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Hey all,

So... this person I know was showing me two Smiths she inherited from her parents.

One was a 586 no dash. She said she remembers her mother wearing it in a shoulder holster whenever she went out on the tractor to bush hog around their rural south Georgia property. In case a bad person showed up, yes, but also... in case she got "charged by an alligator." Man! Go mom!

But it is her daddy's gun that is vexing me.
It is a wonderful old Model 10.
A LOT of the blue has been worn down to silver.
The original wood grips have all sorts of dents in them.
He must have carried this a LOT, for years and years.

The issue is... me trying to date the Model 10 for her.

On the yoke cut, it clearly reads "10-5".
The Standard Catalog puts all -5 guns within 1962.

BUT the Standard Catalog shows the s/n, D181109, to fall in the 1969-1970 range.

That's not just a s/n slipping over into the next calendar year.
That's a discrepancy of the better part of a decade!

Anybody familiar with the Model 10 that can clear up my Model 10 mystery?

Thanks.

James

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Happy to be here!

Hi
You are misreading the SCSW. The Model 10-5 was introduced in 1962. Production continued until 1977. The serial number on yours points to production in 1969.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Jack,

With all deference (to your SWCA-ness :-),
and PLEASE you tell me if I'm wrong here, but...
yes the -5 was "introduced" in 1962,
but the book says that the -6 was introduced LATER in 1962.
Then the -7 in 1977.

Yes?

James

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Happy to be here!

Yes, the 10-5 was produced from 1962-77, when it became a 10-7. The 10-6 had a heavy barrel.

10-5 (1962): change sight width from 1/10" to 1/8" for standard barrel
10-6 (1962): eliminate trigger-guard screw on heavy-barrel frame
10-7 (1977): change gas ring from yoke to cylinder for standard barrel
10-8 (1977): change gas ring from yoke to cylinder for heavy barrel

James
In the Model 10 line, two variants were continually in production at the same time. During the era in question, the Model 10-5 had the tapered barrel, while the Model 10-6 had the heavy barrel. Both were made during the 1962-1977 period.
In 1977, the -5 was replaced by the -7; the -6 was replaced by the -8. Those, together, continued in production until 1988, when they were replaced by the -9 and -10, respectively.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Your gun most likely shipped Oct/Nov time frame 1969.

Just imagine how much confusion Smith & Wesson could have saved future generations and how many threads here would likely not even have happened if the company hadn't wasted the Model 11 designation on those never-seen .38 S&W revolvers with model numbers and just used it for the heavy-barreled M&P version instead.

Alright!

THANKS to everyone, but especially to DWalt and JP@AK.

So, when I came back and caught up on y'alls posts,
I p-u-l-l-e-d the ole Standard Catalog back out,
and started reading about the Engineering and Production changes starting with the initial stamping of the model number 10, and then the 10-1, and right on up, dash# by dash#.

And, yeah, it's there, I see what they were doing.
But from a more casual reading, man, it's about as clear as mud.

Thanks again. What a great forum.

James

P.S. In addition to the Standard Catalog, maybe they need to issue a "concordance"! :-)

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Happy to be here!

Except there are 10-6's with pencil barrels as well, as the one currently in my safe would attest.

And I have a 10-6 somewhere in the safe that is a .357 magnum.
I guess it's a pre 13 :-)
Mark

Like Roy Jinks always says, "Their in the business to make money, not history."

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Don Mundell

James a general rule with S&W is "There are no rules with S&W"
They kinda went forward as changes occurred from where they were and many different revision "rules" are found on different models .

Some 10-6's were even sold in .357 magnum prior to that version becoming the new Model 13 around 1974,

Just as an aside there was a very brief period where S&W had a chance to sort out their model numbering system with the adoption of 3 digit Model numbering in the 1980's .

Using that system the old Model 59 became the new Model 459, the steel frame version became the 559 and the SS version became the 659...pretty simple right ?

They could have renamed the Model 10 the Model 510 , the SS Model 64 would have become the new Model 610 and the Airweight Model 12 would have become the new Model 410.

The Model 36 would be the 536, the Airweight 37 would be the 436 and the old Model 60 would have become the new Model 636.

Unfortunately they chose to continue with the old and new system then went to a 4 digit method on the autoloaders that makes no sense (to me) whatsoever.

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CO Kid

wha?

long colt frazier

wha?

Club Gun Fan

wha?

Engine49guy

wha?

James

P.S. As I said they need to issue a concordance.
Or maybe an Apologia!

Seriously though, thanks! this has been interesting.

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Happy to be here!

Engine49guy wrote
It was a special order run for the New York State Police. At the time, S&W was not making a K frame fixed sight .357 Magnum revolver, but the NYSP wanted one. So S&W accommodated by adapting the Model 10-6 (the heavy barrel version at the time) to the longer chambering. It was a success and other departments, including the FBI, wanted some. So, the Model 13-1 was introduced to meet the demand. There never was a Model 13 with no dash number.

CO_Kid wrote
Most of us would consider that a mis-marked revolver. The 10-6 was, by definition, a heavy barrel revolver. Since in all other ways the two guns were the same, it would be easy for a Model 10-6 marked frame to be accidentally mated to a tapered barrel.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

My 10-6 standard barrel was one of a couple hundred ordered 50 or so years ago by the Virginia DOC. The only thing I know is that they were all in that configuration. What I don't know is whether they ordered them specifically in that configuration, and S&W delivered, or if they just ordered a batch of them and this is what they got.

I've never heard of this, but that doesn't mean much. Lots of things that are factual have never crossed my desk!

But the story sounds weird. Since the Model 10-5 was readily available and had the tapered barrel as standard, why in the world would anyone ask for a Model 10-6 that mounted the tapered barrel? It seems completely pointless to me.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

My Model 10-7



and my Model 10-8



thanks for explaining the two productions at the same time.