CajunBass
Member
I glanced into the "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" case at the local gun store a few days ago, and saw what looked to be a rather mundane heavy barrel Model 10 with Pachmayr grips in there. "That's odd" I thought.
Closer examination revealed it to be, not a Model 10, but a Model 58, in 41 Magnum.
The 58, sort of a red-headed stepchild with Smith & Wesson, was intended to be the ultimate police revolver, but it was met with a sort of lukewarm, at best reception. The gun itself, an N-frame, was big and heavy to carry all day, every day. The factory ammo was limited to basically two rounds. A mid range "police" load with a lead bullet that leaded the barrel badly I'm told, and a higher power jacketed bullet one that kicked pretty hard and made follow-up shots difficult. Those are probably not the only reasons the 58 sort of flopped, but that's the Readers Digest version as I understand it.
Anyway, I've always sort of liked the Model 58 for some reason. I actually owned one several years back, but someone wanted it more than I did, so it went on down the road.
Flash forward. This one was tagged at $499.99. I looked again, and it said the same thing. I haven't seen a N-frame anything for that price in a long time. Mechanically it checked out. I asked if they could do any better, and to my surprise was told "Best I can do is $475.00. We just got it in."
Into the layaway bin it went.
Closer examination revealed it to be, not a Model 10, but a Model 58, in 41 Magnum.
The 58, sort of a red-headed stepchild with Smith & Wesson, was intended to be the ultimate police revolver, but it was met with a sort of lukewarm, at best reception. The gun itself, an N-frame, was big and heavy to carry all day, every day. The factory ammo was limited to basically two rounds. A mid range "police" load with a lead bullet that leaded the barrel badly I'm told, and a higher power jacketed bullet one that kicked pretty hard and made follow-up shots difficult. Those are probably not the only reasons the 58 sort of flopped, but that's the Readers Digest version as I understand it.
Anyway, I've always sort of liked the Model 58 for some reason. I actually owned one several years back, but someone wanted it more than I did, so it went on down the road.
Flash forward. This one was tagged at $499.99. I looked again, and it said the same thing. I haven't seen a N-frame anything for that price in a long time. Mechanically it checked out. I asked if they could do any better, and to my surprise was told "Best I can do is $475.00. We just got it in."
Into the layaway bin it went.