Originally Posted by kbm6893

The NY State Police wanted a light weight .357 Magnum so they asked S&W to make them a Model 10 in .357. S&W complied and the guns were a hit, so S&W kept making them and called them the Model 13. After a few years, the troopers saw the guns weren’t really up to the task of firing steady .357, so they needed something else. The troopers didn’t want adjustable sights so S&W created the N frame Model 520 and S&W placed the order for the whole agency. Once they realized it was a 6 month wait, they changed the order and went with the Model 28, which had adjustable sights since that was their only choice. Once the L frame was created, the troopers went to the fixed sighted Model 681, which was their last revolver.