Quick... Ever Seen A S&W 5" Mod10 With Round Butt?

T

taco

New member
Has anybody ever seen a S&W Model 10/MP with 5" skinny barrel and round butt? I've seen and have several 2", 3", 4" and 6" models with round butt and 5" skinny barrels with square butt but never seen a 5" with round butt.

My father saw one at a pawn shop today at a great price and said it was in great condition and the finish looked original but is not sure if the barrel is original.

Can anybody here tell me if such model ever left the factory?
 
I'm at work so I don't have my reference books at hand but I'm guessing that it's an old pre-WW2 piece, especially if the serial # is under 1 million. Back in those days the factory would make up just about any configuration you wanted. Also, the 5" barrels were popular with the British and Canadians.
 
Specifically, I don't know whether such a variant of the Model 10 ever came out of Springfield. But I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Thus I have an original round-butt Model 686 that was made at a time when 686s were cataloged and otherwise produced *only* in square butt. My 686 was a special order gun--so, nearly anything can happen.

In general, years ago S&W used to mark most of the major parts of its revolvers, including the barrel, with the serial number of the gun. So, if it's an older Model 10, I'd look under the barrel, in the extractor rod cut, to see if a serial number is present. If it is, I'd then see if the serial number on the barrel agreed with the main serial number (on the butt). If the numbers match, the barrel would be, I'd think, almost certainly either the original or a factory replacement.

Also, it seems to me that if the finish of the entire gun is original, the barrel is more likely to be original than not. Otherwise, the finish on the barrel would not necessarily match the finish on the frame.

Please let us know how it turns out.

HTH.
 
My father saw the gun on the way home last night and he said the revolver look original (atleast from the view under the store light) and did check to see if there were any serial numbers on the major parts but didn't see any but this is not unusual. The serial number on this revolver indicates post WW2 production. We usually only buy these revolvers if they are in "very good" or better original condition and have the correct original factory boxes but this ones does not have it (it is getting very hard to find ones with factory box now). We will go tomorrow morning to take a closer look but I think we are going to buy it even if is not original since 5" skinny barrels are my favorite and I like round butts. By the way, the shop is asking $299 for it.
 
Supica and Nahas list the five inch "pencil" barrel with a round butt as one of the possible combinations for this one, but they don't give any numbers. At a guess it is probably pretty rare as that is not a combination that got a lot of production. All the new M10's listed (the ones that have production numbers) are other barrel lengths, and the older guns are mostly square butt. This would make your find a bit rarer than most (although enough M&P's of various versions were made to make the use of the word "rare" a bit risky!)
 
Five inch barrels were certainly made BUT it might have been in the days before this model was called the model 10. Between its introduction somewhere in the 1890's and the introduction of that particular model numbering scheme in the 50's, I think, there would have been any number of blue or nickel M&P with that barrel length.

If I may ask, what was the price?
 
Before they were model 10 they were Military & Police.
My father and I currently have 1 pre-WW2 and 2 1950's 5" models all with square butt. All 14 of our pre-WW2 model 10 (M&P) are square butt and all the round butt models are from late 50's and 60's.

Shop wants $299 for this one.

I'm going to try to drive by the shop on the way home to see for myself.
 
Absolutely.
My bro-in-law's Dad was a chief of police in MA during the 20's and '30s. His holster gun, purchased new in 1926, was a 5" round butt M&P. All of his officers were so equipped. I never shot the piece, but bro said that his Dad did all right with it. A more recent (1953) sq. butt 5" model 10 owned by my pard shoots so well I wonder why that barrel length wasn't more popular.
 
Depends....

It depends on what model you are looking at. If you are looking at an M&P, then there were plenty of 5" round butt M&P's early in the century.
As far as Model 10's, well that's another story. Personally I have NEVER seen a 5" Model 10 (stamped) with round butt gripframe. Not saying that they were never made, but in the nearly 30 years that I have been collecting S&W's, I don't recall seeing one.
I have seen (and own) several early post war, pre-Model # M&P's with 5" barrel, but all these have been square butt.
For you guys that have seen them all over, I'd like to be shopping where you shop! I'd love to have one for my collection.
........SmithNut



[Edited by SmithNut on 02-04-2001 at 06:26 PM]
 
I didn't make it to the shop on friday but went on saturday with my dad and we got it for $330 "out the door". Looking at the finish the barrel is definitely original and the revolver is in great shape (about 98%). The action is very smooth with great single action. This is one of those "put in the closet and forgot for 50 years" kind of gun.

On sunday we cleaned the revolver inside and out and took it to the range for some shooting. For some reason it was not as accurate as other Model 10/MP revolvers in our collection. At 25 yards it would shoot about 3-4" with several types of target ammo we had on hand but the sights were perfectly regulated for factory wadcutter ammo. Despite the lack of accuracy it is still a fine revolver and we like it a lot. I think we are going to tinker with this revolver a little and try some other ammo to see if the accuracy can be improved.

All in all, number 29 is another great find and we are now on a mission to find number 31 (we are already negotiating on number 30).
 
Well, what is it???

Is your revolver marked Model 10? What vintage is it?
Would be interesting to know.
.......SmithNut
 
Sorry SmithNut

It is marked M&P and according to the serial number it was made around 1947 (just an educated guess right now).

Looking at your user name you must know something about S&W handguns so let me ask you... for someone like my father and I who has been collecting these model 10/M&P revolvers for many years just for the sake of enjoying them is there any book or websight where we can learn more... that is to become more serious? When we started collecting them we usually didn't pay that much for even pristine ones in boxes but for past few years prices have gone up a lot and we are not sure what the price ranges are for some specimens. So far we never lost any money on our revolvers simply because we never sold any. Any direction you can give will be greatly appreciated.
 
Various places

Taco,
For info on the Military & Police (M10), I would suggest the History of Smith & Wesson, by Roy Jinks, a must if you don't have it. Another "must" is the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, by Supica and Nahas, and for wartime (WW2) production info, Charles Pate's book, US Handguns of WWII is outstanding. He talks about the Victory Model(s).

I am glad (not glad, but it's the only word I could come up with) that your piece is a M&P, not a Model 10, as I mentioned before - have never seen a RB, 5" M10 piece.

Prices for these revolvers have gone up substantially ovet the past few years, they used to be such a bargain, because nobody ever paid any attention to them. I put together a display on the M&P/M10 a couple years back for the S&WCA, and in the process of looking for some models, found that they were drying up for sure.

So, you have 30 M&P's? Congrats!!! That is a healthy collection.

......SmithNut
If you want to talk more M&P info, feel free to email me at SmithNut@hotmail.com
 
SmithNut:

Thanks for your information on books. I guess my father and I will be spending this weekend buying/ordering books followed by some intense reading.

I think we'll have the #30 next week as we agreed on the price today with the seller. #30 will be a blued square butt 4" M&P in very good condition with the original box and even the store receipt. I saw the receipt and it was purchased by the original owner on June 15 (maybe 18), 1935 at a shop in Jacksonville, Florida and the selling price was $19 (maybe $13). The receipt was written with pencil and it has faded quite a lot so some numbers were hard to read.

Finally question, is there a particular M&P or Model 10 variation that is particularly rare? Sort of "Holy Grail" of this model? Just curious.
 
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