My brother in law gave me a S&W revolver. I don't know much about them. I'm a 1911 shooter. But this gun looks pretty nice. It says 357 magnum on the barrel, which I believe is 6 inches and has a nice Black Chrome? finish. Can anyone identify what model this is?

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S&W has made a 357 mag revolver in the J, K, L, or N frame guns since 1935 to present. Many of the different frame size models were brought out at various years in this time frame! We need pictures to assist you! ! !
jcelect

Could be several different models, the finish is probably bright blue and not black chrome unless it has been refinished. My guess is it's probably a model 27 or 19 look inside the yoke to see if there's a model number.

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SWHF #595

mod 1g-3

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I bet the g is a 9 and you have a model 19-3

What is this worth. I'm assuming that because it's S&W that it's not cheap gun.
And what is a model 19-3?

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Welcome! It is a K or medium frame revolver, very popular in the law enforcement community from the 1960s into the 1980s. It has a pin in the frame above where the barrel threads in so I will move your post to the 1961-1980 subforum.

They were either in bright polished blue or nickel and yours has a 4” barrel, the most common length. Be sure to thank your BIL.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Was your revolver "bad"... I see you have it "locked up"... lol

BTW, it is definitely a Model 19 revolver.... One of S&W's best.

No unfortunately my brother in law lost the key. I have to figure out how to get it off without damaging the gun. It definitely needs a good cleaning.

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Those locks are really pitiful... Take it to a lock smith, it will be off in seconds, probably less than $20.00.

it should be less then $10.00 but in today's world... who knows.

You ought to be able to get that off easily. Probably why your BIL gave it to you in the first place
I'm gonna suggest that you just drill that sucker out .

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Forum consigliere

That's what I was thinking. Also my lgs said he could get it off pretty guickly

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That's a nice example of a Model 19. I have a pair of her stainless steel sisters, the Model 66. Just get a drill and drill that sucker out!
Plus, I know I'm getting old when the younger generation doesn't know about a beautiful blued gun.

The model is 19; the -3 is a production series, and the -3's were made in the 1967 to 1977 timeframe. The models up to and including the -4 have the pinned barrel, and the cylinder is reamed with recesses for the cartridge shoulders. Those features are popular with collectors, and were eliminated from all S&W magnum revolvers around 1982. Yours has a 4" barrel, it measures from the front of the cylinder. They came with 2-1/2", 4", and 6" barrels, and could be blued or nickel plated.

Yours has a small spot at the muzzle of obvious holster wear, but if the rest of the gun has no major scratches from poor care, normal wear doesn't really detract from the value much. As said, this was a very popular model, and yours also has the Goncalo Alves (type of wood) target stocks, which by themselves are worth $100 in good condition. That gun would probably sell for anywhere from $750-$900 today, even more if it has the original box.

I also own a M19-3, and treasure it. Once you get the lock off, if you decide to shoot it, don't use high-velocity lightweight bullet loads like the 125 grain. Stick with 140 to 158 grain loads. I've never seen it, but reports abound that the lightweight bullets can crack the forcing cone; that's the first part of the barrel just in front of the cylinder. The medium K frame has a flat spot on the bottom of the cone, which makes it a bit thinner there. The large frame magnums don't have that. Most M19 shooters download their magnum rounds or shoot .38Spl. loads. I find a .38 Spl. +P to be a good round, but I tend to download my .357 loads so I can stay with the slightly longer .357 case, because I have other .357 revolvers.

I'm also a 1911 guy, too, I prefer it over any other semiauto pistol.

Thanks for all that information. As I've said don't know much about revolvers. But this one fell into my lap. I inherited a ammo can of 38s. Wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Don't know the bullet weight but the guy who reloaded was a trusted reloader that my dad and I knew. So I'm sure there's a piece of paper in the can ID-ing the bullet weight and powder charge in it. Any problems shooting 38s through it?

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You are now the owner of one fine revolver!

A 19-3 4” was my first S&W revolver purchase many moons ago, 1976 or 77 if memory serves. Lost it later in an ugly divorce (was there ever a pretty one?), and replaced it with a beautiful 6” sometime later.

A real joy to shoot, with 38 or 357 ammo, wonderful revolver, congratulations!

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Danny
SWCA #3370 - SWHF #672

Nice looking, Thanks!!

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None. The .38 Spl case is 0.135 inches shorter than the .357 case so it chambers easily. The only thing to be aware of is, after shooting a lot of .38 Spl. a carbon ring may build up in the front of each chamber, and when you load .357 ammo, they won't want to fully seat. Thorough cleaning negates this as a problem, though.

Lightweight .38 rounds also aren't an issue, as they still don't approach .357 velocities. A 125 grain .357 can have a muzzle velocity of 1550-1600 fps, and the lightweight bullet accelerates more rapidly out of the chamber than the heavier bullets do. This "slamming" into the forcing cone is apparently what creates the issue.

All that said, I can't tell you how many 125 magnum loads I've shot from the M19 I now have; I've owned another M19 and a M66 in the past and they got a heavy diet of the light rounds. I never had any issues myself.