Smith Highway Patrolman

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gunman42782

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Yeah, it aint a Ruger, but I have always wanted one. Got one today, about as good a shape as you will ever see one in!
71pAUou.jpg
 

Rick Courtright

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Mar 10, 2002
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Hi,

A buddy who's a Smith guy has both a 27 and a 28. I always forget which one is the Highway Patrolman, and what the differences are between the two. Anyway, I can look that up, but he looked high and low to find nice specimens of each. I thought he did pretty well, too, until seeing this picture. VERY nice!

Rick C
 

Snake45

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Sweet! I've never owned, shot, or handled any .357 that gave me a greater sense of confidence than the Smith 28. Not even the legendary Python.
 

Cholo

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Nice! My 1st CF handgun was a 6" M-28 I bought new in April '77 for $154.50. Still have it. They sure have held their value, especially the 4" guns.
 
Joined
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Orange County, CA
I actually prefer the "dull" (matte??) bluing on the 28 to the shiny finish of the 27s. I've heard it called a "military finish" which seems almost appropriate. My favorite .357 until I found a half-lug "Jeep".
 

SBH4628

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Oct 28, 2009
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Indiana
Very nice.
I have my late fathers highway patrolman.
1000s of rounds shot thru it.
It was his first 357 before I was born (1961) he had 35 cases and a Lyman 310 tool.
Didn't have much money with 3 kids back in the day.
The gun is hiding in my safe now.

Daniel
 

contender

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Sep 18, 2002
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"I know of no Model 28 owner that has not professed this revolver to be one of their favorite, if not the most favorite revolver, ever."

Wayno,, I hate to be the first here,, but I own several smiffs,, including a few model 27's and a 28. Add in the model 19,, and then,, there are my Rugers. While the model 28 is a nice gun,, and mine came from a friend (no passed,) and I wouldn't give it up,, it's not in my top 10 of favorites. Of course,, I have MANY revolvers,,, so,,, if we start discussing JUST the 357's,, it would still not crack the top ten. BUT,, if we were discussing just the DA 357's,, then,, well, it would be in the top 10 of favorites.
Don't get me wrong,, I like the old smiffs as well as most,, and the 28 is a nice one,,, but it's not the first one I'd grab. Heck,, just today,, I took out one of my Match Champions,, and was testing some stuff. Didn't bother with any smiffs,, yet. But I will.
 
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contender said:
"I know of no Model 28 owner that has not professed this revolver to be one of their favorite, if not the most favorite revolver, ever."

Wayno,, I hate to be the first here... it's not in my top 10 of favorites.

My statement was rhetorical, but I now consider myself corrected. I should have said this gun is a favorite of many. :wink:







.
 

contender

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:D :D :D

I kinda figured that.

Seriously,,, the Model 28 is a very fine gun. And if you only had a chance at one or two guns,,, it would be the first one to grab.
My best friend & now a retired federal agent was on the Air Force rifle & pistol team. After the AF,, he became a guard at a prison before he finished college, & became a Fed. During that time,,, at the prison,, he started competing in their competitions. He first borrowed one of my Rugers,, (after sampling all my DA 357's,) made one click on the sights to fit his eyes, and promptly won a match,, shooting a 249 out of 250. Well, as he wanted to get himself a gun,, we went to a Police Supply house,, and he bought a S&W Model 28. I encouraged him to do so,, as I had a model 27 that was SWEET! He took that gun,, and won some matches with it,, and it was a favorite of his. He & I often discuss guns & such,, & invariably,, he laments how he should have never let that one go in a trade. Of course,, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't rib him a bit about it occasionally.

The Model 28 is a serious working man's gun,, and will do it when many others won't.
I just had to poke a little fun at'cha Wayno,,,,!
 
Joined
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The irony here, is in spite of my fondness for the Model 28 being the most accurate .357 I've ever shot, I have not owned one for many years.

Back in the day, before we could carry concealed, we often carried the best, and sometimes largest revolvers or pistols available. That often included the N-Frame Smith's. When concealed carry proliferated in many states, we, (or maybe I should say I) switched to medium frame revolvers (Security Sixes), eventually L-Frame Smith's, and sometimes semi auto's, as we didn't have to worry about hiding them under a jacket. If I continued to own a Model 28, although I would still expect it to be a superb shooter, it would likely never go any farther than the range.





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Joined
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WAYNO said:
The irony here, is in spite of my fondness for the Model 28 being the most accurate .357 I've ever shot, I have not owned one for many years.

Back in the day, before we could carry concealed, we often carried the best, and sometimes largest revolvers or pistols available. That often included the N-Frame Smith's. When concealed carry proliferated in many states, we, (or maybe I should say I) switched to medium frame revolvers, and sometimes semi auto's, as we didn't have to worry about hiding them under a jacket. If I continued to own a Model 28, although I would still expect it to be a superb shooter, it would likely never go any farther than the range.


I too am a big fan of shooting N-frame Smiths. And as WAYNO says they aren't easy to carry concealed. However, they are excellent for woods carry. As I have said before, in the Smith DA platform, I prefer the L-frame, particularly the 686 in 357. It can be used for concealed carry with the proper rig.

The N-frame 357 is still the preferred large frame DA revolver for the range IMO.

Dave
 

gunman42782

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Well, as much as I like my new Highway Patrolman, I won't say it's my favorite revolver. It shoots great, but the grips are awful, at least for my hand. I have ordered some target grips for it, and if those still don't work, I will get some rubber Hogues. I didn't want to put rubber grips on it, but I will if nothing else works. I also HATE the serrated trigger. Serrated triggers suck for DA work, IMHO. I ordered another trigger off ebay, and I am gonna get rid of the serrations on that, and keep the original trigger in case I ever sell the gun. My whole life people have berated the Ruger DA revolvers, but I honestly think the triggers on most Ruger DA revolvers are smoother than most Smiths I have shot, at least out of the box. I think the trigger pull on my 28 in DA mode is terrible. So, gonna work on that too. I have a couple GPs, one a .357, the other a .44 Special, and the .44 has as good a DA pull of any gun I ever owned. The .357 isn't terrible, but nowhere near as smooth as the .44. And the .357 is a whole lot older, probably had it 15 or more years.
 

Snake45

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gunman42782 said:
Well, as much as I like my new Highway Patrolman, I won't say it's my favorite revolver. It shoots great, but the grips are awful, at least for my hand. I have ordered some target grips for it, and if those still don't work, I will get some rubber Hogues. I didn't want to put rubber grips on it, but I will if nothing else works. I also HATE the serrated trigger. Serrated triggers suck for DA work, IMHO. I ordered another trigger off ebay, and I am gonna get rid of the serrations on that, and keep the original trigger in case I ever sell the gun. My whole life people have berated the Ruger DA revolvers, but I honestly think the triggers on most Ruger DA revolvers are smoother than most Smiths I have shot, at least out of the box. I think the trigger pull on my 28 in DA mode is terrible. So, gonna work on that too. I have a couple GPs, one a .357, the other a .44 Special, and the .44 has as good a DA pull of any gun I ever owned. The .357 isn't terrible, but nowhere near as smooth as the .44. And the .357 is a whole lot older, probably had it 15 or more years.
I can live with the narrow (standard) serrated triggers on S&Ws; I LOVE the wide ones for SA work but DESPISE them for DA. Smith came up with a great compromise with the smooth .312 "combat" trigger. I have those on a couple guns and made my own for another couple by grinding down some wide target ones.
 

dixie cat

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Dec 31, 2017
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https://i.imgur.com/Ip0VJzWl.jpg[img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/XxBREt5l.jpg

that is a nice HY patrol you have! I thought I would show my 2 first year HP here. they are both 1954 5 screw one has p. grashorn elk and tyler T grip. 4in. the other I found in a pawn shop. it is a 6in with ugly rubber grips. but it shoots great!

XxBREt5l.jpg



Ip0VJzWl.jpg
 
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