I went to the LGS today and they had a round butt nickel Model 10-5 sitting there at what I believe is a too-high price of $900. Knowing I could get them chewed down some, I asked to take a look. They claimed it was original nickel, and I didn't bother to pull the grips to check because of two warning bells that went off.

The first warning bell was that the cylinder is very stiff when the gun is open. It won't freely rotate, or spin. It's either a poorly fit replacement replacement (more on that in a moment) or I guess it could be dry as a bone, but even that doesn't make sense.

The second warning bell came when I was examining the cylinder for the first issue. I noticed that the ratchet was blued! I'm not an expert by any means, but I believe the ratchet on a nickel gun is supposed to be plated nickel as well.

At this point the whole gun was questionable to me, so I handed it back with the obligatory "I've got to think on it".

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Nickel guns have blue ratchets.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Correct. Also, if it is factory nickle the hammer and trigger should be case hardened and not nickel. I'm guessing the cylinder rotation is either needs cleaning or needs lubrication or both as long as it doesn't wobble when it is turned.

Geese and people thought the IL was bad, but the -5 came with warning bells?

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Still Running Against the Wind

Pull stocks and check left grip frame for letter N stamped.

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No life story has happy end.

Here is a picture of what I would expect the cylinder to look like on a nickel plated Mod. 10-5.....
Note the blue that has been referenced, and the "N" which indicated that it left the mother ship plated, not blue.
Hope this helps.....
IMG_2543.jpg

As previously mentioned, the frame should have the "N" as well.
Also on the barrel flat:
IMG_2542.jpg

Like I said, I'm not an expert!! Thanks for the info.

I don't recall seeing the "N" on it, but I didn't look hard enough. I'll have to make a return trip.

Any advice on the pricing? The $900 seems stiff to me, but again, this is out of my wheelhouse.

$900 does seem stiff to me too.
I am guessing, been a while since I priced one.... Maybe $750 in really nice shape with box, etc.
Others here will likely be able to take a better guess.

I don't think there's the original box nor any other original accessories included, or at least they weren't noted on the tag.

The gun looks like it's in great shape assuming it has the "N" stampings I need to look for. The bore looked perfect.

A 2 inch 10-5 nickle SB in good used shape sold on GB recently with the box etc for about $675. Blue ones go for around $600 in same condition on GB.

$900 aint stiff, its really stiff! A nic mod-10 is not that big a deal. Neat gun but not a grail.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Thanks guys for the update on the pricing. I'm not going to go back to look at it, as that's too big of a price spread to try to haggle over. If it ends up sitting there for a few months, that may be different. This place has been known to have super sales on revolvers because most of their clientele are plastic frame 9mm folks.

Well, my 10-5 2" Square butt nickel has a N stamped on the cylinder and, the star is blue.

Attached Images

10-5.jpg (36.8 KB, 42 views)

I’m thinking someone may have gotten the two round head sideplate screws swapped which is causing the cylinder issue and my thoughts are the price is 2X what the gun is worth...

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S&W factory revolver armorer

A nickel round butt, 2” M10-5 is a scarce gun, not one that you will see every day. Worth $900? Not to me but maybe to someone. I paid half that for a 3” nickel M13-3 a couple of years ago and thought I made out pretty well.

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