Bought a Smith & Wesson

Much as I love Ruger revolvers (have an LCR .38, Single Six .22/.22WMR, SP101 .327 Fed, Blackhawk .357 Mag and Super Redhawk .44 Mag in the safe), I've long wanted a S&W K-frame .38 Special for another house gun. This was to be primarily for my wife's use as the LCR is a little snappy for her and the .327 Fed more so.

Was headed to the airport a week ago and decided to stop by Cabela's on the way to kill some time.
Didn't see anything on the used rifle rack that caught my interest and had no interest in new ones unless year-end sales (actually Jan 2) sales were really, really good.

Checked the.22 ammo as I always do, then stopped by the handguns. Oops...
Spotted a S*&W Model 10 for $249 and change. Had to take a look.

Turned out is was a 1961 10-3. Great trigger, excellent barrel and chambers. Very tight lockup on every chamber, no end shake that I could discern (front-to-back or side-to-side), tiny cylinder/cone gap. Looked to me like a revolver that had be shot very little.

On the down side - and I suspect the reason for the really low price - was someone had revolver refinished - not re-blued but something that looked kind of like black paint. Whoever did the work did a professional-looking job but, well, yuck. Oh well, Reliable and accurate it has to be, pretty it does not.

Since I was headed to the airport I put the revolver on lay-away (Didn't want it sitting in my car for a week at WallyPark) and will pick it up next time I get to Cabela's. Figured for $249 I couldn't get hurt too badly.

This is actually my second Smith, the other being a .40 Shield that serves as my EDC weapon.

Coyote Hunter,

I really am a big fan of Rugers myself but I also like the older S&W revolvers. I bought a decent 10-5 with 4" bbl about 8 years ago. It is an excellent weapon and I even did my qualification for my carry permit with it. I have several .22, .32, .38, .357, .41, .44 and .45 Smith revolvers and even one that is chambered for .38 Super and uses moon clips- it is the only one that has an action lock :shock: .

Nice price if it is a tight shooter grade gun. The finish won't matter when it sits ready in the bedside drawer. :wink: My EDC is a 9mm Shield so I like those as well.

I think ya done good :mrgreen:

32Magfan

Don't apologize.
While SOME gun folks are a bit snobbish if you do not own the product they prefer,,, we are not like that around here. MANY (if not most) of us own Smiths,,, Colts,,, Glocks,,, Springfields,,, Kimbers,,,, etc.
And we do appreciate all of them.

Model 10 is a nice gun. Lot's of police over the years have used them. I assume it's a 4" barrel? Probably a pencil barrel vs a heavy barrel. I prefer the latter, but the other is lighter for carrying around. Even with the finish the price is reasonable. Should make a great house gun. Nice thing about revolvers if it's for your wife is you can make the grip changes necessary to fit your wifes hand, and it should if she is going to be the primary user. I think you have a good one. Congratulations.

Good guesses. 4" pencil.

Love my S&W Model 66 with 4 inch barrel!

OP, you can't buy a Smith & Wesson. This is a Ruger forum!

But hey, nothing wrong with a nice Model 10. I have a 10-5 I "accidentally" bought on GunBroker.

You did good.

Great shooter and made when they made a great gun.

I had a model 66 years ago I wish I still had. And had a 686 with 8" barrel that I would like in a 4 or 6. The 8 was too much for just plinking. I got out of revolvers years ago and back in them again. Around here they want new prices for used revolvers.

I've been using S&W's for 50 years, before, during, and after my LE career. I never cared much for M10's, as I carried M19's and 66's for my LE work, but there's no denying the M10 is a slick .38 Special. I acquired 2 of them lately, both square butt, a 2" and a 5". The 5" points like radar and both were made late 60's and early 70's. Good buy!! Bob! :mrgreen:

I wonder if it was Cerakoated or another of the durable baked-on finishes. If so it will be wear resistant and vastly more corrosion resistant than blue.

In the old days, before CHL became the norm, K frame and larger Smith revolvers were pretty prolific in the handgun world. I've owned and shot many Smith's of just about every persuasion. Still do. The old model 10 was a go-to revolver, and one that I found in every instance to be a very naturally good shooter.

Since CHL is now allowed in most states, the #1 concern has become concealability. When we had no choice but to carry openly, there was no reason not to carry a really nice revolver, including a Model 10.

When it comes to my toys, I'm not biased. I own Colt, Ruger, S&W, Sig Sauer, H&K, Mossberg, Beretta, and Glock. If you resort to becoming a fanboy of one maker, you really deprive yourself of what's available.

Here's a S&W model 10 with it's smaller sibling, the model 36.

I only bought this 'cause I felt sorry for the seller. :wink:



Okay, that's stretching the truth a wee bit.
Regardless, we're not gun snobs here.



I'd like to have a round butt 10 too. Maybe with 3 inch barrel.

I like my rugers, but i've got 2 mod 10 4'' smiths that my dad gave me yrs. ago. 1 a heavy and 1 a pen barrel. I don't think you can go wrong with that buy

I like K frames… but when we are talking about vintage S&W's… I'm an N frame kind of guy. So many truly wonderful ones.

Gregg

Nice price for a tight gun.
My third handgun, and first centerfire, was a S&W Model 19.
Ran a lot of cheap, smokey range loads out of that gun way back when.
Still have that gun, and a couple other Smiths. Those first two handguns were Ruger 22's.
A single six and a RST6. Still have those, too.

The model 10 is a classic and easy to handle. Common , but still a good find at that price. Lot of fun to shoot, too.

I love my old model 13. Came from a retired deputies wife for a very fair price. If it was all I had, I'd still feel well-armed.