More Revolvers

[bjcsc]

I was hunting a specific S&W revolver for years and finally found it last year at a show. It's a 29-2, pinned and recessed, blued with a 3 1/2bbl. Was like finding a needle in a haystack - but I finally did find it...

 

[redlevel]

I love that there are guys out there that collect old firearms, but I'm pretty clueless on them. Is there something about those models that make them rare or unique? Some sort of history? I never heard of them, so it's just out of curiousity that I ask.

Sounds like a good price for the two of them.
Congrats.

Eddie

Eddie, I guess "old" is a relative term, and I'm sorry if I gave the impression these guns are antiques or even rare. Actually, they are some of the most common handguns ever made. The S&W Military and Police, later becoming the Model 10, was to law enforcement in the US in the 50s, 60s, through the late 70s, what the Glock is now. Just about every Police Officer in the US carried some version of the M10. The larger handgun Bird pictured is, I believe, a Model 15, or "Combat Masterpiece", as S&W called it. It differs from the ones in my picture mainly in that it has adjustable sights, and is sort of a "spinoff" of the M&P. I believe S&W still catalogs a Model 10. My 2006 S&W catalog lists the msrp at $572.

A practical reason for buying these guns is that one can't find this kind of quality and workmanship in a similar current-production handgun for a fraction of the price. Even the 1977 vintage gun is light-years ahead of any production revolver in quality of fit and finish, and I remember old-timers lamenting how the quality control had slipped when that gun was new. The action on the 1947-48 vintage gun is what is usually described as "glass smooth." This gun still had a degree of hand fitting that is cost-prohibitive today. I guess those practical reasons are also what makes some oldsters like me want them--they are great examples of American blue-steel-and-walnut firearms from the post WWII period. It is getting harder and harder to find good examples. They are relatively cheap; you don't have to be rich to "accumulate" them. I don't call myself a collector.

The main reason I like these old guns is that "they just don't make 'em like that anymore."

Here is another "old" S&W I found back in July. From about 1977-79. It is the same basic gun as the M&P. This is a Model 14, or "K38-Target Masterpiece." Same gun as Bird's "Combat Masterpiece", except for longer barrel and different sights.

I paid $321. tax and all. It is expensive, but not nearly so expensive as collecting (accumulating) Rolex watches or Parker shotguns. Or John Deere tractors, for that matter.

 

[Bird]

The larger handgun Bird pictured is, I believe, a Model 15, or "Combat Masterpiece", as S&W called it.

I've no doubt that you know a lot more about these guns than I do, and of course, you're right. They called it the Combat Masterpiece, and it's a model 15-2.

I did have it re-blued once, many years ago, when I was still working. In later years, the city started buying stainless steel models and of course accumulated a few almost new ones when officers with short tenure resigned or were fired. So they offered me the opportunity to trade my Combat Masterpiece for one of the stainless steel models, but I turned it down because that Combat Masterpiece never once gave a minute's trouble, so I stayed with it.