"New" .357 Model 10
I just can't leave well enough alone. I've been planning a makeover for my Model 10-10, repatriated from Australia's Victoria Police Armory a few years back. I finally came across a 3" S&W barrel on Ebay a couple months ago for $55, which looked factory-fresh when it arrived. So last week I took it all to the gunsmith up in Apache Junction. He quoted me a price, I agreed and away we go.
I missed a couple calls from him earlier this week and finally got back to him today. "I ran into a little problem. This barrel says .38 Special, but it's cut for a .357." Say what?
"But I have an idea. I have a .357 cylinder here in my parts, and it looks like it fits. I don't know how deep you want to get into this, but I can probably make this work." What's "deep"? "Oh, how's $150 out the door?"
Uh, you ain't started yet?? Let's do it!!
He called me about an hour or so later to tell me it was done. A little adjustment filing on the frame lug and 25-thousandths off the ejector rod and it fit like a charm. "Locks up like a bank vault" and testing with both .38 and .357 ammunition had excellent results.
Bottom line, I have a .357 Model 10 for under $500, everything included, even the original gun.
I'm not a .357 shooter, so it's more the uniqueness of the configuration and the fun factor of how parts from Ebay and the gunsmith's parts box came together with very little fitting to produce even better than I wanted. Couple photos to follow....
Oh, almost forgot: recessed cylinder!
Last edited by GerSan69; 02-12-2020 at 10:12 PM.
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