Considering this S&W Model 10

[35 Whelen]

The gun has not been cared for; underneath grips may
reveal a nightmare of more neglect.

Chambers all crudded; suspect barrel the same.

Suspect under side plate more crude.

What I want to know, did a pitbull chew on the
barrel near the muzzle. The left side looks ugly.

Good grief...it's a tool, not a play-pretty. If you want it, buy it, clean it, use it.

I went through a Model 10 craze recently and have had I guess a half-dozen of them plus a Model 15.

If you're interested in a Model 10, I personally would forego the heavy barrel, I don't think there's much if any advantage to it. I would also forego a Model 15. Yes, adjustable sights are nice sometimes, but they teach shooters bad habits; instead of learning to hold and shoot the revolver properly, we twiddle with the sights.

Lest ye think fixed-sighted revolvers aren't "accurate", the Model 10's I have owned and have all been very accurate and shot to the sights with any reasonable load. When I mention an "unreasonable" load I'm just talking about heavy defense loads such as a +P 158 gr. SWCHP running 1000 fps, which tend to shoot a little about POA.

35W

 

[Mark_Mark]

A long haired 80+ year old wearing shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and Happy Socks and folk are too busy trying to mind-wipe what they saw for any gun to register.

Hiding in plain sight! I hear ya

At my most hippies, I drove (still do) a Prius, had a man bun, nice ripped up jeans, shopped at Whole Foods

but carried a CZ Shadow 2 IWB and a kit in my trunk! lol!

 

[Mark_Mark]

Good grief...it's a tool, not a play-pretty. If you want it, buy it, clean it, use it.

I went through a Model 10 craze recently and have had I guess a half-dozen of them plus a Model 15.

If you're interested in a Model 10, I personally would forego the heavy barrel, I don't think there's much if any advantage to it. I would also forego a Model 15. Yes, adjustable sights are nice sometimes, but they teach shooters bad habits; instead of learning to hold and shoot the revolver properly, we twiddle with the sights.

Lest ye think fixed-sighted revolvers aren't "accurate", the Model 10's I have owned and have all been very accurate and shot to the sights with any reasonable load. When I mention an "unreasonable" load I'm just talking about heavy defense loads such as a +P 158 gr. SWCHP running 1000 fps, which tend to shoot a little about POA.

35W

How do you folks even see past 25 yards?!?!?

 

[Tallball]

Almost all of my fixed-sight revolvers have shot to POA, or very close. I much prefer to carry a fixed sight, rather than adjustable. To me, adjustable sights are for range toy or hunting.

 

[trackskippy]

I prefer fixed sights over adjustable, especially on something that's going to be a used on a daily basis out in the real world. The adjustables tend to be fragile and easily damaged.

But, sometimes you just don't have a choice and its what the gun comes with and it is what it is.

One thing you need to watch, at least with the S&W adjustable rear sights is, there is a little threaded stud that goes into a slot in the frame under the elevation adjustment screw and gives you vertical adjustment. If you thread the adjustment up too high, that stud can and will fall out of the gun.

Ive bought a couple of guns now that had that little stud missing and had no vertical adjustment when I went to try and dial it down. That silly,tiny little stud is a $12 part (usually about $20 by the time you get it) too.

Kind of hard to see here, but if you look closely at the rear sight on the last 19 I bought, you can see the rear sight is sticking up kind of high. That was the issue with it.

 

[UncleEd]

If in the '70s heyday of police using revolvers, had they clamored
loudly and regularly for fixed sighted handguns, sales of
heavy duty revolvers would have continued briskly. And
today such models as the 13, 20 and 57 would be more
than plentiful on the used market.

As it was the Models 10 and to some extent the Model 13
took care of police demands.

But golly, the Models 15 and 19 really took off. And then the
Security Six as well.

 

[halfmoonclip]

If you're interested in a Model 10, I personally would forego the heavy barrel, I don't think there's much if any advantage to it.

Some heavy barrels felt good in the hand, but I've been on a pencil barrel jag as well. There is something really old school cool about pencils, back from the day when guns were made lighter by milling off unnecessary metal.

Kind of hard to see here, but if you look closely at the rear sight on the last 19 I bought, you can see the rear sight is sticking up kind of high. That was the issue with it.

Full sympathy for losing that frame stud; newer ones work by pushing up. I've had to replace the sight leaf (Smith makes what, three heights?) in order to get a zero on some revos.
Moon

 

[Rodfac]

This is one of my all-time favorites...a 67-1, a police turn-in from the old Louisville PD. The action on this one has to be triggered to be believed. It's scratched and nicked from long service but cleaned up nicely and deserved the Altamonts that I finally settled on. It's not at M-10, but a M-15 with better all-weather steel.....

With Lyman's 358156 GC, (LSWC) sized to 0.358" of WW alloy, backed with 4.0 gr. of Bullseye it'll keep 'em all in 2" or less at 25 yds & chrono's 844 fps. The groups with Lyman's 358091, a button nose WC, and 3.5 gr. of Bullseye for 774 fps, are even better. It'd be one of the very last, if I ever had to sell.

And those sometimes maligned adjustable sights allow easy changes from one bullet weight to another. I've not found them fragile whatsoever. Case in point: I carried a M-15 for months during my 1st tour in Vietnam....all day...all night...into and out of the cockpit at a dead run...slit trenches, concrete bunkers...the whole enchilada and with no damage aside for nicks and scratches.....

I respect that YMMv....but this one'll do for me. Best regards, Rod

1st one of the M-67....2nd one of me with a full head of hair preflighting my trusty steed in 1970, M-15 dangling from my right hip...
I once crawled Super sonicaly from the tail feathers to that line of sand filled 55 gal. drums in the background, as sniper zipped a cpl over my head!



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[Rodfac]

35 Whelen... that's some very fine shooting with a fine shooting gun. Most of my revolvers are adj. sighted, as you've no doubt guessed from my posts, as I have trouble getting an adequate sight picture with the usual round topped rear sight notch, not to mention the windage corrections that may occur.

That said, I do do some fairly good work with a Single Six Bird's Head Ruger in .32 H&R, but only after trying to correct a 3" left windage problem at 25 yds. I nocked the front sight off at one point, silver soldered it back on; then widened the notch rear appropriately with a fine cut mill file. A touch of cold blue got her just right...but what a Royal PITA to do it...just sayin'

Best regards, Rod....that's the Bird's Head in Pic #1 with the thin bead of silver solder showing....and .45 Colt NV in Pic#2 required both front sight lowering and a wider notch rear as well. Both turned out to be good/great shooters however.

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[Buckeye63]

I rarely purchase a used revolver… and then , its when I visually inspect it in person.
But I have purchased several nice used revolvers over the years..
Bout the only used handgun without physically inspecting it, is a Glock. ..

I traded for this Model 12 bout 5 or 6 years ago

 

[buttrap]

Looks like a solid gun to me just a lot of barrel wear on the finish like it was in a tackle box or something bouncing around in a very short holster is all and at the price of the things thats decent in that shape.

 

[armoredman]

I think the "crack" you are looking at is actually the sideplate. That's supposed to look like that. I'll bet she shoots just fine.