carbon steel (in so called "Value" models).
In 1999 S&W improved the Sigma series. Main change was shortening the barrel and the slide by .5 inch (12.7 mm). Other improvements included more comfortable grip checkering, slightly enlarged ejection port and addition of the acessory rail at the front of the frame (under the barrel).

The text is quite similar despite being cleaned up a bit; is this a copyright issue?Kurivaim 5 July 2005 13:43 (UTC)

No, he was just keeping alive the spirit of the S&W Sigma.


Oh, come on. Nobody has put "Smith & Wesson : the original point & click interface" on this page? Geez (Seriously, I don't know if it's appropriate, but it's funny :) Sword 05:56, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] This article needs cleaning up

The "Problems in Marketplace" section is unencyclopedic and more related to current events. The "Agreement of 2000" needs to be relocated and whittled down. Izaakb 02:41, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

I suggest that the "History of S&W" actually be a timeline of the company rather than some smattering of un-chronological info. What about Oliver Winchester? What happened to Bangor-Punta? I'll do some research and post it. Also, the intro paragraph should be meatier, IMHO.. Izaakb 03:35, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

How about:

# 1 History of Smith & Wesson
   * 1.1 Beginning
   * 1.2 Horace and Dan's invention
   * 1.3 Sale to Winchester
   * 1.4 War Production years (Spanish American thru WW2
   * 1.5 Sale to Bangor Punta
   * 1.6 Sale to Tomkins PLC
   * 1.7 Back in American Hands (Saf T Lock)

ETC.. I will refine later....


Izaakb 03:42, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree. This article is very unorganized.67.142.130.38 21:20, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree too, and let me go further. I think that this article would be vastly improved if the cumbersome lists of handgun models were moved elsewhere. This article should be about the history of the company. I suggest creating a separate article about each major subcategory of handgun (i.e. "Smith & Wesson Top-Break", "Smith & Wesson J-frame", "Smith & Wesson Metal Frame Semi-Automatic", etc.) and putting the lists of models there. Right now, the lists aren't even close to being comprehensive, and they're already too long. If every single S&W handgun model were added, the lists would overwhelm the historical content of the article. If everyone thinks this is a good idea, I'll get started on the project. Carguychris (talk) 14:39, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

No arguments here. It should be a monumental and tedious--Mcumpston (talk) 15:17, 1 May 2008 (UTC) project

[edit] A very self-congratulatory article

I'm surprised as a gun lover that an article on S&W doesn't have half it being criticism. Some major cleanup issues:

-Listing out all the products is ridiculous. That reads like an advertisement. -In fact, the entire article reads like an ad for S&W. -There should be a criticism section in this article, S&W has made so many terrible firearms, so many mistakes both in production and in corporate handling.

VogonFord 23:38, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Lock Issue

On August 27, 2007, Michael Bane, author, producer and media representative for the shooting industry, published this blog about his personal experience with spontaneous engagement of the Safe-T-Hammer internal locking device: http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/08/s-revolver-safety-failure.html These events have occured since the present owners of the company incorporated the lock in the revolvers. They were dismissed as "urban legend" at first but S&W revolver purchasers encounter them frequently. At this time, only Bane and Massad Ayoob, among the established industry writers have published confirmations that there is a problem with the locks.--Mcumpston (talk) 19:24, 1 April 2008 (UTC)