Model 10

I

Idaho shooter

Inactive
Hi everyone,
This is my first post since registering. I have been reading this forum for
many years and gotten a lot of useful info from many knowledgeable people.
I have several S&W revolvers including models 10,19,63, and 686, All are good
shooters with 686 being the most accurate center fire handgun I have ever
shot. I have a question about my model 10. I purchased it used about 10
years ago in unfired condition and is still nearly so. According to it's serial no.
S&W tells me is was made in 1972. It does not have a model no. stamped in
the crane. Has anyone seen one with this missing?
 
Welcome to the Firing Line.
Some more info would be nice, the official serial is on the bottom of the butt. Please include any letters.
Photos would be nice.
It is possible one slipped through post 1957, without a model number marked.
I've never personally seen one.
Again, welcome to the Forum.
 
There are other "tells" to a S&W revolver's age though not as precise as serial number. The most obvious would be if the revolver is a 3, 4, or 5-screw model. A S&W revolver made up until 1955 should be a five screw meaning four screws hold the sideplate on and one in the bottom of the frame in front of the trigger guard retains the cylinder/yoke assembly. After 1955, the top sideplate screw was eliminated and thus four screw guns were produced until 1961. After 1961, the screw in the bottom of the frame was eliminated thus ushering in the 3-screw guns which continue in production to the present. An exception to this is some of the newer revolver's in the "Classic" series which brought back the fourth sideplate screw but not the one in the bottom of the frame.

If your gun was made in 1972, it should be a three screw gun as, even allowing for transitional models, yours was made 11 years after the fourth screw was eliminated. Conversely, if you have what a collector might refer to as a "Pre-Model 10", it should be either a a four or five screw gun as it was made at least four years before the fourth screw was eliminated. If you have a three screw revolver with no model number, then by process of deduction we have to assume it was either not stamped in a production error or perhaps buffed off during a refinish.
 
and one in the bottom of the frame in front of the trigger guard retains the cylinder/yoke assembly.
Click to expand...

Not quite. The side plate screw above the trigger guard also retains the cylinder/yoke assembly. The screw in front of the trigger guard retains a spring and spring plunger which puts upward pressure on the cylinder stop (bolt as all the other manufacturers call it).

One can see the spring, plunger, and screw in this photo of a disassembled S&W 38 M&P revolver. The parts that are at an angle between the cylinder and the trigger. The cylinder stop is the part they are pointing to. By the way I much prefer this design. With the current Three Screws, I find it difficult to remove or replace the spring for the cylinder stop. I have mashed more than one trying to wedge it into position. It was much easier with the older design where there was a screw to hold them in place.

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However, I agree, without photos there is not much that anybody can tell the Original Poster about his revolver. At the very least, if he posted the Serial Number we could look it up and see if somebody at S&W made a mistake. It has been known to happen.
 
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Driftwood Johnson you are, of course, correct about the frame screw retaining the cylinder stop rather than the yoke. It's been a while since I've poked around the innards of anything but a three screw gun so my memory was a bit off.
 
Half-moon front ssight, says post WWII. but not 1970's. They had changed to the ramped raer-surface of the FRont sight.
 
I've had this model 10 for a few years now and its given a bit of grief on the reliability side. The Hammer and Trigger were chromed which I think changed a bit of the internal geometry causing the hammer to fall early and also off centre. Managed to fix those things over time and its now a decent revolver with a nice smooth action although a little on the stiffer side to get good ignition. The Barrel is a Sprinter 1:14 and the internals are all polished with 1200 wet and dry to a mirror finish.
 

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