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Weight of Model 13
- Thread starter Elerius
- Start date
spacecoast
New member
The "real" Model 13 .357 mag weight is listed as 31 oz. (3" barrel) in the SCSW, 34 oz. with 4" barrel.
There was also a .38 special M13 Aircrewman with an alloy frame issued after WWII. Several pages are devoted to it in the SCSW. The only weight I could find for it was 14.5 oz for the USAF M13. No mention of barrel length, but likely a snubby.
There was also a .38 special M13 Aircrewman with an alloy frame issued after WWII. Several pages are devoted to it in the SCSW. The only weight I could find for it was 14.5 oz for the USAF M13. No mention of barrel length, but likely a snubby.
Mike Irwin
Staff
"There was also a .38 special M13 Aircrewman with an alloy frame issued after WWII. Several pages are devoted to it in the SCSW. The only weight I could find for it was 14.5 oz for the USAF M13. No mention of barrel length, but likely a snubby."
The original Aircrewman M13 (that was the Air Force model number, NOT the S&W model number) had an aluminum cylinder, as well. It was issued with a 2" barrel.
Few authentic M13s are still left. After the aluminum-cylindered version was shown to be unworkable, even with very downloaded ammo, the Air Force destroyed almost all of them.
Smith & Wesson released a civilian version of the gun as the Military & Police Airweight in 1953, but use with standard pressure 158-gr. ammo quickly damaged the gun, and in 1954 it was changed to an aluminum frame with a steel cylinder.
The all-aluminum guns weighed just shy of 15 ounces, while the later versions with the steel cylinders were closer to 20 ounces, IIRC.
In 1957 this gun was designated the Model 12.
Original issue M&P Airweights from 1953 are pretty uncommon, and have been used to create fake military M13s.
It's also not uncommon to see an Airweight with an aluminum cylinder being offered as an M13 (with correspondingly massive price tag) because the seller doesn't understand the difference between the civilian and military guns.
One last tidbit...
The Air Force M13 and the S&W Model 13 have virtually NOTHING in common, other than the fact that they're both based on the K frame.
The original Aircrewman M13 (that was the Air Force model number, NOT the S&W model number) had an aluminum cylinder, as well. It was issued with a 2" barrel.
Few authentic M13s are still left. After the aluminum-cylindered version was shown to be unworkable, even with very downloaded ammo, the Air Force destroyed almost all of them.
Smith & Wesson released a civilian version of the gun as the Military & Police Airweight in 1953, but use with standard pressure 158-gr. ammo quickly damaged the gun, and in 1954 it was changed to an aluminum frame with a steel cylinder.
The all-aluminum guns weighed just shy of 15 ounces, while the later versions with the steel cylinders were closer to 20 ounces, IIRC.
In 1957 this gun was designated the Model 12.
Original issue M&P Airweights from 1953 are pretty uncommon, and have been used to create fake military M13s.
It's also not uncommon to see an Airweight with an aluminum cylinder being offered as an M13 (with correspondingly massive price tag) because the seller doesn't understand the difference between the civilian and military guns.
One last tidbit...
The Air Force M13 and the S&W Model 13 have virtually NOTHING in common, other than the fact that they're both based on the K frame.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Even with the specially hardened aluminum alloys that they were developing for the aerospace industry in the 1950s and 1960s, the pressure pulse from the cartridge being fired was simply too much.
The chambers would apparently begin to stretch and there were actual cracks found in the military guns.
That led the military to develop a VERY low-power .38 Special round -- a 110-gr. FMB bullet at something like 750 fps, and even that was too much for the gun.
The chambers would apparently begin to stretch and there were actual cracks found in the military guns.
That led the military to develop a VERY low-power .38 Special round -- a 110-gr. FMB bullet at something like 750 fps, and even that was too much for the gun.