So after staring at it at an online dealer's website since December, I went ahead and ordered a rather well used old Model 10-6. D440XXX which is 72-73 according to the Standard Catalog. It is marked as being re-imported by Century Arms and somewhere along the way got modified to DAO.

So the question becomes do I leave it DAO? Posssibly getting the hammer bobbed? Or do I get it repaired back to DA/SA?

If the latter, where is a good place to get the work done? How is Smith & Wesson itself these days?

At the moment, I'm leaning towards getting a T-grip, bobbing the hammer and just shooting the beep out of it.

Thoughts?

The 10-6 is the venerable heavy barreled K frame. In either the 3 or 4 inch variant (you didn't specify which) it is a rock solid shooter and defensive firearm.

Probably used by a foreign law enforcement agency, hence the DAO modification. This is accomplished by taking the full cock tang off the hammer. Replacing the hammer will convert it back to SA/DA. Not a hard job for someone familiar with S&W revolvers.

Much of this depends on how you wish to use your Model 10. Casual shooting? Everyday carry? Home defense? In any of these situations it will do the job. And has for decades.

Personally, I would fire it at 7,10 and 25 yards to get a feel for it. These guns were regulated for point of aim at 25 yards with 158gr rounds.

DAO with practice will make you a better shooter with that 10-6.

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Take your time..quickly.

All good options, you really can't go wrong with any of them.
But first, you have to show us the pictures.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I'll probably use it as a daily carry piece. It's not my first k-frame but I'd made mistakes over the years and was left without one. I also have a 625-9 (.45 Colt Mountain Gun) as my other revolver right now.

Only pics are online still (enroute to my FFL). My own will follow after it is in my happy hands.

Bob that hammer!

Do you have any idea what country it was imported from? Since it is in .38 Special, it probably wasn't a commonwealth country. Central and South American police forces used .38 Special, I believe, and I know there were some Model 10 sales to Colombia.

I think it is a 10-5, by the way. It has a standard barrel, and one of the identifiers of the 10-6 is a heavy barrel. But then who knows? A guy could lose a lot of money betting on consistency in labeling and model designation in the land where S&Ws roam.

Also, are you sure the single action capacity has been deliberately eliminated? I wonder if the gun just has a push-off problem, in which case any gunsmith should be able to fix it and you might even be able to do it yourself. Check the gunsmithing FAQs.

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David Wilson

Agree that is likely a -5.
Looks like the hammer is 1/2 bobbed already.
As a comparison, note the hammer on my 10-5:

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

Could be the ad was wrong (though his stuff is usually quite well described) or perhaps S&W pulled a strange one or any of a dozen things. It'll be fun to swing the cylinder when I get it and see just what is actually engraved there.

Thanks all!

Was it identified as being DAO? If not, when you get your hands on it, try to cock the hammer and check if the hammer spur (what's left of it) hits the frame and prevents it from going to the full cock position.
I recently acquired a nice Model 30 that had apparently been dropped and the bent hammer spur would hit the frame and prevent it from going to the full cock position. It worked perfectly in DAO mode. The hammer doesn't have to travel quite as far as full cock position to function in double action.
George

I meant to add that when I searched for a J frame hammer, I found that they were not abundant, but that k frame hammers are all over the place.
George

Good thought! Thank you for the tip.

I ordered a copy of Kuhnhausen's S&W shop manual yesterday as well so I'll have the information to check things properly.

It has arrived & the paperwork & NICS are done.

Now we have the WI 48 hour "cooling off" period since it's a handgun

Due to the boss having to work Saturday, I'll not be able to pick it up till Monday. At least I could fondle it today.

Some thoughts:
It's a 10-5 not a 10-6 which makes sense as was mentioned upthread, the -6 was the heavy barrel version at that time. Standard Catalog puts the serial at the early end of 72-73.

The DAO appears to have been the classic "take off the SA sear step" as you can pull the hammer back all the way and everything else works fine but there's no feel at all of the sear. I'm really getting more tempted to have the hammer bobbed. DA pull feels fine so I may just want to pull the side plate for cleaning and not mess with parts that don't need messing with.

I had forgotten just how _small_ K-frames are compared to a N-frame (my other revolver is a 625-9 MG) A 4" barrel pocket revolver! Well, not quite, but I can remember how I used to CC my last 10 now. Being a fat old fart has a few advantages.

The wood's in better shape than I thought - not great but still better than I expected from the photos. I have a Tyler T-grip (polished brass) on order and with that T-grip in place once it arrives, it should be a comfortable shooter.

All in all, a good reminder of why I love classic S&W revolvers.

I hope this thread is not too old for this to be necroposting.

I just bought a 10-5 ca.1962 Serial Number C613XXX. It is a 4" tapered barrel round butt and is DAO. I pulled the side plate and the single action step is still there on the hammer and corresponding on the trigger, but it is as if they were never fitted, so the hammer can't go back far enough for the single action to engage.

My question is if this was a factory option?

this revolver belonged to a former Chief of Police of Berkley, that had a twenty year career with LAPD from 56-76. I believe this is his late sixties duty gun. It came with a beautiful left handed set of Fuzzy Farrant custom grips and a Lewis "Police Special" hip holster.

I would love to know if the DAO is original from S&W or was it maybe done by LAPD? Once again, the hammer appears normal, but will not travel far enough for the trigger to engage SA. (no, the spur is not bent)

Cheers!

Greg

See post #9 above for info.
George

*
Greg, my recollection (and we have a couple LAPD alum who can tell you the right answer) is that sometime in the mid-late 70s, LAPD got into removing the SA capability. It is possible that S&W would produce a bunch of guns that way for a department order, but I don't think that's what happened with LAPD. IIRC, NYPD specs for the guns they sold (not issued) to their new officers at some point were DAO and those came from the factory that way.

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NHI, 10-8.

As I said in my post. The hammer spur is not bent.

With the side plate off you can clearly see that the trigger and hammer were never fitted, so the hammer does not travel far enough for it to engage the single action lobe on the hammer.

I just want to know if this is something S&W offered and if this is how it was accomplished.

Is the strain screw tight? That can affect how far back the hammer goes.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!