Got to Handle my friends model 10 with that nice pencil barrel today.Its been close to 20 yrs since I had one.There is just something so appealing about this model over the heavy barrel version.My friend had the 5 inch barrel too.How popular is the pencil barrel over the heavy barrel.

Not sure how popular they are, but I have one that belonged to my dad he got when he was young.
It's a 5 screw and I think he bought it the 30's and I learned to shoot a handgun with that thing.

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John

I got this nice Model 10-5 for a song and gave it to my son. He's delighted with it, and it's his first gun. The slim barrel 5 inch Model 10 harks back to a different time when the World seemed less complicated. Perhaps there were the same number of Dillweeds per-capita of population back then as there are now but because there was no Internet or Global Connectivity it sure didn't feel like there were. And one really felt that a six-shot .38 was "'probably enough if you used it right."

I guess for those of us stuck down here, it still has to be enough, but I prefer my Heavy Duty loaded up to the gilders all the same.

I love the pencil barrel and despise the fat barrel. I have squirrel hunted with my 4" "pencil" barrel. SWC's don't cause any more damage that hi-speed .22's on squirrels & rabbits...........Fat barrels & underlugs.........Hate "em".

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S&W Accumulator

Nothing more classic in design that the 10-5 IMHO. However the 10-6 is beautiful in its own right. You have to have one of each!

I have one of each. I never used to think the pencil barrels looked good, but I do now.

To me, the pencil barrels just balance better. And I really don't need the recoil-absorbing heavy barrel with a .38sp +P load.

The tapered barrels just look so much classier. And when shooting .38 Special out of an all-steel K-frame, the extra steel of the fat barrel is gilding the lilly; I mean, these days I shoot the same ammo (sparingly) out of a 12 oz scandium-titanium featherweight.

My 10-5 is a four-inch standard barrel. I too like the balance of the tapered tube better. And to be honest, I just find it old-school cool.

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Oh well, what the hell.

My only model 10 is a 10-6 pencil barrel. Love that gun.

I too find them appealing. Carried one in the military and though it wasn't a Model 10 I remember watching Andy Garcia's character in The Untouchables using a 4" pencil barrel in the train station shoot out and thinking I need to get me one of those.

This is my favorite M10.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

Note that S&W never used the term "Pencil Barrel." It's a "Standard Barrel."

Doesn't matter to me what they called it. It's just prettier than the heavy barrel . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I got my first Model 10-5 with a 4" standard barrel in December. It's never been fired except at the S&W factory & looks brand new. I don't know if I'll ever fire it. It's one beautiful piece of art!

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I'm 67. I don't do timeouts.

There is something about the skinny barrel Model 10s. The big honking front sight is easy to see and the gun is lighter than the heavy barrel. I think the HB came out as a fad in a time when HB guns were trendy in an effort to modernize the Model 10 a little bit.

My grail gun is a skinny barrel Model 64 but I never see one. We need to be careful talking about them publicly though. The 4" skinny barrel 10's are an underdog and the least expensive Smith out there. We don't want to talk them up if we can help it.

Keep looking for that M64, you won't regret it once you find one.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

I always felt the HB Model 10 was introduced for more recoil control when carried with the then new +P FBI Load and +P+ Treasury Load. I agree with most that the Standard Barrel wins the beauty contest!

I did not like the "standard barrel" M10 until I shot one.
A buddy has one and I finally got to fire it.
No tin can was safe!

Now, I'm on the lookout for a deal on one.
Missed a couple but won't miss forever.

"... talk them up..." you just did. Come Monday morn, every Mod-10 will have increased in cost. Mike , a former Mod-10 collector, 2796

I like all fixed sight K frames, but the round butt standard barrel version model 10 is a personal favorite.


A neighbor dropped this one and skinned it up. He now owns it.


Gave this one to a family member.


I had to have the stainless version...just because.

I like them all.

10-5

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Same for me. I used to think they were lame when "I was cool." Now that I'm lame (just ask my daughter), they seem cool.

At one time, when I was under the spell of Jeff Cooper and the IPSC crowd, I looked down my nose at the lowly Model 10, ESPECIALLY the poor "pencil barrel" model. Man who in the world wanted one of those "cheap" (back in those days) things with the fixed sights, that skinny goofy grip, the skinny barrel, and chambered for "just" the 38 Special? Were they even good for shooting rabbits?

Well, I like to think I'm a little smarter now, and the Model 10 is one of my favorite handguns. I've owned a half dozen or so, all with the pencil barrel. I know the factory never called it that, but I do, and so apparently does most everybody else.

It's about as close to "everyman's" gun as you're going to come I think.

Today I only have one. Tried to sell it not long ago, and I'm glad it didn't sell. With it's messed up finish it's about the only gun I've ever seen that Pachmayrs look better on.

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John 3:16 .

I own a couple of Model 10s. They are definitely handsome guns. The 4" is classic (the one pictured is unfired, complete with original box, papers, etc.), and the snubby is no slouch either.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Wow! I like them all. We are so hoping our new gunrange will be approved within the next couple of months. Instead of driving an hour and a half through Central Mexican roads we'll now drive 15 minutes to a small town between here in San Miguel and our neighbour to the North, Dolore Hidalgo. (When you hear the term "Dolores Tile" they are talking about ceramic tile that comes out of Dolores, because that's where it's made.)

We intend to have a P.P.C. league and one of the classes we'll offer is a "fixed sight service revolver" class which will allow anything up to and including a 6.5 inch Heavy Duty -- mainly because we actually have one in the group. I think it will be hilarious fun and will just use my own 4 inch HD but my son is quite annimated about using his 5 inch Model 10.

With your collection there you could outfit your own team! I especially like that Model 64, it's so Barnaby Jones.

As soon as I got my mitts on this nice Navy Victory, I just had to find a Model 10.

This 10-7 is like new, possibly unfired, and has the original box/papers. Late '70s vintage.

IMO they just have a classic look that appeals to me.

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NRA life member

They never used the term Coke bottle either.

Just paid too much for an unfired 10-5 4" pencil in the box.

To further inflate the value, for me anyway, the box is stamped from the S.F. Gun Exchange. They were an institution in S.F. until the libtards started persecuting them with confiscatory taxes and unattainable zoning standards.

I miss that place, but now I have a piece of them in my inventory... well, another piece anyway - and it's stamped as theirs.

This thread inspired me to purchase another one. Thanks a lot......and I mean that in a good and bad way. It's a sickness I tell ya.......

When it gets out of jail I'll post pictures.

My favorite 38 is my engraved pencil barrel model 10. Amazing shooter!

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NRA Certified Instructor

What is it with the std. bbl. mod. 10?
Wow where do we begin? I used to turn my nose up at anything .38 Special, then I got a mod. 14 & shot the old PPC matches with it for several years. I found how easy it was to hit with & how accurate the .38 WCs are. Wow I started to warm up to the K frame .38.
Now I'm a lot older, mellowed some, & still appreciate accuracy & that is a good S&W K Frame & most any .38 Special. The Std bbl Mod. 10 just looks classy, ok that's for looks. It is also one of the easiest packing K frames out there, you will hardly know it's there with a proper holster, even the old Barami hip grip is viable for the minimalist. There are a lot of good effective .38 Specials on the market now Buffalo Bore makes a non +P 158gr lead SWC HP that clocks 867fps in a 4" that's actual over the chrony screens 867fps too. This is a non +P. Yes the .38 Special is a viable CCW gun. Add the fact that the .38 Special is easy to hit with & you have in the "pencil Barrel Mod. 10 one eye pleasing, easy to carry six-gun.
I like them.

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US RIDE FOR THE BRAND OR LEAVE

I like 'em. Want to get my hands on a heavy barrel someday. Just because.

They are everything one needs in a handgun, the perfect balance of form and function.

Attached Images

Puma and M-10s 008.jpg (101.0 KB, 99 views)

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Keep Shootin' and check 6

"Skinny" is cool. Even better with longer barrel and round butt.

My 4 inch M12-3 BL RB has become my favorite carry 38 Special.

I'm coming back just to look at the nice mod. 10s everyone is sharing with us.
Thanks for sharing everyone.

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US RIDE FOR THE BRAND OR LEAVE

I started off with a 4" pencil barrel. It sure was easier to carry than the P226 I had when I retired

I buy every one I can, keep what I want, and trade the rest.
Problem around here is you can't get anyone to part with them.

I recently scored a shooter grade, 4 screw, Model 10 no dash, round butt, 4" standard barrel; when the weather clears up I'll go to the range with it.

I have a 10-5 five inch which is my favorite model 10. I think five inch barrels look best on any K or N frame smith. Every thing you need not much you don't.

Attached Images

10-5 01.jpg (158.0 KB, 52 views)

First gun I bought is a Pre-10 Military and Police with the pencil barrel. It will never be sold or traded. Have picked up a few since then.

I prefer the balance on them more than the heavy barrels, and the sights are easier to pick up quickly.

Why do I stop to stair at a sunset, only a couple of colors and a few shades, it is there often? I really think that Marilynn Monroe was probably her most beautiful without any unnecessary garb. The Model 10 with its slender barrel balances better in my hand, the fix sights don't gore my senior belly, and no one will deny a 750fps 158 grainer to the head.
Complete trust in my Model 10's.

My wife bought this for me as a birthday present. Purchased from the original owner. Claimed to be unfired. 10-7 with all the original goodies.

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82nd Airborne Div 1980-1986

Mine is an odd duck but I really enjoy shooting it

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Paul, I like those grips on your Mod-10. Wait, that is not a 10. What is it.
Who made the grips? Mike 2796

The Grips are Ropers......I bought the gun for them.
Well actually the gun was thrown in free if you look at it that way.

I did say it is an odd duck



even odder when all the parts still number

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

It appears to my untrained eye be a M & P with a standard adjustable rear sight milled into the frame top and a custom and raised front sight. I have seen one done like it down here and it was so well done I thought at first it was a Model 15.

Has that fine revolver actually been placed on a chunk of stone, or are my eyes deceiving me?

OK, I'm in. All are 10-5's except for the 6" Pre 10.

Checking in to look at the nice Mod. 10s, thanks everyone.

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US RIDE FOR THE BRAND OR LEAVE

I enjoyed this thread, looking at all the Model 10 revolvers (and some earlier M&P revolvers) in the pictures posted here. They are great guns, and I too prefer the "standard" tapered barrel to the heavy barrels on the 10-6, 10-8, etc.


Now, not to put too fine an edge on the matter, I do want to address something that others have passed over.
John R posted this back in Post #2:
Since the thread was specifically addressing the Model 10, we should all be cognizant of the fact that there were no Model 10s in the 1930s. John may well be conversant with this truth, but I thought a comparison might be useful for those reading this thread who don't understand the distinction, So here are some comparison pictures:

A .38 Military & Police revolver from 1926 (5" tapered barrel):


A .38 Military & Police revolver from 1946 (5" tapered barrel):


A Model 10-5 (4" tapered barrel) which were in production from 1962 through 1976 (this one dates to 1968):


A careful perusal of these photos will reveal some of the more obvious differences, especially the hammer shape.

While all built on the same basic design, these are different revolvers internally and externally. Notice especially the hammer on the earlier two guns. This is a long throw action, which was never used on any Model 10.

Another evolutionary feature that had completed its transformation by the advent of the Model 10 is the knob on the extractor rod and its mating notches under the barrel. This also was long gone by the advent of the Model 10. The early type required a two-step notch to be machined into the bottom of the barrel. The later type (1927-1947) required a single-step notch. The knurled end seen on the Model 10 required no notch at all.

Internally, the first gun in this sequence did not have the perfected sliding hammer block safety. The 1946 gun does have it, as do all Model 10 revolvers.

The earlier two guns had a hammer pivot stud screwed into the left side of the frame. Model 10s never had this. It always had the hammer pivot stud pressed into the frame, a change that was made in 1946.

The earlier two guns had 5 screw frames. No Model 10 had these. The earliest had 4 screws and, after 1962, they had 3 screws.

Of course, the stocks went through an evolution too, but that matter is beyond the scope of this discussion and does not address the revolver design itself.

That concludes my very abbreviated walk through the history of the .38 Military & Police revolvers (at least from 1920 onward), which finally, in 1957, were designated the Model 10. I hope at least some people find this interesting and helpful.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318