Greetings all. I have a model 10 38 special revolver that I bought from a dealer on Long Island New York about 15 yeras back. Now I know that the NYCPD carried the heavy bbld model 10's for quite a few years as well as the Suffolf and Nassau county police as well. There are no markings on this revolver to indicate police service. My buddy who owned the shop had a cardboard box full of the model 10's and I paid the princley sum of $100 for the revolver. These revolvers were probably police turn ins and sold to various dealers. How would I go about finding which police dept was issued these revolvers or am I blowing in the wind. I would like to sorta get a little history on my model 10 heavy bbl if at all possible. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks, Frank

I have seen many model 10 HBs advertised as NYPD issue that were not stamped as such. My recollection from other posts is that they were shipped to the NYPD range and purchased by individual officers. Probably the best way to confirm this is a factory historical letter:

Firearm History Request - Smith & Wesson

Hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Murphydog, Thanks for the info. So the letter entitled firearm historical letter should be sent to smith & wessom. Do I have to include any funds for this search in the records?. Regards, Frank

The standard fee is $50.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

NYPD did not stamp their .38's. I know because I was one.
All new recruits had to buy their gun and their uniforms.They were not 'issued' to them. Mine had a Ser # beginning with C8044**. It was gotten 6/1966.
Here's the best part. A few years after I retired ,I sold it in 1989 to get a semi-auto that was becoming the 'rage' to have.
I hated to sell it but I needed the extra cash to buy the semi. I regreted selling it because of the nostalgia connected to it. A few months ago, I decided to try and locate it. After searching high & low I managed to actually find the present owner and made contact with him. He was willing to sell it to me and last week I finally had it back where it belongs. In the 22 years it was 'out there' it did some traveling to differant states. It still had the original grips and was in pristine condition It was a dream come true for me to get it back. I just thought some one might enjoy that story.

That's a great story. There are more than a few posts like yours here, but this is the first where you found "the one that got away".

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

So, did you go out and buy a bunch of lottery tickets after that??

You should have...................

So how does one begin to search for a long lost revolver? Ads? Glad your had a happy ending!

Always love a happy ending!

Congrats on getting her back!

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John 3:17
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Very good story! I'll expect to see you on "Cold Case Files" soon.

Best Regards & Enjoy That Model 10,

Jerry

To answer your question about how I traced it, I started by going to the FFL dealer who I sold it too ( I still had all the paperwork) and then picked up the search, making NUMEROUS phone calls, trying to track it down. The home 'puter helped with getting address & phone numbers. A lot of patience & determination also helped. In the search, I talked to many understanding people on the phone telling them of my intentions. Most of them helped me in following the 'bread crumbs' you might say!

Mr. Vivas has at least a partial database. Perhaps he could be of some help.
index.html

That fellas got a few .38's

Frank.

I bought a model 10 off of Gunbroker from a dealer in NY state who stated he 'thought" it was used by security at a local racetrack. When I got it, I recognized that it probably was a police officers gun...wear pattern was exactly like mine. I carried a model 10 pencil barrel from 1965 to about 1981 when I replaced it with a model 64 HB. (However I did keep the mod 10 and passed it on to my police officer son when I retired in 1995.)

I did "letter" the gun and found it was shipped to the NYPD in March 1946. As "The Man" said, NYPD guns weren't "issued", as was the case in my department, but were purchased but the individual officers. In 1946 the NYPD practice was to stamp the purchasing officer's shield number on the back strap. I found later that a Mr. Vivas had preserved a lot of these old PD gun records but I haven't been able to contact him yet.

"The Man",

Glad you tracked down your gun...quite a piece of detective work! Congrats! Enjoyed the story.

I had a similar but much briefer search for my original patrolman's badge. When I made Sergeant I had to turn in my silver badge for gold but a little later I decided I wanted to try to find my patrolman badge. I found it had been reissued to a radio technician who never wore it and kept it in a drawer at home...brought it to me next day and I've still got it in my badge display.

Attached are the gun and a closeup of the back strap number...

Attached Images

	SWMP1946NYPD_01smjpg.jpg (68.5 KB, 51 views)
	s-wbackstrap.jpg (60.7 KB, 49 views)

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Pay attention...it pays to win

Thanks guys, Am going to try and contact mr Vivas and see if he can detirmine as to wether or not my model 10 was issued to the NYCPD. It many not mean much to other folks, but I was born and raised in Jamaica New York from about 1946 to about 1983 When I got married and moved to Nassau county. Should have bought more of those $100 model 10 than just the one. Frank

Really Great story with an uncommon happy ending.

I have a 10-6 which I purchased online from a Long Island gun shop. The sellers said he "thought" it had either came from NYPD or the local Sheriffs Department. Mr. Vivas was able to not only confirm that this particular pistol was a NYPD gun but had the date it was sold and the name and badge number of the purchasing officer.

Those heavy barreled model 10's are great. Last week when I went to pick up the model 15-2 I had just bought I saw a model 10 sitting in the case I was doing my paperwork on. Long story short I bought that model 10 too. It has a rough working gun finish similar to parkerize. It was an exported service revolver recently re-imported. It is tight with excellent timing and hardly any visible wear.
The Man that is a great story. I would love to find my old model 64 I went through the academy with and carried for years.