I just got off the phone with Brad at
http://discountgundealer.com . His price on a S&W 642 is $369, plus tax. This is about $30 less than the best price I've seen elsewhere.
I won't bore folks with my usual rap in favor of the DAO snubby, other than to say that it's what I prescribe in
BeginnerToCarry; that it's my everyday carry piece, and that a graphic of it (complete with the optional nice wood boot grips that is on my own one) isn't in the TCCarry logo by accident.
Discountgundealer.com is very easy to deal with; you go to their website, place your order with a credit card. The gun shows up within a few days, and you head down to their small office in an industrial park in Bloomington, fill out the paperwork and have him do the NICs check, and then you're on your way . . .
(I'm not a stockholder, employee, or spokesman for the company; just a satisfied customer . . . )