Once Again the Evil Ali-Babba Gets Me...

C

CajunBass

New member
I don't have many what I would call a "grail gun" but today I found one. Like Bigfoot I had never actually seen one, but I didn't doubt they were out there. I just never really thought about them.

But today I noticed what I thought was a heavy barrel Model 10 in the case at Ali-Babba's. Ho-Hum...another 10. Well, it's sort of a big 10. A quick glance at the tag and the tag says "85". Oh, a Taurus 85. No, it's WAY too big to be a Taurus...wait, the tag is upside down...it says..."58." A SMITH & WESSON Model 58, 41 Magnum? Can't be...It is.

So I try to be cool. Don't want them to think I really want this one. I grab my wife's jacket and wipe the drool off the countertop and ask to "see that old 58." With trembling hands I take it from the clerk who is making a "CHA CHING" motion with his hand. Wonder what he means by that?

Ok. 4" barrel, N-frame, fixed sights...and Hogue grips...Ok, can't have everything.

I ask them to put it on hold so I can check out a few things about it. I'll get back to them tomorrow and let them know if I want it. The clerk says, "You think it will take until tomorrow?" DRAT...these guys know me too well.

Of course, he was right, it is on layaway now.

 
Color me jealous. I've been lusting after a M58 for years now and I just can't find one, much less at any sort of reasonable price (and I use the word reasonable very loosely). As a matter of fact, I've only ever seen a M58 in person once and, sadly, I was a poor college student who couldn't afford it at the time.
 
You don't want one of those...

You should tell me where it's at and I'll remove the temptation for you...

:rolleyes:

You lucky dog!
 
Ah man, I was thinking of going down to Green Top today. Would have made a nice partner for my M57. Oh well, ya snooze ya lose. Nice find, congrats.
 
Ah man, I was thinking of going down to Green Top today. Would have made a nice partner for my M57. Oh well, ya snooze ya lose. Nice find, congrats.
Click to expand...

My wife and I are retired, with no real life, so we end up stopping by there every other day or so, just to get out of the house.

It didn't stay in hock long. Looks even better at home.





Reloading stuff, a set of Ahrens grips, etc., on the way.
 
Congrats, The model 58 was always on my want list, I think they would be a great gun for hiking or fishing along the streams. It never seems to fail though, if I find one, I don't have the cash, if I have the cash, something breaks or a emergency comes up. If I had any more guns, I couldn't keep my pants up anyway. Great find.
 
Oh yes. Ali Baba is well known for decades, together with the forty thieves......
I'm saying it takes 2 to dance.:D
Nice gun. Enjoy it.
 
Looks really clean. Glad you satisfied that particular urge.

Guys sometimes get mad at me because of my opinions on the 58 but what the heck...I can take it.

The 58 was a huge commercial failure. It sputtered along for about 18 years selling slowly and disappointing buyers with its size, weight and heavy recoil. The 41 has a loyal following but the truth is there's nothing the 41 can do the 44 doesn't do about 15% better.

The 58 in particular really doesn't seem to be designed for any useful purpose. Intended as a duty revolver it was too big and heavy for women officers and men of smaller physical size with the recoil being too much for just about everyone. The 57 is a better sporting revolver if you must have a 41.

But all of my opinions on the matter are meaningless as the 58 has developed a true cult following. Everybody into revolvers at all longs for a 58 (a Model 10 on steroids as I once dubbed it) and prices are astronomical on any available examples.

I confess to owning a 58. Bought it in 1989 on a lark. It was police surplus out of New Jersey and I paid $189. Came with a black duty holster and two drop pouches. Had I known I would have bought all the 58s the dealer had (he had a bunch) and tripled my money 10 years later. Mine came with the favorite amongst cops...Pachmayrs. I learned that the correct Magna stocks for the 58 were the rounded "Modified Magnas." Dug in my big box of odd grips and stocks and damned if I didn't have two pair of them. Think I got them at a local show for $5 each with no idea what they were. Had a 3rd pair fall into my lap a few years later. This news probably irks all the guys killing themselves to find a set without luck. One set went on my 58, another was sold to someone desperately seeking the correct stocks for his 58 (I let him set the price) and the last set is still in the box, I reckon.

Even though I have owned this thing for 27 years I still haven't figured a specific use for it. Shooting it with full loads and the Magnas is rather unpleasant for me. But I guess that doesn't matter. It's one of those guns that a lot of folks just want without a real reason. I can appreciate that. I seem to dismiss the 58 but you'll notice I haven't sold mine.


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I certainly knew of the existence of the Model 58 but I did not realize that it was another S&W "magnum" that doesn't happen to have the ejector shroud. Perhaps rare isn't the proper word, but maybe uncommon is the better word.

The Model 13, the Model 65... and the Model 58!
(and probably some short runs of scarce things that may or may not qualify as a "production" gun...)
 
:D You'll get no argument from me, Saxon Pig. I gotta admit I really can't think of a practical use for it.

So, I'll just use it to punch holes in a piece of paper.

Those grips on yours look great.
 
There is NOTHING like an old BLUED S&W revolver. I have lived about 6 miles from S&W all of my 60 years and they've carved a warm place in my heart.

Having said that, as a new guy here, I'll now show a bit of my broken heart.

I went through a bad stretch about 10 years ago and sold about 95% of a pretty sizeable gun collection (although I never thought of them as a collection - hell, I shot every one of them, they were just my personal arsenal).

Of the S&W guns I managed to save one; a Model 19, 6" with Roy Fishpaw French Walnut grips. Those sold: another 6" M19, a 6" M29, a 6" M17, an M41(7 inch), all with Roy Fishpaw grips, or stocks as he would insist they be designated. I managed to save the other French Walnut 19 and French Walnut M41 stocks.

When I was a lad in 1965 I used to go with my uncle on Tuesday nights to shoot his M41 (5 inch) at the oldest gun club in America, the Springfield Revolver Club. A beautiful old wooden shack, but sturdy, with more history dripping from the walls than you could shake a stick at. Photos, Targets, Medals, etc. Blue smoke from cordite and Camels constantly wafting around.

Anyway, he owned a machine shop and had friends all over, and I wasn't so surprised when he brought over a bag of S&W odds and ends: frames of all size, cylinders, barrels, so much stuff to light up a 10 year old boys eyes and heart. Of course my father thought it was junk 10 years later and threw it all out on one of his periodic "Gotta clean up the cellar" rants. I did forgive him when I was a man and knew what it was like to have a corner of the cellar as sacred turf.

Well, please don't think I wrote this post as a boast of any kind. Just a small slice of a fellow gun maniac's life by way of an introduction.

EDIT: I forgot my manners. Enjoy the heck out of that beautiful M58, Cajun Bass. You are a lucky man indeed!
 
Cajunbass- get yourself some Cor-Bon 170grain HP's and with six of those in the cylinder you are safe from just about anything. Recoil is not too bad either.
 
I did get the stuff to load up 100 rounds and took it to the range. Fun gun to shoot, but it has a little more recoil than a 38 special. ;)

This one is going to be a range queen for me. Way too big for me to carry except in a range bag.
 
Ever think of wearing a bib or keeping a hanky on hand? Who am I kidding I don't either and now my keyboards all wet. I know I should a kept on going when I read holy grail...but I never do. :o

Shes a beauty. Congrats!
 
Very nice find.

What did you have to give for it?

I laid out around $300 for my 97% Model 58 some years ago.

For those of us who have less than no interest (me!) in the .44 Magnum, the .41 Magnum is perfect.

I don't shoot it as much now that I have my true Holy Grail gun, my 4" Model 25-5 in .45 Long Colt, but the Model 58 is still one of the favorites of my stable.

For light loads I use lead bullets and WW 231 or AA 7.

For heavy loads I use jacketed bullets and WW 296.

It will really make people sit up and take notice on the NRA range when I light it off.

If you can find them for a decent price, Remington's 210-gr. jacketed soft points are REAL thumpers.
 
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