442 vs. 642

/ hsoi

After obtaining my snub nose revolver, I got curious about the differences between the S&W 442 and 642. I touched on them briefly here, but I figured why not ask Smith & Wesson themselves and get the straight skinny.

I emailed and received a response.

Hello, the only differance is the cylinder, the main reason is some people do not like a silver firearm. Do not use any cleaner which contains chlorine or ammonia, the finish is a spray coat which is prone to show wear but the trade off is the light weight.

So if I’m reading his response correctly:

The only differences between the 642 and 442 are the finish and the cylinder. That is, despite what Tam says, the barrel is the same. The cylinder materials are different: the 642 with stainless steel and the 442 with carbon steel.

The finish of the 442 is a spray coat (that surprised me). Of course, I wasn’t told exactly what the coating was. I’m assuming Hoppes #9 is OK for cleaning.

Anyway, there you go.

6 thoughts on “442 vs. 642”

  1. Pingback: Got my snub « Stuff From Hsoi

  2. Hsoi, be careful with the No. 9 on S&W’s “spray on finish”, I removed a healthy portion of the spray on coating on my 22A using No. 9. As of the past two years or so, I haven’t used Hoppes or Break Free CLP for any kind of cleaning, in fact, I don’t even own a can/bottle of either. I use Hoppe’s or Break Free’s Foaming Bore Cleaner though. Go by Academy and you’ll find it in the cleaning gear, I recommend it to all my customers and use it myself. Otherwise, spring for the M-Pro 7. Both the foaming cleaner and the M-Pro are non-toxic and I haven’t found a finish yet that it can destroy.

    -Rob

    PS: I really still think the barrel on the 642 is stainless, but maybe the 442 is stainless with a spray on finish?

    PPS: Thanks for the comment quote the other day.

    • Yikes.. that’s not good to hear about the Hoppes. I actually replied to the S&W rep asking specifically about Hoppes but haven’t heard back. I’ll have to ping them again, but thanx for the heads up.

      Customers? If I may ask, where do you work? (you’re welcome to just email me if you don’t want to post it publicly here).

      As for the barrels, all I can say is the S&W made it sound like the 642 and the 442 have the same barrel. But he didn’t say WHAT the barrels were made of. *shrug*

      And you’re welcome for the comment… hey, you were right. No one ever complains of too little ammo. Anyone that says capacity doesn’t matter well… if that’s the case then let’s take it to the extreme. If you could only carry 1 round or have a “bottomless” magazine, which would you choose? Anyone that picks just 1 round is a liar. 😉

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