S&W police trade ins at J&G. Good Buy?

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Gato Montés

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
595
Location
Milwaukee, WI
I've always had a thing for .38 service revolvers, specially since my grandfather passed down his police sidearm to me; a M10 .38 special he purchased himself in 1947.

J&G Sales has a who slew of police trade ins I have my eye on, but not knowing the going rate for these guns I have no idea if it's a good deal or not.

http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/smith-wesson/revolver/cPath/16_211_431?osCsid=1df7aca4d948ed38787bb0a02e05f272

They are all DOA. The only thing that really bothers me is the inability to examine before purchase. Anyone buy one of these from J&G.
 
I believe these guns were trade-ins from armored car/security companies which generally means they got shot even less than your typical police model.

Many folks on various forums have commented on the good deal from J&G. It has been many years since I last used them, but IIRC, the service was good and the prices fairly represented the quality of the guns
 
I've recently purchased 3 handguns from J&G and been absolutly satisfied. The price is excellent and the revolvers are even better than I ever expected. As soon as I scrounge up some more $$ I'll be ordering a few more for sure.
 
Thanks for the response guys.

Specifically, I'm looking at one of the M64s as a camp/field gun. To my understanding, the 64's are nothing more than stainless M10s, which would mean no +P. Am I correct in this assumption?

EDIT: A quick search on this forum tells me yes, +P is fine with the M64 and maybe even with my 1940's M10. Never mind.
 
Last edited:
I love the idea of cheap revolvers - I just wish they hadn't disabled the hammers. I have a hard time getting past that.
 
Nasser: S&W do not recommend PlusP in guns made prior to 1957. Saxon Pig has fired 1200 rounds of PlusP through a pre 1957 gun to prove they are being overly cautious. Apparently modern PlusP is the equivalent of the old standard .38 special round, so I wouldn't worry at all about firing plus P through these modern guns. It would be prudent to avoid anything marked +P+ however as there is no industry standard for +P+, so you could be getting anything from a standard .38 special with a sales pitch to .357 Magnum lite. IANAG ( am not a gunsmith), so take this with a grain of salt, but I believe all you have to do is change the hammer and sear to restore it to DA/SA mode.
 
which would mean no +P
Click to expand...

the current +P ammo is LESS POWERFUL than the standard 38 Special ammo which your Model 10 and Model 64 were rated to use.

+P is a marketing gimmick that, sadly, many people have fallen for. As to what Smith says, they either lie or are incompetent.

BTW, heed Radagast as he is absolutely correct when he says to avoid +P+. They are probably fine to shoot but there is no industry standard so unless you know the SAAMI pressures that they generate, avoid them
 
With the possible exception of the Chiefs Special Mod 36, those revolver prices are excellent, especially the 4" Model 15's. If can do a face to FTF in their store, it would be a great price. If you had to have shipped to an FFL dealer and transferred to you, then I would reconsider. You could probably buy a new K frame hammer for around 40-50 bucks online or thru Gun Parts Inc(Numrich Arms) and convert t back yourself easily.
 
The 64, 15 and 67 revolvers offered at J&G are all great deals right now. You won't go wrong at all. Yes, most of them are DAO now, but so what? If you absolutely have to have single action capability, you can get a new hammer from Numrich or Brownells or other online parts houses and you can see if it will drop in or you can have a gunsmith fit it.

Personally, for a range plinker, glovebox friend or bedside table companion, I don't care if it is DAO, as 99% of the time that's how I shoot revolvers anyway. The other 1% is when I shoot my Blackhawk. :neener:
 
Well, that settles it. It looks like I'll have a model 64 in the near future. Thanks for all the input.

Update with pics when I get her in.
 
I dig mine, it carries easily IWB and shoots GREAT:

Picture055.gif

It was full of gunk when I got it and needed to be degreased and oiled, but there wasn't any serious rust or anything like that. The exterior had only minor scratches, some polish took care of it and it looks great now. Oh, it did need new grips, but out of the box it came in it was ready to go if needed.

These guns are from when S&W didn't cut so many corners, and lack dumb features like the internal lock and frame mounted firing pins. Buy them while you can, especially at that price...
 
I bought a 4" 64 for my wife from J&G right after I got back from Iraq, and we've been very satisfied with the purchase.

On a side note, would it be possible/safe to have a gunsmith install a .357 cylinder into a 64?
 
Update

Sorry I took so long to get back to everyone. I wanted to go out and actually shoot the thing before I said anything about it.

100_0701.jpg

Overall the cosmetic condition is quite superb, There are a few marks on the barrel due to holster wear as expected, but almost no scratches. The grips are starting to peel back at the top, but still quite serviceable. My only complaint comes with the lockup. After reading the reviews on J&G's site as well as on here, I was expecting a little better than what I got. Now I shot about 200 rounds through her with seemingly no effect on accuracy (shoots pretty darn good) and no shredded bullets, so I'm not all that worried, but even in full lockup the thing has quite a bit of rotational play. Far from a bank vault, that's for sure. That being said, the trigger pull is smooth and a joy to shoot.

Mine is a 64-6, meaning frame mounted firing pin and no lock.

Despite the rather shoddy lockup, I'm satisfied, especially at that price. If I had a few more bones and a few less bills, I wouldn't mind picking up another (or three) to add to the collection.
 
The 64 is probably the same frame, but the factory will not say if the frames are heat treated differently. I know that a barrel swap is ok, even a 38 spec barrel onto a 357 frame, but I a would not put a 357 cylinder on a 38 special frame.
 
Nasser- Just curious what "grade" you ordered and if you would purchase a higher or lower grade if you could do it again. Had my heart set on a cz-82 next, but could possibly swing one of these in first :)
 
I'd be interested in a group buy, but it would be easier if it was local (meaning all sent to the same FFL where each person does his own paperwork to make it all legit).

I wonder if a group buy could be done with J&G where they take 5 different payments and send to 5 different locations? Doubtful, but if so I'd be interested.
 
I would nearly guarantee that would not fly. And by the time you paid the transfer fee from the original ffl to your local ffl, the savings from a group buy would certainly vanish.
 
The problem with +P+ ammo is that some of it is loaded to near .357 magnum pressures, and is intended to be shot in .357 mag guns only. The reason is, from what I heard, because the US Treasury Dept. wanted to be politically correct with their duty loads, and they thought that ".38 +P+" sounded more PC than ".357 magnum." The shorter cases are also easier and faster to reload, especially in a snubby with a short ejector rod.

Now, Clark has shown that .38s loaded to .357 mag pressures won't do significant damage to a gun in good condition if you only shoot 50 of them, but it still isn't a good idea.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

O
  • Locked
Police Trade-In S&W Revolvers On Sale
2
Replies
47
Views
8K
Old Fuff
O
O
  • Locked
Hot deal on s&w 66 trade-in's
2 3
Replies
66
Views
3K
Husker_Fan
H
The_Shootist
  • Locked
Good Online Site for Used Revolvers/Police Trade Ins?
Replies
5
Views
742
The_Shootist
The_Shootist
N
  • Locked
S&W Police Trade-Ins?
Replies
11
Views
1K
Landric
Landric
O
  • Locked
J&G Sales has S&W Model 15 and 67
Replies
10
Views
2K
Old Fuff
O
Back
Top