On this morning's re-run episode of Dragnet, the board of inquiry
was investigating Sgt. Friday for a shooting at a laundromat and
I noticed they mentioned the serial number of Sgt. Friday's S&W
Revolver. It was probably a fictitiuous number for the program
dialog, but I thought some of you experts could tell. I think his
revolvers was pre-model 10 snub nosed, and the number they
gave was 1755806.

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In Omnia Paratus

Too many digits and no letter prefix. The number is fictitious, IMO.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Thank you Wiregrassguy. That's the conclusion I came to also.

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In Omnia Paratus

Jack Webb aka Sgt. Joe Friday was given a Model 39 with serial number 714 and a 44 Magnum with serial number S130714.

Bill

If it involves the S and the W I don’t think there is a bit of information too small that a member of this forum doesn’t know it. Always something to learn here.

Credit for this photo goes to Paladin85020 who posted it a while ago. It’s a 1966 photo of LA police chief W.H. Parker presenting badge # 714 and what looks like a 2” M&P revolver to Jack Webb, the holster appears to be a Lewis holster. I thought you all would enjoy the photo.

Regards,

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turnerriver

Not sayin' it never happened, but I don't recall ever seeing Friday with a K frame. Seems like he always had a J frame - or a shotgun when SHTF.

Attached Images

fridayshotgun.jpg (5.5 KB, 202 views)

I agree unless they didn't know enough to read a letter prefix as part of the serial #.

Couldn't be a pre war 2" with that #. The 2" wasn't offered until after July '33 in the # range above 241XXX.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I was at a auction in Ohio back in 90s. They had two of Jack Webb’s guns.
Both in presentation cases. One was a 36 with badge 714 , gold filled in side plate. The other was a Browning HP with same type inscriptions.
Not that these guns were used in filming. They were documented. They didn’t sell very high.

Not enough action or blood or gore for todays audiences but it's still my favorite cop show of all times.

For first-hand analysis, here is a short YT clip with Joe Friday’s shootings, including the laundromat.

The first one looks like a Colt Detective Special, correct for a 1950s episode. The laundromat gun might be a K-frame; hard to tell.

I can’t get to my real computer at the moment; maybe somebody can freeze-frame and enlarge the gun.

I used to sit and watch Dragnet with my dad when I was a kid and I still love watching them. I like them so much I just bought a 1964 vintage model 10 2” in near pristine condition.

I read an article that said Friday initially carried a Colt Detective Special and later a Smith model 10 snub nose. Gannon carried a model 15 per the article.

Does anyone know what holster is in the photo?

He had a M&P premodel 10 or 12. There is a lot of debate. The people that say he had a M&P Airweight put up a good argument on why they think it has an alloy frame.

Do you know where they are???

In two separate episodes it was referred to as a military and police air weight The first was an episode from mid 1950 also showing the period correct box. The second was from Dragnet 1968.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Wheel guns are real guns too.

It’s a Lewis Police Special holster, popular at the time.


Regards,

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turnerriver

Try to watch Dragnet and Adam-12 every day. When tv was worth watching.

The 44 Magnum given to Jack Webb is on display (or it was) at the Los Angeles Police Academy. Possibly some of the other revolvers and pistols given him are there too, but I don't know for certain.

Years ago, someone posted a photo on the Forum of the 44 Magnum on display.

Bill

‘Just the facts mam.’

I have a set of pre-recorded VHS tapes with old cop shows (Dragnet, Boston Blackie, The Third Man, etc.) on my desk...Since my VHS player no longer works, I should probably clean my desk and make room for more stuff......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

Here is my model 10 with 2" barrel in a Lewis holster. Kind of a tribute
to Sgt. Friday. He also carried a reload in a 2x2, although mine happens
to be on a speed strip. The grips are by Grasshorn and the knife is a
Puma Prince.

Attached Images

SAM_1746.jpg (71.8 KB, 81 views)

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In Omnia Paratus

Dragnet (1967 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games)

"The Smith & Wesson Model 10 snub revolver is the sidearm carried by Sergeant Joe Friday (Jack Webb)."

Dragnet (1951 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games)


"A Colt Detective Special snub revolver is the sidearm carried by Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb)."

O.K. in the 1960 shows I watched it was a 10 or 12, but did it have a square butt or round?

I have watched a handful of episodes over the last five years, and in fact there is very little action. Mostly indoor scenes, mainly just talking, maybe with a street or outdoor shot thrown in occcasionally. No shootouts or car chases.

In the episodes from the 1950s, he had a Colt Detective Special.

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Let's be careful out there

Lots of controversy about Joe Friday's revolver. In the earlier days of the
program He carried a Detective Special. In the 1960s he carried an M&P,
later designated Model 10 with 2" barrel. There is some evidence that it
might have been a Model 12, but I lean more toward the Model 10. There
is also some suggestions that he used a model 36 in the early days. I have
not seen any evidence of that. We may never know the facts. Jack Webb
passed away in 1982. A mere 62 years of age. I read somewhere that
LAPD officers openly wept.

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In Omnia Paratus

IIRC, it was round.

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Let's be careful out there

K22fan - The photo in number 6 post will enlarge with click and the butt
is definately round, but I don't know if it is the one used in the programs.

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In Omnia Paratus

Can't find it in either the IMDb episode index, or the IMFDb, but I seem to recall an episode from the '50s where Friday used a Thompsom submachine gun against a barricaded suspect, His captain hands him the Thompson but tells him to use it only if he has to. and when the suspect continues to shoot, the captain tells him to "Use it, Joe."

Friday then kills the suspect with it.

Does anyone else recall anything like this?

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Let's be careful out there

The mighty Internet knows all:

Dragnet (the 1954 movie):
Dragnet (1954 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games)
Colt Detective Special

Dragnet Series:
Dragnet (1967 - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games)

gerhard1 - Watch the video up in post #11. It tells us Friday only had
to kill two perps. One very early on, and then the one in the laundromat.

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In Omnia Paratus

I went to the Internet movie firearms database Dragnet (1967).
It shows a picture of Friday's revolver used in the laundromat shooting.
It is a Model 10 snub nose with round butt.

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In Omnia Paratus

Lewis holster, fairly common in the day. Bucheimer made a copy of it, those are quite a bit cheaper than the original Lewis rigs. They turn up on eBay every so often.

Yep, here is the Lewis with my Model 10-5 2" on the left, and
the Bucheimer-Clark with a Charter Undecover on the right.

Attached Images

	SAM_1746.jpg (71.8 KB, 30 views)
	SAM_0873.jpg (103.0 KB, 32 views)

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In Omnia Paratus

The show in the laundromat, is that the show where the bad guys bullet was found behind a wood shelf? They saw the mark of the bullet and it had lifted the board and gone into the wall. They thought the streak on the board was from a carpenters pencil? Nope I don't remember the show at all except for that bit of information.

Watch the 3 minute video (Post #11, this thread) for confirmation.

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You're shy a few manners.

After reading your post, "Watch the 3 minute video (Post #11, this thread) for confirmation." I went back to watch the three minutes. Guess my memory isn't as bad as my wife claims. Or maybe it's just my old age getting me caught up. I only saw that episode one time and remembered that bit of scene. When someone mentions Dragnet, that is the picture I think of as "The show."

Yes; you are correct My memory was playing tricks on me here. There was no Thompson, at least with Joe Friday.

Still, I am certain that I saw a similar scene played out somewhere; I just can't remember where.

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Let's be careful out there

The episode where Friday shoots the guy in the laundromat is called "The Shooting Board".

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You're shy a few manners.

I loved Dragnet but not sure Jack was a realistic depiction of an LAPD detective…or any detective for that matter. His cadence was very staccato and robotic…almost comically so as the Clapper skit with Johnny Carson showed.

I think alot of people feeling TV was better back then is mostly nostalgia…since it takes us back to more wholesome and simpler times…but as far as writing and acting go, today’s shows are far superior with multiple layer story lines. Even police shows from the 80s like Hill Street Blues were better written and acted that any 50s, 60s and 70s shows. As far as today’s shows, if you haven’t given Bosch a try, you should check it out.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Bill, here you go. Click on image to enlarge.
Chuck

Attached Images

LADP_JackWebbi 333.jpg (95.1 KB, 64 views)

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SWCA1517 SWHF256
Rangers LTW!

I wonder if Jack Webb had a carry permit. I am sure it would have been easy for him to get.

Prior to 1967, he wouldn't have needed one......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

You guys are bad. Looked at this thread and went on Amazon to get some Dragnet DVD's

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

Back at that time, about all there was to watch on TV was whatever was being shown on the three national networks, and most people had only B&W sets. There wasn't much basis for comparison, so most believed whatever was on the tube was pretty good entertainment. When I was growing up, we got only one channel, and it really didn't make much difference if what you watched was good or bad, as it was the only game in town. Today, if you watch old shows from the 1950s-60s, and even later, you'll see than most of them were simplistic, crude, and amateurish compared to what's available today, and with much lower production quality.

I don't know if many have read or heard about Desi Arnaz and his great influence on TV production. Apparently, he was a pioneer in modern TV production and back in the 1960s singlehandedly revolutionized the way shows were produced and filmed. Most of the methods he developed then are still used today.

Today, if you watch old shows from the 1950s-60s, and even later, you'll see than most of them were simplistic, crude, and amateurish compared to what's available today, and with much lower production quality.


Yes, but most of those shows had plots where good triumphs evil, the language used wouldn't get you kicked off the Forum and the whole family could watch it.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I happened to be perusing through the SCSW 4th Edition today, looking for some info on a flat latch Model 36 that's for sale at my LGS, and found this note on Page 244:

Serial Number 38185 attributed to actor Jack Webb of the popular TV series "Dragnet" shipped with Nickel Cylinder and Rosewood grips on 6-4-1954. Sold at Auction in 2000 for $6000.

This may have been his personal Chief's Special and never used in the TV series, but interesting none the less!

I am grateful that many of you are tech savvy enough to post these photos and whole and parts of episodes for the rest of us. Thanks!

Need help to identify an old Smith revolver.42387 is on swing out in front of the cylinder. serial number butt of frame is 419xxx. 38 smith and wesson ctg

You need to start your own thread, as your request will get lost on this one.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!