S&W model 10

Photos?

Give full model number 10-? and serial number.

Somebody will be able to look it up in the book and probably give you the exact year of manufacture.

Not to distract from the research. How's the action?

My old man's Victory model 10 is a "write your name in cursive" sort of pistol.

Here's to hoping that yours is in similar shape.

Judging by the knurling on the ejector rod, that pre-model 10 .38 Hand Ejector Military & Police was made sometime between 1930 and 1946.

what do you mean by pre-model 10?

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S&W did not start using model nombers as we know them today until 1957. Hence, guns made prior to this transition are often referred to as a pre-model X for reference.

I missed your serial #. Given that, I amend the date range to 1930 - 1942. Probably early 30s.

what do you mean by "how's the action?" you mean like single action or double action?

Sorry, I'm recently new to the handgun world. Especially since I just turned 21 today

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Happy birthday! Nice gift! Basically, action refers to the trigger motion either SA or DA. Most pre-war Smith & Wessons have a buttery smooth double action that is darn near perfection. Like the whole trigger is pivoting on finely machined, well oiled ball bearings.

Is it smooth when you cock the hammer, How does the trigger feel when it breaks (get some snap caps soon !)

Pull the hammer back, try to wiggle the cylinder, How is it locking up (preventing the cylinder from moving) test each stop on the cylinder.

If it's in good shape you'll end up shooting it for decades.

Is it Single/Double action, or is it one of the Double action only models?

You have a S&W .38 Military & Police Model of 1905 4th Change manufactured between 1920 & 1927. Serial numbers in the 358xxx range shipped december 1920 & in the 500xxx rage in 1927.
Your gun was manufactured after heat treatment of cylinders was introduced, so it should be safe to shoot with any standard pressure or PlusP rated ammunition. Stay away from +P+ marked ammo as there is no industry standard for it and you could end up with a high pressure load.
Your gun lacks the positive internal hammer bock safety introduced in 1944, so if kept loaded you should leave the chamber under the hammer empty as there is a risk of the gun firing if dropped on the hammer. the Model of 1905 4th change has a non positive hammer block which can fail. A death in 1944 from such a dropped gun resulted in development of the current positive hammer block.

Everything Radagast said +1

We've never shot +p, but several thousand wad/semi-wadcutter handloads of "average" pep.

It's the gun I used to turn my once phobic wife into Annie Oakley.

Serial numbers in the 358xxx range shipped december 1920 & in the 500xxx rage in 1927.

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Interesting. I thought that style of ejector rod knob did not appear until sometime in 1930. Were those parts interchangeable (maybe the ejector rod is a replacement)?

if kept loaded you should leave the chamber under the hammer empty as there is a risk of the gun firing if dropped on the hammer.

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This is the most important info given thus far. Heed it. And $205 was a good price for that fine revolver.

Your gun lacks the positive internal hammer bock safety introduced in 1944, so if kept loaded you should leave the chamber under the hammer empty as there is a risk of the gun firing if dropped on the hammer

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that is a VERY important sentence

I don't have any further historical information on your gun. But I'd like to say that you have a sweetheart there.

I got my own model 10 just under a year ago. This past summer I used it a couple of times to shoot in my club's Speed Steel matches. With the right loads it's a superbly easy gun to shoot well. In fact I only occasionally needed to use my sixth "spare round" to finish the the set of 5 steel gongs. It was so eerily accurate that I found myself smiling at how good it was making me look. In the last stage things fell apart a bit until the timer said I was missing to the right (low key club match so everyone is helpful). I immediately realized that I'd slipped back into my semi auto trigger pull method and that was pulling the gun to the right. The next shot and each of the rest for my series of strings were dead on.

Yep, those model 10's are really nice shooters. They look so mild with their pencil barrels and classic looks but they deliver the goods with a casual ease and no fanfare well enough to make a decent shooter look darn good in a quiet way.

Is it me, or does that gun need wood grips?

Is it me, or does that gun need wood grips?

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desperately

I would not shoot +P in it. I know there wil be a slew of comments saying how todays +P is the same as yesteryears standard velocity, but if you want to shoot the fast stuff, you really should have gotten a newer revolver. I'm told S&W won't work on them if replacement parts are needed. I'd stick to the standard 158gr lead bullet loads, which is what the sights are made for anyways. If you want a little oompf then look at Buffalo Bore's Standard Velocity 38 Spl loadings. I've used their 158gr LSWCHP in a Colt Cobra and it shoots very well.

I agree with 1920s date. My personal policy is that any revolver made before 1930 gets soft target loads only due to imprecise steel tempering before that date. That's why I sold all of my pre-1930 guns because I want to shoot any ammo without concern.

If you take the after-market rubber grip off, you will find the serial number on the butt too.

It would be a real good idea to clean & lube under there while you have them off to prevent rust under them.

rc