S&W 940

[JoeyBones]

What can anyone tell me about this revolver, price and availability-wise? The idea really appeals to me (of a 9mm revolver using moon clips), and I see that they can be found here and there, but they seem to command a bit of a premium...

Does anyone have any kind of ballpark estimate on what I could expect to pay for a LNIB stainless S&W 940? I looked at current prices on Gunbroker, but that can be skewed data, for various & obvious reasons...

I'm looking for anyone who has actually bought one of these fairly recently (I know that they have not been in production for about a decade), and I'm curious what you would consider a "fair" price on one in very nice shape?

Thanks in advance guys,

Bones

[Carne Frio]

Howdy ! I have one. It's a nice stainless J frame with 2 inch barrel.
S&W did make a few in 3 inch, which I looked for years to find .
I saw them go on Gunbroker and other auction sites. The prices
were always above $700. They are hamerless with a centennial
type of frame. Pleasant to shoot with regular 9mm and a nice
little jolt with the 9mm +P. Uses 5 slot moon clips. Good luck
finding one. Mine is not for sale, sorry.

[pred]

Lovely gun, I like my 940 so much, I bought a Model 60 Smith and Wesson and for 125 I bought a 940 cylinder and made a 960 ! Yay!
They will always be $600 + when you find one!
PM me if you need more info on making one yourself!
Here is a pic of the Model 60 converted!

By the way I am in the neighborhood,
Peter.
And here is a pic of My 940

[1blindref]

IMHO, the 940 is the Holy Grail of S&W J-frames.
I was lucky enough to stumble upon this one about 3 months ago. I got a very (very) good deal on it at $450.00 out the door. I'd been looking for one for a while, but they don't come up very often. They usually sell for $575 - $700. on Gun Broker when they do pop up.

Good luck with your search.

[JoeyBones]

Thanks very much for the replies, fellas... I might just have to splurge with my tax return and pick up a S&W 940... I gotta wonder though - Why did they discontinue these?

Have any of you guys experienced the casing 'sticking' issue when ejecting the moon clip of 5 empties? Is this more of an issue when shooting +P or +P+ ammo (If I snag one, it would likely be stoked w/ Ranger SXT 127 +P+... at least to start... b/c it's what I currently have stockpiled..lol)

Thanks again!

Regards,

Bones

[2camsam]

Hey Joey,

If you already have a 640 with the old shorter style frame (no dash), S&W will sell you a 940 cylinder for $123.14-and at least in my case, it dropped right into the gun and even came fitted with a new style extractor! My "9640" shoots sub 1" groups at 21 feet with Silvertips and will put them through one ragged hole from a rest.

As far as sticky chambers go, mine were indeed on the rough side, but after polishing them out by hand the gun lets go of the empties ok. I used flexible strips cut from a red foam Norton 150 grit sanding block (part #02647) wrapped around a 1/8" aluminum tube to do this.

I've ordered moon clips from S&W because the Ranch Product ones are a little looser than I like. Also, they advised me that+p+ through the cylinder would break something sooner or later-I had some vintage 115gr. Cor-Bon I wanted to try. Finally, if you want a 940 cylinder you'd better hurry-I was told when I ordered mine last month that they only had 13 left.

[JoeyBones]

Old thread, I know...

But as the OP, I feel justified in this particular instance of thread necromancy....

I just took possession of a super clean 940...

Forum member 'Foofer' had given me good info on the FFL to whom he had just traded his, and so I called first thing this morning, asked them to set it aside for me, and I just now got back from picking her up....

One of my personal grail guns is now a reality! I will try and post pics of her ASAP (no camera access right now).

This is the 1 7/8" model... I have not yet had a chance to tell what version it is (no-dash, etc.), as I am a S&W noob and a revolver noob as well...

Thanks to everyone for your input and knowledge on this gun!

Regards,

Bones

[2camsam]

Took me a while to come up with this, but here at long last is my "9640"'s new reload setup. The double elastic pouches are sewn into a removable insert from a CaseLogic Nintendo DS game storage case, the lanyard is from a Mini-Maglite, and the 1/3 moon clips are cut up S&W full moons. I bent the top of the insert over to hold the rounds in place against the tension of the elastic, but they still pop out easily if you pinch the pouches at the closed ends. I know there is a missing round in my reload, but the setup is flat and will actually go with me instead of getting left at home. Besides, each case comes with 2 inserts so I have more than one-

[JoeyBones]

Nice!

How was it fitting the 940 cylinder? Some have said it might drop right in, while others had to fit the hand to get the timing right, from what I've read....

Was there any end shake do deal with, and how is the B/C gap on that?

Very well done! If I could find another 940 or 940-1 cylinder (or whole gun reasonably priced lol) I would be all over it. I love my 940!

Regards,

Bones

[2camsam]

The cylinder was a drop in installation, although the smith I talked to at S&W told me I got lucky, especially since the extractor that came with the cylinder is the new style and the old one wasn't. B/C gap is old school spec-.005 out to a tight .008 with endshake added in-and that's close enough for me. Headspace and timing are perfect-better than they were with the original cylinder, which of course still fits. I just flat out love this gun!