Took the Grips off My Model 10-8 and Found This...

Note in the Popular Mechanics article that guns with this modification were adopted by at least one police Dept. Likely no more followed suit. Out of Sunnyvale, Ca. Some aero-space engineer likely thought this up.

This maybe doubles the value of this gun. To some collectors commercial oddities like this are quite desirable.

Print out a couple of copies of the Popular Mechanics piece and keep them with the gun.

Go by the S&W forum and show this. It will generate interest.

Still sold it seems...

http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigger/gun/safety/magna1.html

tipoc
 
Thanks for all the replies guys! It looks like the mystery is solved. I've read the links posted, as well as some other articles on the internet trying to learn more about the Magna-trigger system. However, none of them actually go in depth about how the system is supposed to keep the gun from firing. Does the magnetic piece in the grip keep the mainspring (and thus the hammer) from moving?

I contacted SOSS, whom I bought the gun from, to see what they had to say about it. They said unfortunately since I bought it over two years ago, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I didn't expect much more than that, honestly.

As far as being able to keep the piece from moving around, I would like to try and figure something out. I do know how to tig weld and would be willing to attempt it, except I'm assuming the Magna-trigger piece is made of a non-ferrous metal so it doesn't interfere with the magnetism. Maybe I'll just put the rubber grips back on and forget all about it haha

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 
Very interesting piece of history! Never heard of it before but it sure is nice that someone knew about it and could enlighten us on it! If it were mine, I wouldn;t do any thing with it as I would think the collector value would put the value of it higher. Doesn't help anyone who purchased one of these for a "shooter" but I would think you could almost get enough out of it to buy couple of Model 10s?

Thanks for sharing the information - fascinating!
 
It CAN be shot as it came.
If it functions, the device has obviously been de-activated, so no ring needed.
Denis
 
Obviously worn, broken or beat on to destroy the lock function.
Click to expand...

I would agree with this. Most likely, someone acquired the revolver without the magnetic ring(s), and broke the frame unit so the gun would function.

Then put the broken piece back in the frame.


Never a factory item. Unless you can find a collector who is interested in unusual aftermarket modifications (and broken ones, at that) there is no collector interest or value.
 
Never say never too soon.

As shown the place that made these still does so (or the company that bought the original company that started it still does). The frame was cut to allow for the installation of the aftermarket part. The part is there and still possibly intact. So if a fella wanted to it could be sent to the outfit in Jersey that still makes this mod.

Point is it ain't hard to find people that like gizmos on guns like this. You don't have to look for them, they look for you. Or rather the gizmo. Post the piece on other forums, particularly S&W. The interested will find you. Look for a swap, or $100. more than you paid for it. (the original seller should have told the OP about this before the sale). Judge Judy would rule against him.

tipoc
 
I vaguely remember reading about this modification but it had been pushed so far back in my memory that I'd have never remembered it without this thread. I've never actually seen one. I have no idea about value, but I'd keep it as a curiosity if nothing else. Now if someone offered enough cash I'd let it go too.
 
I can find two archival images of the Magna Trigger modification, one with a modified but intact frontstrap, and one with a cut-out frontstrap and insert as shown in the gun in this thread.
Apparently Tarnhelm did it both ways.

The gun here is NOT a BubbaJob, it was done that way by Tarnhelm.
Denis
 
Put a good Hogue wood grip on the gun or an original Smith & Wesson wood grip after you take the abomination off, keep and shoot the gun. Sell the abomination as is on S&W forum or ebay to a collector.

The folks that sold you the gun knew about the modification and did not tell you as they had to take the grip off to get the serial number when they logged the gun into their bound book.

I would never buy another gun from them and be sure to let us and all your gun owning friends know who the sellers are as they are not trustworthy gun dealers.
 
Looks like the company is still in business. If it were mine I would try to document
what PD it was from and if that finish was original (looks a bit too good for a 36+ yr
old gun). Maybe pick up a couple of magnetic rings and make it functional? It's
an interesting bit of history, and there are collectors interested in such things.
 
Maybe pick up a couple of magnetic rings and make it functional?
Click to expand...

Its nonfunctional now, and the metal grain structure exposed in the pic makes me think it has been broken. New magnetic rings won't do anything but give you new rings to wear. The rings were to turn the blocking mechanism OFF, and it is already (permanently) off.

Restoring its function will require repair/replacement by the maker. Or someone else with the parts and tech skills needed.
 
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