Typewriter Talk / Do ALL Smith Corona Portables sound like a 22 pistol?

**Posted by overwood** 01-6-2022 18:48:44

Cuz all the ones I have tried do. I even made the mistake of recovering a platen but it did no good. I'm guessing maybe the super-silent is an exception, but I've never tried one.

**Posted by Pete E.** 01-6-2022 21:00:46

Hi Overwood,

I only have two S-C machines...a 1957 S-C Silent Super in green colours and a 1958 Sears Tower President in southwest colours.

Both machines had differing lives and use history...but feel, respond, and sound very similar. Both have platens with hardnesses of 94-95 Shore A

More of a muffled " tack, ta-tack, ta-tack, ta-tack-tack-tack " sound.

Not sure if that is what you mean by the sound of a .22 LR arm, firing.
.

**Posted by overwood** 01-6-2022 23:26:11

I probably should have said 60's and up, because I don't remember my 50's Sterling being that loud but I haven't used it in a year at least and its 5 states away so I can't retest it

**Posted by Phil_F_NM** 02-6-2022 09:02:52

It probably needs a good restoration, new platen and all of the baffling replaced inside the body. My 1948 Silent is a fantastic machine, not the quietest, but also not as loud as a few others I've heard. My sister's 1960s Sterling (crossover Super-5) is an amazing typer and sounds great as well. Not loud at all.

Phil Forrest

**Posted by Uwe** 02-6-2022 11:01:12

I have never noted Smith-Corona portables to have on average - factoring in platen condition - a worse sound quality than portables from other manufacturers. On the other hand it's been many years since I've heard a .22 handgun being fired, and I wonder how many forum users here can relate to that particular sound reference.

**Posted by overwood** 02-6-2022 18:37:17

Not "it". I'm talking about all of them, not just one. I did replace the platen on the newest one, and it made no difference at all. They all seem to be cannons.

Phil_F_NM wrote:
It probably needs a good restoration, new platen and all of the baffling replaced inside the body. My 1948 Silent is a fantastic machine, not the quietest, but also not as loud as a few others I've heard. My sister's 1960s Sterling (crossover Super-5) is an amazing typer and sounds great as well. Not loud at all.

Phil Forrest

**Posted by New Yorker** 02-6-2022 22:02:59

Uwe wrote:
I have never noted Smith-Corona portables to have on average - factoring in platen condition - a worse sound quality than portables from other manufacturers. On the other hand it's been many years since I've heard a .22 handgun being fired, and I wonder how many forum users here can relate to that particular sound reference.

I certainly can’t. A “.22 handgun being fired”. I’ve never heard that. What an obscure reference!

**Posted by M. Höhne** 02-6-2022 22:20:44

New Yorker wrote:
Uwe wrote:
I have never noted Smith-Corona portables to have on average - factoring in platen condition - a worse sound quality than portables from other manufacturers. On the other hand it's been many years since I've heard a .22 handgun being fired, and I wonder how many forum users here can relate to that particular sound reference.
I certainly can’t. A “.22 handgun being fired”. I’ve never heard that. What an obscure reference!

Funny, the second firearm comparison in a few months on TT. Here's the first, from February:

mikeytap wrote:
After fooling around with my foreign machines,I keep coming back to the Smith-Coronas as solid performers. They're like Colt 1911s versus Lugars.
New Yorker wrote:
Colt 1911s and Lugars? Not familiar with those. ‘50’s? Standards? Portables??

M Höhne wrote:
He means Lugers.
These are highly respected firearms, semi-automatic pistols from early- and mid-20th century, the Colt being American and the Luger, German. I agree with you, it's a pretty obscure comparison as few of us have handled either one, let alone both.

**Posted by Uwe** 03-6-2022 10:28:16

overwood, did you just pgrade the timbre of your Smith-Coronas from the relatively innocuous, dry pops of a .22, to the thunderous explosions of a cannon? I'd love to own just one typewriter that actually sounds like a cannon. Consider yourself lucky!

**Posted by overwood** 03-6-2022 13:23:24

Uwe wrote:
overwood, did you just pgrade the timbre of your Smith-Coronas from the relatively innocuous, dry pops of a .22, to the thunderous explosions of a cannon? I'd love to own just one typewriter that actually sounds like a cannon. Consider yourself lucky!

I upgraded it for the benefit of Canadians who might not know what a .22 sounds like.