Score! (maybe??)

Id call that a score.

For that price, I'd have brought it home too.
I have one of the M&Ps and to be honest, I think they feel very natural when pointing and I like the balance. Very good guns.
You scored well.

Just tap instead of pry.

$350? Yep, I would have bought it. Looks like some honest wear. Good reason not to worry about shooting it…a lot.

With the way prices are these days, even $450 would not have been too bad but $350 is outstanding. I'll bet it shoots great

$350 yea buddy! Nice revolver

Yes sir!! Great score!

Now that's a "deal,deal.." nicely done Sir.

Like the others said, that would have come home with me as well. Nice pickup!

When you get a chance to take it out let us know how it shoots for you.

Stay safe.

Right stock panel should have the
gun's serial number embossed on it.
If not, that's OK; still diamond stocks
I'm suspecting the stocks are not
original to the gun. Might have the
serial number from another gun
embossed on it.

Remember, the gun is not rated
for +P ammo. No it won't stretch out
if you use a few in it but certainly
not a regular diet. Better none.

Of the half dozen or more K frame S&W revolvers (3 model 10s, two 15s, one 14, one 19. one 66 and 3 J frames) I've had apart in the past few years, all of them were a bit worn on the outside, probably police trade ins or similar use, Their inner workins, not so much. All of them looked like new inside, aside from being dry with congealed grease or oil, actions stiff and rough. After thorough cleaning, some judicious polishing, good grease & oil here & there plus some new springs, they were excellent shooters. Smooth double action and clean, light single action and more accurate than I am.
A well worked S&W K frame revolver is a joy to handle and shoot. They just feel - - - - - well, right. Kinda like the Goldilocks of revolvers, not too big, not too small, just right.

Great score!

J-Bar said:

As requested…a quick range trip:

Click to expand...

Uhh…you missed the quarter.

J-Bar said:

As requested…a quick range trip:

View attachment 1108989

At 10 yards, shaky old man resting elbows on the table, double action, shooting the wadcutters. Not a bullseye gun (or shooter for that matter!) but reliable enough for range fun.

Click to expand...

Great job, looks like you have a winner!

Stay safe.

J-Bar

At that price it's definitely a great score!

I traded one same era as yours (but with a 6" barrel) for this wartime M&P, mainly because I have always liked the look and balance of the 4" barrel.

Jonesy814 said:

With the way prices are these days, even $450 would not have been too bad but $350 is outstanding. I'll bet it shoots great

Click to expand...

I would have payed $450 for it! looks good and the honest wear add to the look!

Definitely a nice score! I would have loved to have a chance at the Colt 1903's for $450. Wow!

I paid 400 for mine, but its not as nice as yours. Dern good deal.

I no longer collect them as they have elevated above my price range, I do rejoice in the older Smith & Wesson revolvers. That is quite nice.

As them announcers say at the soccer games, “Scooooooooooooooooorrrrrre!”

Last Model 10 I saw in that kind of condition was $425 and it was gone by the time I got back with cash. Nice shooting, too.

Howdy

Nice score.

The hammer on your M&P is what is called the Speed Hammer. Correct for the time period of your revolver, it was an early form of what is known as the Short Throw hammer or Short Action Hammer.

This M&P shipped in 1934 and has the older style hammer on it. This revolver is also wearing the proper Service Grips, as opposed to the Magna style grips on your revolver, which are most likely not original, but you already knew that.






This photo shows the difference between a Short Throw or Short Action hammer on the Model 14 at the top of this photo and the older Long Throw or Long Action hammer on the M&P Target Model at the bottom of the photo. When the trigger of any double action revolver is pulled double action style, the trigger releases the hammer at a certain angle. However when the hammer is cocked for single action shooting, the hammer goes back a bit further than when the trigger releases it for double action shooting. That is because of how the mechanism works. So the hammer fall for double action shooting has to compress the hammer spring enough to reliably fire a cartridge. S&W realized that the Long Throw hammer was compressing the hammer spring a bit more than necessary for single action shooting, so the parts were redesigned so the hammer did not go back quite as far when cocked for single action shooting. That is what this photo is demonstrating. Your Speed Hammer was the first design S&W made for a Short Throw hammer, later they settled on the design of the hammer shown on my Model 14.






When you get around to taking the side plate off, this is what you will find inside your M&P. This is a K-38 from sometime in the 1950s. Notice it has the same Speed Hammer as your M&P. Other than the adjustable rear sight, your M&P should look the same inside. You should have the modern hammer block, the thin slanted part activated by a pin on the rebound slide and sitting between the top of the hammer and the frame. This is the style of hammer block that S&W has been putting in all their revolvers ever since 1944, when a sailor was killed in a shipboard accident when a revolver fell to the deck of a warship. The earlier style of hammer block in that revolver failed, probably because it was fouled with hardened cosmoline, and S&W redesigned the hammer block to this style directly after that accident.






Remember, don't try to pry off the side plate.