I picked this up at Cabea's over the weekend. $359.00 + Tax.
Can I dry fire it without snap caps?
I'll head to the range tonight. I'm not very good with DAO so I ordered 1000 rounds from Ammoman today. If that's not enough to make an improvment I'll have it up for sale. Cheap...

I have a 642 and I really like it. The factory trigger is a very hard pull. A trigger job will do wonders for it. Good Luck and enjoy!

I like ours. I think Streichers carries the defense rounds made specifically for snubbies - at least I'm pretty sure that's where I got them.

How much will a trigger job set me back. I've nevr messed that before. Is it somthing a guy can do himself?

I wouldn't mess with it if you haven't ever done it before. A competent gunsmith will give you an estimate. There might even be a couple on the board who might be willing to PM you.

I'm not that great with the double action either,hence the reason the 642 takes up space in the safe and this is what gets carried when I carry a revolver.
P.S. these were on sale at Cabellas for the same price I believe.

Another thought would be to contact Selurscpi and arrange a class. I have a 642 and couldn't shoot it all that well. Selurscpi held a class on revolver shooting. I had forgotten that there are some fundamental differences between shooting pistols and revolvers. My shooting improved a lot with that class.

I defiantly need some instruction. I couldn't hit crap with it last night.
All over the target. I found it only took 50 rounds to get the hand sore.
I usually shoot 100 to 150 rounds with the Glock 27 and am way more accurate with it.
Brough a couple rounds of Bufffalo Bore 158 grain. More like a .357 than a .38.
Ho well. Practice. Practice and more practice.
Oscar

Clint Smith says a snubnose DAO is on the verge of being an expert's gun. Check out these two videos:

Part One: Basic Speed Loading Methods

Part Two: Basic Shooting Techniques

Good vid. Thanks.
One thing I noticed was that I was flinching or pushing forward on the gun sometimes shooting way low. I thought this was always recoil related but there must be more to it as I can shoot my Ruger Alaskan in .454 without doing this.
Hope I don't have to go thru the whole thousand rounds I have coming in the mail Friday to figure it out.

Give it the S&W "free" trigger job. Good for you and good for the gun.

After unloading the gun and checking it thrice (3 times).

Aim it at a solid wall that will stop bullets.
Dry fire it 50 times. Do this every day for a month. 1500 times.
It will smooth out the action and strengthen your trigger finger.
Cost: $0.00

If not satisfied, continue for another month.

Good advise, and if you want to speed things up a bit just take off the side plate, fill the guts with plain old Crest toothpaste, reassemble and dry fire as above. After it smooths out, take off the side plate again, clean and oil. It polishes things up very nicely.

Don't pry off the side plate, you will damage it.

Remove grips, remove the screws holding the side plate and then holding the gun over a soft area like your wood bench, with the side plate facing down, strike it in the butt and opposite the side plate with a plastic head mallet. The plate will pop up and maybe out. If it is still popped up, wiggle it slightly as you slide the plate out, do not hinge it in an upward motion, you will damage it in the upper plate area near the recoil shield.

And of course, double check that the firearm is empty before doing this.

and do it on a CLEAN bench just in case anything pops out.

You mean like the hammer block?