Smith & Wesson Governor

The Smith & Wesson Governor is a snub-nosed double action revolver built on the Z-frame (similar to a stretched N-Frame) with a light weight alloy frame similar to the Taurus Judge. It can fire 2-1/2 inch .410 shotgun shells, .45 Colt, and .45 ACP (through the use of supplied moon clips due to the lack of a rim on the auto pistol cartridges.)

Rear sights are fixed (similar to those found on small J-Framed .38 spl and .357 magnum as well as Medium sized K-frame service revolvers) The front sights on both the standard and crimson trace models feature a tritium night sight that is drift adjustable for windage corrections. It holds six rounds and due to the wide selection of cartridges can be loaded in a "Mix six" fashion.

For most users that own the Governor for a close range defensive handgun the Federal 2-1/2 inch '000' buckshot load is preferred along with the standard .45 handgun cartridges. Hornady has recently released a "Critical Defense" .410 round designed for handguns with a projectile stack consisting of two 35 caliber round balls topped with one non-jacketed slug. This round is rapidly gaining popularity with Governor owners as a self defense round.

The handgun while large is very light weight (under 30 ounces unloaded)