New Product News - Smith and Wesson Has New Stuff

 Smith and Wesson has released a slew of new products for 2025. Some of those like the 1854 and FPC 10mm I have mentioned before but to add on to that list are some pretty cool offerings.

First up are 2 additional Mountain Guns as Lipsey's exclusives to compliment the 629 MG and 686 MG. I bring these up first because there is now a .22 LR Mountain Gun and I like that idea a lot. The 617 Mountain Gun is a 10 shot cylinder behind a 4 inch tapered barrel topped with a gold bead partridge front sight. What makes this a more attractive option over the current 617? Lighter weight and better grips. If I remember correctly, there is a lot of small edge work to clean up and round edges like on the cylinder and else where so you aren't paying way more for less gun. To help with weight, the under lug is reduced to a more traditional length and the barrel is tapered. No more un-necessary bull barrel adding extra weight. It'll end up being a little better to carry this version than the current 4 inch 617. I would very much like to add one of these to my inventory.

The other Mountain Gun is the 610 is all those same features but in the 10mm flavor of the N-frame. Apparently, there is now an ball detent in the frame to help with retention. 

None of these new Mountain Guns have the ILS/key lock THANKFULLY. I would like to see a 627 Mountain gun in .45 Colt as I don't have much interest in .44 Magnum even though it fits what I am doing.

Smith and Wesson has also released a .22 LR version of the FPC folding rifle that uses 20 round magazines but also has a new full size M&P 22 pistol to match it called the 22X. The rifle follows the same pattern as the other FPC rifles and weighs 5 pounds per their website. I assume that's empty without the 2 extra magazines in the stock.

Finally, there is a new lineup of AR-15 rifles call AXE. The usual options are there but the factory Short Barrel Rifle is a great addition as it lets people have a "more affordable" Form 4 option instead of having to rely on expensive options like Daniel Defense or doing a Form 1 and complying with the markings requirements. I think the factory SBR market will get busy starting in 2026.

Anyway, Smith and Wesson have been on a roll. I'm thinking they need to do an SBR version of the M&15-22. That could a good winner.