I bought mine back in the mid 1970's with the intention of probably never even shooting it. I was going to cut it up into something else.

Back then, if you wanted a new double action .44 Special or .45 Colt, you made your own. While N frame .357's were the top choice for the .44 Special, the longer cylinder of the .41 and .44 Magnums was desirable for the longer .45 Colt. My gunsmith, the late Robert Ballard, did a fantastic job on my M-28/.44 Special conversion and when I picked it up, he showed me a .45 Colt he was just finishing, using a Model 58 for the doner gun. I decided I needed one.

I bought a new 1955 Target barrel from J&G Rifle Ranch, then in Turner, Montana. I bought a new rear sight assembly from a display of blister-packed S&W parts at a sporting goods store and then found a brand new Model 58 at another store, priced at retail, about $160.00. I sat them aside and then began saving the gunsmithing fee.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I shot a couple of boxes of both the full charge JSP and law enforcement-oriented lead bullet loads through it.

Word then leaked out that S&W was about to produce a target grade revolver in .45 Colt, which turned out to be the 125th Anniversary Model 25-3. Eventually, I got a couple of them when they were introduced.

I left the .41 Magnum Model 58 alone.

While it may have been the best factory-produced law enforcement revolver and ammunition combination made to that point in time, I still think the gun went wide of the mark of what was really intended. As great a gun as the Model 58 is, I think it would have been better for most of us had it been chambered instead in .45 Colt and .44 Magnum.