The Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolver was introduced in 1899 and is likely the handgun that holds the title for most manufactured model. Millions upon millions have been made in numerous varieties and configurations. It’s been made in blued steel, nickel plated, and stainless steel. It’s been made in barrel lengths of 2” to 6.5” and probably a few were made with longer tubes as well (in both standard and heavy barrel versions). It’s been offered with square butt frames, round butt frames and in light weight alloy frame variations. The 38 Special is the most common caliber but the M&Ps were also furnished in 22 Long Rifle (Model 45 and very rare and pricey), 38 S&W (not Special), 32-20, and some other calibers in lesser numbers.
As the name suggests, the M&P has seen extensive duty with the police and the military around the world. Great Britain bought about a million of them during WW II with the most common examples having 5” barrels in 38 S&W caliber. In America the 38 M&P dueled with the Colt models for the police market. When Nazi Luftwaffe Commander Hermann Göering was taken into custody by allied troops as WW II ended, he didn’t surrender a Luger or a Walther, but rather a 4” M&P revolver.
Built on the K frame, the M&P is a medium weight gun that most shooters find comfortable to use. Every handgunner should have at least one M&P. It’s perfect for beginner and expert alike.
I’ve had a number of M&Ps pass through the ranch over the years. I currently own 7 M&Ps.
A 2” M64 from the Corpus Christi PD. Compact, stainless for easy maintenance, this is the gun that I keep available and at hand in my home. Being an ex-cop gun the finish was pretty rough so I polished it to be nearly shiny.
A 1942 “Victory Model” that was shipped as a 4” 38 Special to a defense contractor for security use, I bought it for $60 from a pawn shop because the barrel was bulged. I got a used 5” barrel for $5 at auction and swapped it myself. This can be tricky, and you can tweak the frame if not careful, but I got it done OK. With the gun is pictured 500 rounds of factory +P and some of the 500 rounds of my own +P+ loads (125 JHP @ 1,150 FPS) I ran through this gun to disprove the claims that pre-model marked M&PS can’t handle +P. Posh!
A pair of 2” round butt M&Ps that were purchased at local gunshows about 4 months apart. They both turned out to have been shipped in 1949 with one going to NYC and the other to a police officer’s gun club in Los Angeles.
About 5 years ago my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. She knows the answer to that question without asking. Something with 6 holes and shiny always works for me. So she bagged this 10-7 (1977) in unfired condition for me. I had been wanting a 4” nickel M&P with the standard barrel (for God’s sake please don’t call it the “pencil barrel” as that is an abominable term in my opinion).
Lastly, for my 50th BD the wife again asked what I wanted. She actually does this every year, apparently. I said that I wanted an engraved revolver. I’d never had one and I figured I should own at least one. So this mundane 2” square butt 10-5 was sent to Michael Gouse in Montana and for $500 he covered it with a delicate scroll pattern. I bought the stag blanks and worked up the stocks (including S&W medallions) then put the whole thing into a carved El Paso rig with a gold and silver belt buckle. Yes, a little ostentatious but that’s sort of what I had in mind.
If you’ve been counting you realize that one seems to be missing. I said that I had 7 but only 6 are pictured. The last one is a 5” 10-7 that I bought brand new in 1976. After test-firing it went to live in my mother’s nightstand drawer where it remains to this day. She’s already used it once to chase a trespasser from her back yard at 2am one morning. She said the only reason she didn’t shoot him as he jumped the fence to escape was because her dog was hanging from the seat of his pants and she didn’t want to risk hitting the dog.
As the name suggests, the M&P has seen extensive duty with the police and the military around the world. Great Britain bought about a million of them during WW II with the most common examples having 5” barrels in 38 S&W caliber. In America the 38 M&P dueled with the Colt models for the police market. When Nazi Luftwaffe Commander Hermann Göering was taken into custody by allied troops as WW II ended, he didn’t surrender a Luger or a Walther, but rather a 4” M&P revolver.
Built on the K frame, the M&P is a medium weight gun that most shooters find comfortable to use. Every handgunner should have at least one M&P. It’s perfect for beginner and expert alike.
I’ve had a number of M&Ps pass through the ranch over the years. I currently own 7 M&Ps.
A 2” M64 from the Corpus Christi PD. Compact, stainless for easy maintenance, this is the gun that I keep available and at hand in my home. Being an ex-cop gun the finish was pretty rough so I polished it to be nearly shiny.
A 1942 “Victory Model” that was shipped as a 4” 38 Special to a defense contractor for security use, I bought it for $60 from a pawn shop because the barrel was bulged. I got a used 5” barrel for $5 at auction and swapped it myself. This can be tricky, and you can tweak the frame if not careful, but I got it done OK. With the gun is pictured 500 rounds of factory +P and some of the 500 rounds of my own +P+ loads (125 JHP @ 1,150 FPS) I ran through this gun to disprove the claims that pre-model marked M&PS can’t handle +P. Posh!
A pair of 2” round butt M&Ps that were purchased at local gunshows about 4 months apart. They both turned out to have been shipped in 1949 with one going to NYC and the other to a police officer’s gun club in Los Angeles.
About 5 years ago my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. She knows the answer to that question without asking. Something with 6 holes and shiny always works for me. So she bagged this 10-7 (1977) in unfired condition for me. I had been wanting a 4” nickel M&P with the standard barrel (for God’s sake please don’t call it the “pencil barrel” as that is an abominable term in my opinion).
Lastly, for my 50th BD the wife again asked what I wanted. She actually does this every year, apparently. I said that I wanted an engraved revolver. I’d never had one and I figured I should own at least one. So this mundane 2” square butt 10-5 was sent to Michael Gouse in Montana and for $500 he covered it with a delicate scroll pattern. I bought the stag blanks and worked up the stocks (including S&W medallions) then put the whole thing into a carved El Paso rig with a gold and silver belt buckle. Yes, a little ostentatious but that’s sort of what I had in mind.
If you’ve been counting you realize that one seems to be missing. I said that I had 7 but only 6 are pictured. The last one is a 5” 10-7 that I bought brand new in 1976. After test-firing it went to live in my mother’s nightstand drawer where it remains to this day. She’s already used it once to chase a trespasser from her back yard at 2am one morning. She said the only reason she didn’t shoot him as he jumped the fence to escape was because her dog was hanging from the seat of his pants and she didn’t want to risk hitting the dog.
