New gun in the line up

Just picked this up a few days ago after having it on layaway for a couple of months now. I had hoped to make it my Buy A Gun Day gun last month but it just wasn't to be. A light weight pocket gun was one of the few entries left on my "Need" gun list so this is another I can scratch off. My two main choices being one of the currently popular .32/.380 pistols or an Airweight S&W. Finally I decided to go with the Smith & Wesson, I already had ammo, accessories and holsters for it so that made my life (and the decision) a little bit easier. There was plenty of choices among J frames too, the models 442, 38 and 638 being towards the top of the list. But the gun that I really wanted was a Smith 340PD. I have wanted one of those since they came out but could never get past "The Lock". I could never bring myself to buy a self-defense gun with that device and finally I had to admit that S&W wasn't going to be changing their minds anytime soon because people like me didn't like it. So eventually I began doing a little research on the matter (Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 3rd Ed - Supica/Nahas) and discovered that the company did make a similar model in .38 Special, the 342PD. The gun was nearly identical to the 340PD and actually weighed less, 10.8 compared to 12oz. But the best part was that the first year production (2000) 342PD guns had no lock, and for a while now that's the gun I have been looking for! If I couldn't find the 342PD I think that I probably would have ended up with the 442, I've always wanted to try a Centennial model and the 442 is a popular one for good reason. All that's left now is to get it to the range and see how she shoots. Just to make sure it's a trustworthy carry gun. Once that is done my other pocket carry gun, a M649 will probably be put into semi-retirement. I've carried it for many years now and it has earned a rest.