First post but I have been learning and enjoying the site for many years.. I thought I would post about an old 19 that I have had for some years and decided to return it to a more traditional look.

The Story: After my childhood friend graduated he joined the Army, As soon as he was up for discharge he joined up with border patrol and moved to El Paso, later Brownsville, and finally Vermont and Maine for the north border. To recall the stories of the 19 during its use as his duty weapon it spent more time shooting jackrabbits in the headlights than anything else. i am sure there are more stories.. The Recessed cylinder was bulged at some point from running duty magnums through it and was replaced with a non-recessed cylinder. My buddy moved on from Border Patrol and joined up with the park service in Yellowstone. Somewhere around then I picked it up from him as a kind of mongrel for almost nothing.. Neither of us liked the target grips there were replaced by Pachmayr presentations and later the pictured grippers. As I get older I have started appreciating history, craftsmanship and style (maybe old-style) more and dug the 19 out of the safe. I ordered a t-grip for it some time back (about 5 months ago) and received it a week ago, now i just need a set of magnas to make it how I think it should be to honor its original style.. Make it more like the 34-1 below.. That's the story, abbreviated no doubt, many more stories from the Texas border I am sure..
James

Welcome, and we like guns with stories .

This model 19 likely came with Target stocks, depending on its age either with the "football" or extractor cutout up to about 1982, or the later speedloader cutout. Enjoy!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I tried some Ahrend's on my N Frame and really liked them, and don't care for how the original targets fit my hands, so I decided to dress up my 19 with some finger groove Tacticals. Yea I bagged the magna and T-grip Idea, I guess I will save that for my Police trade in blued RB HB model 10 when it arrives..

james

When someone says something about a firearm having a soul that is what I think of. It's the service, the stories and people or places it's associated with. I don't care what you have that's new and never fired in the box, it's still waiting for a soul. If your buddy is still around see if he can write that pistols history down. It's a great thing to have as it is passed on from owner to owner.

I always thought finger groove stocks kinda just looked "right" on a 19. Like your handle too by the way. I doubt many people still know what a picket pin is or how you use one.

Nice hog leg and you know the history, sweet.
As I get older and the hands and wrist are showing some wear and tear, the Goodyear's work better even though I like the look of the wood grips.