Range report on the Model 745.
 

Took it to the range yesterday. Shot like a champ. Absolutely no sniffles. I was able to clang many a steel target at 40 and 50 yards with it. The only thing was it took me a few magazines to settle in with it. The past few years I've been shooting revolvers and Glocks. I used to own a couple Sigs, but they're gone. I've gotten used to how the Glock design sits low in the hand. I'd forgotten how the older style autos have a higher bore axis and therefore more muzzle flip. But after a few mags I settled in and got to work. Very easy shooting gun. That all-steel frame sucks up the recoil.

Funny how you get used to one system and forget about the idiosyncrasies of others.

http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...an1/SW745A.jpg

Nice piece there, Mr. Cordell. Love the old Smith autos. Also, nice gun bench.:)

Very nice - Buddy of mine had one of those years ago and he's been looking to replace it since! Great photography too!

Thanks. I'm not really into autos, but this one just caught my fancy and the deal that the shop offered me was too good to pass up. When I learned that S&W only made 5,000 of them between 86-90 I knew it was going to have to join my collection. So I got permission from my wife. ;)

Very slick piece you have there.

the 2 tone just looks cool

Yeah I like the two-tone look. It just has something about it.

The one thing I did was take my 745 into a local shop and have the trigger guard recessed in order to get a higher grip.Basically the same change was implemented by S&W when they designed the 3rd Gen 45's. I know that some collectors will scream in agony that I did such a thing, but it's my pistol. It made a good pistol even better. I like being able to get a high grip when shooting and the one big flaw with the 2nd Generation S&W 45 pistol was that trigger guard.

BEFORE
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...an1/SW745F.jpg
AFTER
http://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/...psfdb1c38b.jpg

I think it's neat that you modified the gun to be more serviceable and user friendly.

Thanks. I had expected some criticism, but everybody has said that they would do the same thing or now they will do the same thing to their 745.

Nice! I won't fault you for modifying the gun, as you said its yours. And hey, it's only 25 years old, modifications in the guns original service life don't ruin it's collectibility.

I've had a few folks tell me that they hadn't thought of such a thing and might do the same as well to their 645/745. I wish I could say I was brilliant and take credit for thinking of this first, but I read in an old gun magazine from 1989 that this modification was fairly common in the eighties and that S&W had learned of it. Does seem like it has been forgotten about though. The gunsmith who did the work told me that he hadn't done this job in many many years. Oh hey that gunsmith recently retired from Cabelas. Small world. He now owns and operates his own gunshop/gunsmith business.

In a similar vain, I bought a used Ithaca '37 Featherweight field gun. The previous owner had installed a Hi-Viz orange bead and a Limb-Saver recoil pad.

A friend of mine lamented that the collectible value of the gun was ruined. I responded that the modifications made the gun easier to use, which was fine with me.

Yes. Some guns are just meant to be shooters and modifications help.

That gun wasn't necessarily a beater when I bought it, but you could tell the gun had seen some use and ridden about in a pick-up.

Which was fine with me, unless we're talking Patton's .357 or M-1873, guns shouldn't be kept under glass, in my opinion.

For the most part I agree with you. Having said that I do have a couple that I have no intention of shooting or at least not shoot anymore. I guess I've transitioned from gathering or having to collecting.