Put the first 250 down range in my new Kimber Custom II, using Federal brass, 230 gr. Smooth as silk. Not one FTF/FTE using the factory 7 round mag with the metal feed lips and two Wilson Elite 8 round mags. Gotta love a 4 lb. trigger from the factory. All right boys and girls, my .38 special observations: - The contestants: S&W 642 and a Ruger LCR Crimson Trace. - 50 rounds of PMC 140 grain FMJ through each gun, alternating guns every 10 rounds. - I am by no means an expert marksman nor a gun guru, but feel I can give you an honest opinion. - Recoil: I wish the Ruger had been the standard model with the Hogue Tamer grips, as the felt recoil with the LCR was more than the Smith, and I think that the CTC grips had a lot to do with that. Not a whole lot more, but noticeable. Both guns had a fair amount of recoil; after 100 rounds my palms were not happy. - Trigger: I honestly could not tell any difference at all. I'm guessing both guns had at least 1,000 rounds through them, so they're broken in by now. Both triggers were, for a sub $400 snubbie, pretty decent. Neither had any annoying transition going from cocked to firing. Both very acceptable. - Shooting results: The Ruger (and me, I guess) shot much better at 15 and 25 feet. I would have expected, given the Ruger's more pronounced recoil, that the Smith would have had the tighter groups, but it didn't. At 25 feet it 5" vs. 3", on average. No shots were outside of the 8" circle at 25 feet, so both guns were hitting center mass, and thus stopping any threat that would have been there. Double, triple, and 5-taps all stayed center mass. - Price: At Vance's: The Smith is on sale for $349 with a $50 mail-in rebate (making it $299) until 12/31, the LCR is $470. At Bud's, $400 for the LCR, $420 for the 642 ($50 rebate applies through 12/31. Woodbury has the LCR in 357 Magnum for $420 - Conclusion: Both guns shot very well, were able to hit what they were aimed at, and had smooth triggers. If the Ruger had had the standard Hogue grips, my guess is that the recoil would have been the same. Neither gun is one you'd want to shoot multiple hundreds of rounds through at the range, but that's not these gun's raison d'etre.** The Ruger shot better groups, but both guns were accurate enough for self defense, either as a primary carry weapon or as a bug. What am I going to do? I'm calling Woodbury in the morning and getting the LCR 357 version. ** "raison d'etre" is a little French lingo that means "reason for existence"...