Model 10-6 357 Mag custom order NYSP

[WESSON NUT]

If I came across tart on my one response I am sorry people. This pistol is documented that it was one of the ones issued to NYSP . I have been going through a lot my business shut down this year and I have been going through a lot of depression and stress and trying to figure out how to pay my bills. I have been in business for 21 years. I apologize to everybody. I am not myself and very irritate able. Can somebody please help me with a value on this pistol? Again I am sorry if I came across rude. Thank you so much for any help on value .



I am a newbee on your site and I am no gun expert. I got your Site from the Smith and Wesson Historical Association. I have already got the revolver documented with them and it's one of 1200 produced, that custom ordered for the NEW YORK STATE POLICE in the early 70s. All 10-6 revolvers came in the 38 special configuration except this custom batch from Smith & Wesson that had a heavy 4 inch barrel and was chambered with the 357 mag chamber. I am trying to get a value on the pistol. Bellow is one letter to another person that had one of these and the second letter is from the Historical Society confirming with the serial number that it was indeed one of the pistols issued to the New York State Police.



This is an unusual gun, although notrare. The Model 10-6 was normally a .38 Special revolver. However, in the early1970s, the New York State Police entered a special order for a fixed sight .357Magnum revolver with a 4" heavy barrel. S&W did not make a gun fittingthat description, so the order was filled with modified Model 10-6 M&Prevolvers that were chambered for the Magnum round. We know that 1,200 of themwere shipped to the NYSP. There may also have been some overrun guns that wentto distributors.


Eventually, this led to theintroduction of the Model 13-1, which was the same gun but was chambered forthe .357 Magnum as the standard cartridge. It became a mainstay in the FBIarsenal in 1974 and later.


The NYSP guns came with a smoothcombat trigger (slightly wider than standard and not grooved on the face). Itappears that your gun has this feature. However, only a letter from theHistorical Foundation can tell you if your example is one of the 1200 that wentto the NY agency.


The serial number on your gun wouldnormally relate to the year 1975, but it was probably used out of sequencebecause by 1975, S&W was no longer making this model - the Model 13-1 hadreplaced it by that time. Your gun likely was made in 1972 or 1973, and shippedto NY in one of those years. If it was an overrun, it could have shipped later,but it would have been assembled in the earlier period. This is one of thoseuncommon examples of when we can be pretty sure of the assembly date.


The Pachmayr stocks did not come onyour gun originally. It would have shipped with S&W walnut stocks. Iactually have one of the NYSP guns with original Magna stocks in my personalcollection. Cool guns to own!


Regards,
JP
Again this letter above was for somebody else that had one, but his did not have the custom walnut stock , mine does. Bellow it the documentation from Smith & Wesson Historical Society on my pistol after I gave him the serial number off of it .







Roger, 357





Your serial number would date the gun to the 1972-1973timeframe, which is about when the .357 variant was done for the NYSP.



I’m not going to be much help with the value—the S&WHFcan’t provide any sort of appraisal value, and these guns aren’t my collectingspecialty. To get a better sense for its value, you may want to head over tothe Smith & Wesson Forum (http://smith-wessonforum.com) as there are alot of collectors of these sorts of weapons there, and they’ll probably be muchmore in tune with what they’re currently fetching on the market.





Best,



Michael Helms
Secretary, Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation
Board Member, Smith & Wesson Collectors Association


As far as condition , tightness on the action and for almost a 50 year old pistol I would give it a 8 to 8.5 there is some mild wear on the bluing from the holster that it was in. I have always stored it oven mitt that is more softer and not so abrasive to save the bluing on the pistol. Again I am just looking for a retail value on the pistol I can send pictures but not sure how to do it on this site.
Thank you so much for any help !
Roger

 

[JP@AK]

Hi and welcome to the S&W Forum.

The first letter looks like one that I wrote from another website, quite sometime back.

Note that neither letter confirms that either of the two revolvers in question was actually shipped to the NYSP. As mentioned in the first letter, there were overruns of these units that went to distributors. Sure, the majority of the .357 Model 10-6 revolvers were in the NYSP group, but, again, not all of them.

Don Mundell or Dr. Jinks can confirm in a Letter of Authenticity whether your particular handgun was in a shipment to the NYSP. but at this point it hasn't been confirmed. I suggest you letter the gun, specifically asking that question, once letter requests are being received again around the end of next month.

As for a price, I don't think I can be of much help. The NYSP revolver in my collection was purchased several years ago. It is in approximately 98% condition, but what I paid for it at the time probably bears no resemblance to what they are going for now.

 

[WESSON NUT]

Dear Sir .


If you would of scrolled down a little further you would of seen the documentation from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation and he verified with the serial number I gave him it was indeed issued to the New York State Police. Please read all pertinent information before replying. Again this is a documented pistol from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation that it was indeed issued to the NYSP. Just looking retail value that is all I am looking for . Thank you.

 

[JP@AK]

Roger

There is no reason to be rude. I read everything that shows up on my screen. The "documentation" you mention does not show - I just double checked. The last thing that shows is Michael's signature block, followed by your own final comments.

 

[shamuscull]

Dear Sir .


If you would of scrolled down a little further you would of seen the documentation from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation and he verified with the serial number I gave him it was indeed issued to the New York State Police. Please read all pertinent information before replying. Again this is a documented pistol from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation that it was indeed issued to the NYSP. Just looking retail value that is all I am looking for . Thank you.

I scrolled down further and am not seeing that it is a documented pistol going to the NYSP. Maybe I am missing something

 

[Beemerguy53]

Dear Sir .


If you would of scrolled down a little further you would of seen the documentation from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation and he verified with the serial number I gave him it was indeed issued to the New York State Police. Please read all pertinent information before replying. Again this is a documented pistol from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation that it was indeed issued to the NYSP. Just looking retail value that is all I am looking for . Thank you.

Welcome to the Forum. Has anyone ever explained to you that you get only one chance to make a first impression?

 

[1911haulic]

Welcome to the forum from the South Carolina coast.

 

[RKmesa]

Roger:

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you had a bad afternoon and responded hastily to Jack in only your second post since joining the forum. And I will also assume that you may even edit/revise your response after reading it a time or two (I sometimes have to do that myself). Just so you know, JP is one of the most helpful members of our forum, especially when it comes to the M&P revolvers made by S&W, of which the Model 10-6 is one (even in .357 Magnum). Heck... the first "letter" you referenced in your original post was penned by him for goodness sake. With all of the above and in the spirit of helpfulness that this forum personifies, I will try and respond to specific questions/comments in your post (after removing the different colors and fonts, which made your original post a little hard to read - particularly when being read in some browsers or forum skins)...

I am a newbee on your site and I am no gun expert....the second letter is from the Historical Society confirming with the serial number that it was indeed one of the pistols issued to the New York State Police.

If the "second letter" you refer to is the quote below from Michael Helms, you will note with a careful reading that he states that the SN dates the gun to the 1972-73 timeframe and indicates that the timeframe was when the .357 variant was manufactured for the NYSP. It DOES NOT say that it was shipped to the NYSP. Michael is not loose with his words and I do not believe he did any specific research related to your gun. In order to determine where the gun shipped, he would typically have to go to the shipping records or pull an invoice. That research is generally only done by Roy Jinks (Historian) or Don Mundell (Assistant Historian) and typically only available in an S&WHF Historical letter which costs $100 (a little less for S&WHF and SWCA members). So I think that you're reading too much into Michael's remarks. I'm sure he will clarify if you want to send him a private message. His forum name is "First-Model", as he IS an expert on the First Model S&W.

Your serial number would date the gun to the 1972-1973 timeframe, which is about when the .357 variant was done for the NYSP.

I’m not going to be much help with the value—the S&WHF can’t provide any sort of appraisal value, and these guns aren’t my collecting specialty. To get a better sense for its value, you may want to head over to the Smith & Wesson Forum (http://smith-wessonforum.com) as there are a lot of collectors of these sorts of weapons there, and they’ll probably be much more in tune with what they’re currently fetching on the market.

Best,

Michael Helms
Secretary, Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation
Board Member, Smith & Wesson Collectors Association

As far as condition, tightness on the action and for almost a 50 year old pistol I would give it a 8 to 8.5 there is some mild wear on the bluing from the holster that it was in... I am just looking for a retail value on the pistol I can send pictures but not sure how to do it on this site.

Thank you so much for any help !
Roger

It sounds like your revolver is a fine gun. We love photos. Wiregrassguy prepared a great photo posting instructional video that is helpful to new and old members alike - here's a link: Video Tutorials on Posting Pictures

In October, I sold the below photographed .357 Magnum Model 10-6 (SN D706428,) on Gunbroker in a no-reserve, $1 start, two-week auction for the grand total of $705 (a pretty good indication of market for that specific gun). You can make whatever price/value adjustments you think are warranted based on the condition of your gun when compared to the condition of this one.





I hope that this helps you. And Welcome to the Forum - where most of us generally try and be nice, or at the least "civil", to each other, even when our posts have typos, misspellings, include the wrong photos, use poor grammar, when we are too quick to respond without reading all of the responses, or even when we make some mistakes when earnestly trying to help one another as we discuss our passion of all things Smith & Wesson. Most of us continue to learn new things about S&W each time we visit the forum.

I hope that you will find years of enjoyment as you explore your new membership in one of the best firearm forums on the internet.

All the best,

 

[GerSan69]

Looks to me like the OP wants to believe he has something special
and took the indication that it was apparently made during
the same period as saying it was definitely one of the NY guns.

I agree, not what it says.

Oh, well. I get the excitement that comes with finding a diamond in the rough...
and I know the disappointment of finding out something maybe isn't as special as I thought.
(3 divorces - need I say more? )

 

[WESSON NUT]

Roger

There is no reason to be rude. I read everything that shows up on my screen. The "documentation" you mention does not show - I just double checked. The last thing that shows is Michael's signature block, followed by your own final comments.

Then I apologize I am looking at my post and right at the bottom of it is the documentation from the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation verifying indeed it is one of the serial numbers that was issued to NYSP. Here it is I will post it again for you. thank you



Roger, 357

Your serial number would date the gun to the 1972-1973 timeframe, which is about when the .357 variant was done for the NYSP.

I’m not going to be much help with the value—the S&WHF can’t provide any sort of appraisal value, and these guns aren’t my collecting specialty. To get a better sense for its value, you may want to head over to the Smith & Wesson Forum (http://smith-wessonforum.com) as there are a lot of collectors of these sorts of weapons there, and they’ll probably be much more in tune with what they’re currently fetching on the market.

Best,

Michael Helms
Secretary, Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation
Board Member, Smith & Wesson Collectors Association

 

[JP@AK]

Roger

Thank you very much for the apology. It is heartily accepted. I (we) am/are really trying to help you here.

I do see Michael Helm's letter. And I saw it from the beginning. If that is the documentation you were referring to, it simply does not say what you think it says. Please read the lengthy and very kind post that Richard (RKMesa) wrote above (Post #8 in this thread).

The only way you can get the needed documentation is to request and pay for a Letter of Authenticity from the SWHF. That is not the same thing as a free courtesy letter from Michael, which, as Richard told you, didn't require research and simply told you what he knew from publicly available information.

I do truly hope for your sake that you have one of the NYSP revolvers. But, at this time, that remains unproven.

Best regards,
Jack

 

[toddimusnimski]

Something doesn't pass the smell test but I'll give OP the benefit of the doubt. You've certainly received some excellent responses from the experts here at the Forum. The consensus is that only a Jinks/Mundell letter from the S&WHF will prove what you have. The image below is an example of a different model's letter (originally posted to this forum by member THREEDFLYER). Please note the difference between this official letter (proven facts of a specific serial number) and your information (likely assumption for serial number date range).

 

[03clyde]

I am retired from that agency and was on board 1966 through 1987. A few years back I was collecting any and all firearms and other items from that agency as a hobby.

The 10-6, .357 NYSP, was to replace the Colt Official Police. The 10-6 was issued to uniformed troopers during 1972-1973. I located one several years ago that also fell into the serialized area that were likely NYSP guns. The 10-6 was not agency marked. The purchased gun (serial D559xxx) had been lettered by Mr. Jinks. His letter showed delivery to a distributor in Amherst MA and not to the NYSP nor any other police agency. Several attempts by me asking for a response from the distributor as to whom they had delivered that gun went unanswered. Several inquiries by me to the NYSP indicated their record keeping had no record of its deposition. I have since sold the gun.

 

[kbm6893]

The gun was made during the time frame the NYSP wanted them, but not every 10-6 made it to them. There were over-runs that were made for the SP but never made it to them. I don’t believe the 10-6 was used all that long with the troopers, which would explain some of them being sent to distributors. If the SP told S&W they wouldn’t be needing any more of them then S&W would have sent the remaining ones to distributors to be sold.

Bottom line, it may be an NYSP gun, but the only way to find out is a letter request.

 

[John Patrick]

To reinforce the point that not all 357 mag 10-6s went to NYSP,

I saw a lettered 10-6 357 that went to Ohio.

 

[GerSan69]

For Heaven's sake. Come on, man.
There is a big difference between
"Your serial number would date the gun to the 1972-1973 timeframe, which is about when the .357 variant was done for the NYSP."
and
"Your gun is one of those made for NYSP."
Now, if you don't get it, or refuse to get it, that's up to you. I'm not here to "make" you see that you're wrong. Not my problem. But as was said, only a letter is proof. If Mr. Jinks or Bill Mundell find yours in the records, great. But there is no other "authority," least of all the item you produced, that carries any weight with collectors. Best of luck, I hope this turns out in your favor, but I will only be surprised if it does.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Reading this thread with interest, as a M10 in .357, or even a M13, is on my list of wants.

It would appear, after reading 03clyde's post, that since the NYSP special order guns weren't stamped with NYSP or any special marking, that the distributor who received them on behalf of NYSP doesn't have the records, and that NYSP has no records of SN's or their dispersal to officers of the NYSP, and that there are other M10's within this production that did not go to NYSP, it would be impossible to know which guns in the production went to NYSP and which guns went elsewhere, WITHOUT invoices from S&W showing a SN list of those delivered to the distributor who received them on behalf of NYSP. A SWHF letter would show that, since Dr. Jinks has access to those invoices.

If WESSON NUT wants definitive proof that his was actually issued to NYSP, he needs to cough up a Franklin and get the letter.

Even if his gun isn't a NYSP revolver, it's still a neat gun, the precursor of a whole new model, and he should be satisfied with that and enjoy what he has.

 

[WESSON NUT]

Thank you so much for the replies and help and I understand. The one post that told me what one had sold for on auction helped the most I have a ball park what ask for the revolver. I dont have the $100.00 to pay for documentation to find out if it was indeed issued to NYSP . So I will never know. Thank you guys again for helping me with your advice and wisdom. Sorry for being a a hole just stressed out with no work and my business shut down. I had to put gas on my credit card for the loader to try and get some work to remove snow and advertised all over FB and have a huge sign out at the road and not one job not one phone call. I dont have the money to pay the credit card . Thanks again guys appreciate it !

 

[M29since14]

The only way you will know about the revolver for sure is recognized documentation saying it was shipped to the NYSP. SHIPPED is the operative word. Sorry to read of your misfortune. Please remember that in life sometimes it seems darkest just before new light comes along. So, for the time being, as they say, “Stout heart and good cheer!”

The people here almost without exception genuinely want to help and are a very friendly group. If your first foray here didn’t go quite as planned, come back again and maybe your next one will. Good luck to you!

 

[GerSan69]

Thank you so much for the replies and help and I understand. The one post that told me what one had sold for on auction helped the most I have a ball park what ask for the revolver. I dont have the $100.00 to pay for documentation to find out if it was indeed issued to NYSP . So I will never know. Thank you guys again for helping me with your advice and wisdom. Sorry for being a a hole just stressed out with no work and my business shut down. I had to put gas on my credit card for the loader to try and get some work to remove snow and advertised all over FB and have a huge sign out at the road and not one job not one phone call. I dont have the money to pay the credit card . Thanks again guys appreciate it !

Brother, I get it. Your heartfelt explanation is much appreciated. Best of luck to you. I hope the New Year is better for you than the last. Take care and Best of Luck.