I have read of them as a "pre Model 10". Is "Military and Police" the more correct terminology?
Howdy
The name for the 38 caliber revolvers Smith and Wesson makes with a swing out cylinder has varied a bit over time.
Before S&W developed revolvers with cylinders that swung out to the side, the company made what are called 'Top Break' revolvers. To load these revolvers the shooter unfastened a latch at the rear of the top strap, then pivoted the barrel down. As the barrel pivoted down a cam caused the extractor to rise up automatically, extracting the empty brass.
Like this:
As the barrel reached the end of its downward travel, a spring automatically snapped the extractor back into place. If the shooter rolled the barrel down briskly enough the snapping back of the extractor was enough to eject the empties onto the ground. Sometimes it helps to flick the wrist sideways as the barrel is rolled down, to help spill the empties out of the chambers.
In 1896 Smith and Wesson introduced their first revolver with a solid frame and a swing out cylinder. It was a .32 caliber revolver. Because the method of opening the revolver had changed, it was no longer possible for a cam to automatically actuate the extractor. Instead it had to be done manually by pushing back on the extractor rod, the way we are all used to doing it today. So the name given to the new style of revolver was Hand Ejector, meaning that ejecting empty brass had to be done manually, or by hand.
This .32 Hand Ejector, 1st Model shipped from the factory in 1898.
The term Hand Ejector was used for a time for the early 22, 32, and later 44 caliber S&W revolvers with swing out cylinders.
In 1899 Smith and Wesson introduced their first 38 caliber, solid frame revolver with a swing out cylinder. In 1902 and then again in 1905 S&W made some changes to this design. I have a reprint of the 1905/1906 S&W catalog. In this catalog S&W referred to these models as the .38 Military Model 1902 and the .38 Military Model 1905, probably because the Military was seen as the principle market for these revolvers. Don't forget, it would be a few years until the Army adopted a Semi-Automatic side arm. However the term Hand Ejector continued to be used for quite a few years for other swing out cylinder revolvers.
A reprint of the S&W catalog of 1927 shows the name of the .38 Military revolvers had evolved to .38 Military and Police. This is the name that these revolvers are usually known by today. Even after S&W changed over to model numbers in 1957, renaming the .38 Military and Police the Model 10 in the process, a catalog from 1968 lists the iconic policeman's revolver as the .38 Military and Police, with the name Model 10 underneath it in smaller print. You will also see the .38 Military and Police model abbreviated as 38 M&P. Collectors will often simply refer to it as the M&P.
Which always strikes me as funny because a few years ago S&W appropriated the term M&P for a line of semi-automatic pistols and rifles. To me, the M&P will always be a revolver. Not a Semi-Automatic.
The term Pre-Model 10 is often used loosely to refer to any 38 M&P, but according to The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson, that term is only appropriate for the postwar .38 Military and Police revolver, produced from 1946 until the name was changed to Model 10 in 1957. I know a collector who insists there is no such thing as a Pre-Model anything. But if you say Pre-Model 10, most S&W aficionados will know what you are talking about.
P.S. If you want to get really fussy about it, you can refer to the various 38 M&Ps as the .38 Military and Police 1st Model (the Model of 1899), .38 Military and Police 2nd Model (Model of 1902), .38 Military and Police Model of 1902 - 1st Change, .38 Military and Police Model of 1905, .38 Military and Police Model of 1905 - 1st Change, 2nd Change, 3rd Change, or 4th Change. But .38 Military and Police is usually good enough.