S&W 625JM vs. 625PC

I was wondering if someone could give their thoughts on a 625JM vs. a 625PC. I have really started to shoot more IDPA with the revolver and usually use my 686 with a little action work and it works quite well. However I would like to move to ESR for the speed of the moon clips (and also another reason to buy another Smith). I would assume that the PC would come with a better trigger job than the JM. Anyone care to list their pros and cons of each? Thanks in advance for the input. Great to be a part of this board.

PC

I just made the same decision. I chose the PC.
Much better trigger
Chamfered charge holes
Like the looks

There is no wrong decision.

Choose the barrel length you want then get the cheapest model in that length then send it off to carmoney for an action job and you'll be gtg.

I was in the market for a JM last year, but none were available at the time. The PC model was available, so I thought for about $100 more, I might as well buy it. It has been one of the best Smiths I have ever purchased.

The trigger right out of the box is really nice. Here is a picture of mine, with replacement S&W American Pride grips.

The Performance Center 625 uses "Deep Cut Broached Rifling," while the 625JM uses EDM rifling. Some shooters have reported leading issues with the EDM rifling and lead bullets. If you shoot a lot of lead, the PC model may be a better choice.

47D said:

The Performance Center 625 uses "Deep Cut Broached Rifling," while the 625JM uses EDM rifling. Some shooters have reported leading issues with the EDM rifling and lead bullets. If you shoot a lot of lead, the PC model may be a better choice.

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I keep hearing this but my two 625's (a 5" Model 625-6 Model of 1989 and a 4" Model 625 JM Special) are among the most accurate cast bullet shooters in my inventory. I run 5000-7500 rounds per year (Mihec mould for the H&G #68 clone) through them with nary a scrap of leading to be seen.

I happen to prefer the weight forward balance of the double underlugged barrel (I believe it reduces muzzle flip for quicker recovery in rapid fire) of the 625's I have.

YMMV
Dale53

I have and like the PC gun. As you shoot IDPA already you are aware of the 4" limit on barrel-length. If you have the chance to handle both, one with the full underlug barrel as well as the PC gun, it'd be nice for you to be able to see which one feels better to you. I personally don't notice a whole lot of difference, but I've tended to not be all that fussy about small deviations in balance as I'm not that fantastically fast with my runnin' & gunnin' as all that.....

i have the 5.5"JM model 625 from the performance center...love it!this one seems to be a bit scarce

I have a 625 PC and it's my favorite. I have a buddy who has a real problem putting holes anywhere in a target from 15 yards with a semi-automatic. I gave him my 625 and he started putting lead in the ten ring. VERY easy gun to shoot well with.



(Oh, but you gotta lose those clown grips immediately)

If you are looking at the current offerings there are some noteable differences. IMO the 625 PC is suited to shooters who don't like to "tinker" with their guns, the 625 JM is for shooters who make it a habit to do a bit of "tuning" on any new gun they purchase. Now for some specifics. Note, both current models feature 4 inch barrels.

625 PC. Features a broach rifled barrel with a "light" profile, meaning the underlug is cut back to reduce weight. Trigger and hammer are "blued" Forged with a smooth trigger that features a trigger stop and a special "service" width hammer with a teardrop hammer spur. In the pics the trigger appears to be "narrow" at 0.265 width, however it could be a wider 0.400 inch smooth trigger, the pics aren't that clear on this feature on S&W's site. The barrel features an interchangeable front sight and is shipped with a gold bead Patridge sight. The action is supposed to be tuned, however any good smith can tune it to a lighter DA trigger than what it ships with. BTW, that's due to concerns of litigation, S&W has gone way heavy on triggers in the past 10 or 15 years. IMO you can expect a 10-10.5 lbs. DA trigger from the factory for a 625 PC. Ships with a gaudy red, white, and blue laminated grip that feature exactly the same profile of the wood grip on the 625 JM. The cylinder is supposed to be chamfered, however there has been one report of a 625 PC being shipped without a chamfered cylinder recently. Finish is Satin Stainless, or a "brushed" finish.

625 JM. Features an ECM rifled barrel with a full lug "heavy" profile. This barrel also features the interchangeable front sight and also ships with a gold bead Patridge sight. Personally I avoid shooting lead bullets in any S&W with an ECM barrel, tried it once and it created a mess of leading. Features flash chromed Forged hammer and trigger. The hammer is a standard "service" width hammer and the trigger is a narrow serrated trigger. Note on the serrated trigger, it's been well described as a DNA sampling device because the serrations are razor sharp. If you choose this model you can absolutely plan on pulling the trigger and grinding the serrations down with a sanding drum on a Dremel because just 50 rounds of DA shooting will leave your finger bleeding. Trigger weight is also set on the heavy side, mine measured at 11.5 lbs. out of the box. The cylinder on this version is NOT chamfered, however I was suprized to note that the extractor WAS chamfered. That made it very easy to use the chamfer on the extractor as a guide to chamfer the cylinder. The grip is a wood JM grip with the same profile of the laminated grip featured on the 625 PD. Finish is Matte Stainless, which is a rather nice looking bead blasted finish. On an odd note the Matte finish has proven to be VERY easy to clean, something I did not expect. Fact is that it's actually easier to clean than a satin finsh.

Personally, I'm a Tinkerer, so I chose the 625 JM. The wood grip is in storage and my preferred grip, the 500 Magnum monogrip is mounted on it. The trigger has been tuned to 8 lbs. DA and 3 lbs. SA. It's also had a 0.510 inch long, extended travel, Cylinder & Slide firing pin installed and ignition is 100% perfect with or without moon clips. I've also ground and polished the trigger to remove most of the serrations. I've also chamfered the cylinder and fresh clips now just fall in place. At some point in the next month or two I'll pull the barrel and lap the forcing cone, put an 18 degree crown on the barrel and hand lap the crown with valve lapping compound to match the finish on the gun. Like I said, I like to tinker.

Wow, I'm thinking of sending my 625JM to Scooter for some work!

I have no experience with the PC gun, mine is strictly limited to the JM. I've had no problems with barrel leading, even using lead semi-wadcutters in mine. Oddly, I have had some problems with carbon buildup in the forcing cone. It varies depending on the round that I'm using, but it has nothing to do with lead vs. jacketed bullets. I've thought about having the forcing cone smoothed out by a smith but, frankly, the problem hasn't been that bad.

I agree with what everyone else says about the trigger being a bit on the heavy side. However, although mine is somewhat heavy, it's also very smooth, and I've stopped thinking about the pull weight. Mine is a true tack driver, very accurate and it loves 230gr. bullets.

The only modification I've made on mine is to replace the gold bead Patridge front sight with a Hi Viz red fiber optic front sight. It simply cannot be beat for rapid shooting in daylight.

I've also kept the JM grips. I've tried every grip imaginable with this gun but, in the end, the JMs seemed to work best for me.

625PC info

Old thread, reoccuring questions. I don't have a 625JM but I just bought a new 625PC.

Here's some of the differences, unique features & specs I can relay, for those inquiring minds:
.

625-8 PC, #170161: - introduced in 2010

- first off, the S&W website's weight (42oz.) is incorrect; it's 39oz. with the funky wooden red/white/blue grips on (but promptly removed & hidden).

- it's satin stainless steel finish is moderately shiny.

- it's barrel does have the broached (6) groove rifling vs (5) groove EDM/ECM rifling. It's bore measures .443". (Haven't verified groove yet. It's supposed to be "deep cut" but since the bore measures essentially the same as my other 45's I don't see how it can have deeper grooves, just squarer/sharper.) . . . [PS(1): The groove measures essentially the same as the throats, .452"]

- barrel-cylinder gaps measures a fairly uniform, but generous, .007"

- it's cylinder's edge (face) is chamfered.

- it's cylinder diameter is the same (1.710"), as are all N-frames cylinders . . . [PS(2): the cylinder stop notches on the PC are the same size (width) as pre-endurance models (.245") while the JM's are the same width as endurance models (.365").]

- it's barrel extension (into the cylinder window) is longer at .355" vs .237" for the JM.

- the PC's cylinder length is ~1/8" shorter than the JM's/325/625 (1.425" vs. 1.540") & it weighs .45 oz. less.

- it does not have a ball detent lock-up on the yoke, often found on many PC models.

- it's cylinder throats are right at .4520"

- it's charge holes are supposed to be chamfered, however, mine are not.

- it's cylinder notches (depth) are a smidge shallower resulting in slightly thicker supporting metal under them (.030" vs .026")

- it's chambers do have a ledge cut in them for the case to headspace on & it shoots 45ACP without moon clips reliably (as does my 325NG)

- it's firing pin measures .490" long & it's nose had a defined point. I replaced it with an APEX firing pin .500" long & having a more rounded nose (just to insure reliable ignition without moon clips).

- it has a DX style/interchangeable .250" tall gold bead front sight (looks more like brass bead) & a .125" tall black adjustable rear sight blade.

- it's black tear drop hammer is .400" wide

- it's black smooth trigger is .300" wide & has a trigger stop installed.

- it's "PC tuned action" has a SA trigger pull that's clean & crisp but 4-1/4#. (DA pull unmeasured but it doesn't feel any different from standard production S&W revolvers I have.)

- don't look for the dated brown "fired case envelope" anymore. Mine was made Feb-2016 & it didn't have one. S&W stopped that a bit ago I heard.

.

Now it's a 625JM owner's turn.

.

625PC with black Badger Round Butt - Conversion Grips


.

A lot of really good data in this thread...

but I thought I'd pass on my own set of biases.

I've owned a total of 8 Model 625s over the years, both 4" and 5". After shooting all them extensively, in both Bullseye and IPSC competition (well before IDPA started up), I've settled on the one below as my favorite for both competiton and for just entertainment. The balance is by far the best of all I've tried (except for the 5" in Bullseye) and the best weight for me. The Nill Classic grips are also by far the best I've tried for overall control and for recoil management.




However, not a single one met my standards for how the action should feel. Some needed more work than others. By far, the one I have now has the best action of all, but it still needed a bit of tweeking to make it satisfactory. Oddly enough, the next best was the 5" -6 I used for Bullseye shooting, and it needed only a touch of work to make it superb.

Keith

attn BlueDot 37

Thanks for the heads-up on the "missing" fired case. My 2 latest PC 442s did not have them either and I was considering calling up S&W and INSIST that they send them!

Seriously, wonder how this affects those jurisdictions where the powers that be mandate such nonsense.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

kaaskop49 said:

Thanks for the heads-up on the "missing" fired case. My 2 latest PC 442s did not have them either and I was considering calling up S&W and INSIST that they send them!

Seriously, wonder how this affects those jurisdictions where the powers that be mandate such nonsense.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

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I read that Maryland got rid of that requirement. Are there other states that require the fired case?

625 performance center leading

Have a new 625. Shooting 230 grain coated and 200 grain LSWC. Hasn't mattered what I shoot, the forcing cone has serious leading and light leading just past the cone. Loading low end Bullseye and HP 38. I shoot the same type of bullets in my new 66-8 with no leading. I have been hand loading for 40 years and I am now stumped and frustrated. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

S&W 625JM vs. 625PC

James humphrey said:

Have a new 625. Shooting 230 grain coated and 200 grain LSWC. Hasn't mattered what I shoot, the forcing cone has serious leading and light leading just past the cone. Loading low end Bullseye and HP 38. I shoot the same type of bullets in my new 66-8 with no leading. I have been hand loading for 40 years and I am now stumped and frustrated. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Check your chamber throats.

You’d probably get a lot more replies posting your question as a new thread than tacking it on to a two-year-old one.