When I joined in the U.S. Criminal Investigation Command (CID) in 1985, I was issued a M10, a S&W revolver, 2", round butt. We carried these until 1989, when all were turned in for Sig Sauer M11 (P228). Those old guns apparently still reside at Anniston Army Depot.
I am looking to acquire one of these revolvers (out of nostalgia), but don't know what actual model number these might have been. The closest I can get is a 10-7,or possibly 10-8.
Does anyone know?

I worked for DoD for 20yrs as a field Engineer in Small Arms Development.
The machine shops were beautiful and saw crates of small arms. I do remember seeing 2" Mod-10. My boss said they would not be released to the civilian market. It was to expensive. It was cheaper to store them or destroy them. I cried.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

The US Army had many, many revolvers during my time (68-73). Model 10's and Model 12's with 2" and 4" barrels, Colt Detective Specials and Cobras, all of these were seen in aviation units, CID, stockades and disciplinary barracks, and probably other outfits. Even postal clerks had assigned side arms, frequently revolvers. By tradition the post bugler was always equipped with side arm (but buglers were largely replaced by public address systems).

Some officers carried privately owned side arms, but that was at the discretion of commanders. This privilege was very seldom extended to enlisted personnel.

Hard to say which specific variation you might have been issued. Like most other small arms the revolvers remained in service until or unless they broke down, unit deactivated, or other event resulted in their transfer to depots. Might have been a revolver made relatively close to the time it was issued to you, or it might have been one that had been in inventory for a decade or more before you came along. Depending on the unit it would not surprise me to find revolvers from a 30-year span still in use.

I remember one incident involving the theft of a bunch of weapons from a stateside Army post armory. They did not even have a record of the serial numbers, only an inventory showing how many of each weapon was on hand. The actual weapons were packed in wooden storage cases and recorded that way, by the box and number contained (Pistol, US, caliber .45, M1911A1, 24 each; Machinegun, US, caliber 7.62mm, M60, 4 each; etc).

At the unit level we always had weapons cards indicating which weapons we were authorized, by type and serial number. Unit armorer (usually the supply sergeant or his assistant) was advised when weapons had been authorized. Present your weapons card to draw your weapon, the card stayed in the rack until the weapon was turned in. Apparently some of the armories had less stringent controls.

Relatively few Army personnel had weapons actually issued to them and retained on a semi-permanent basis. CID agents usually did. General officers. Some MI personnel. For the most part the rest of us drew our weapons as ordered and turned them in as ordered.

If it was a new model 10, it would have likely been a -7; a 10-8 would have been a 3-4" bull barreled version. If it was an older gun, it may have been from after WW II up until the time you mentioned.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

There was a 10-5 4" ,with US stamped on the back strap, on GB a few months ago. Sold for 550ish.

Hello Lance:

This is guesswork since 2 inch barreled M+Ps were bought by the Army and the Air Force in varying quantities over many years. If the Model 10 you used in the mid-1980s was in nice shape you could guess (and that is all it is without a serial number) that it might have been one of the 1600 units shipped from the factory to Letterkenney Arsenal in December, 1980. All of the guns in that shipment were 2 inch guns, blued, and with checkered walnut RB stocks. They were Model 10-7s and marked U.S. on the back strap.

Your search for one of these US marked 2 inch Model 10 revolvers may take a while. These guns are extremely scarce on the civilian market. Very few ever found their way into civilian hands.

BTW, can you recall what brand and type of holster you carried the M10 in when you were with the CID?

Good luck. I hope that you find one.

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Charlie Flick
SWCA 729 HF 215

Thanks everyone.
I'll see if there are some old records (we never get rid of anything). CID Command may even have one or two left in stock for historical purposes. If not, I have a M203 to turn in to Anniston soon, and I'll see what they have to say when I go down there.
We all had the exact same model/type of revolver, fairly new production. No USG markings of any kind. The trigger grooves were very sharp (got filed down) and the hammer had checkering that would strip flesh (also smoothed down a bit).
At the time of turn-in, we were told that CID Agents would be able to purchase their duty gun. As the finish on mine was very worn, I took the opportunity to have mine parkerized at the depot level. Only to be told that the sales weren't going to happen.
As for holsters, I don't recall. My father gave me a nice concealed shoulder holster. I do remember that I replaced the checkered grips with a pair of slightly oversized set of smooth wood.

I was issued a Model 10 2" when I was assigned to Military Police Investigations at Ft. Hood, TX. It was unit that was under the Provost Marshal, but not attached to C.I.D. We did crime suppression operations and some narcotics cases. I eventually went back to my issued 1911, because the only round we carried was a 130 gr. FMJ that only traveled 850 ft per sec. One of our guys engaged a guy one night, his first round hit a car door and didn't penetrate it. The next day I went back to carrying the 1911 most of the time.

Here's one:


Unfortunately, most of them wound up like this:

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

This picture makes me want to cry. Why would they destroy such a nice gun? They could have made so much money selling them to the public

Great photos (except that crushed one...) Any idea of the history of that one? Do the US marked ones ever come up on the market?

I got a serial number from one of our issued M10s, D437753.
What date range and model number would this number be in?

I think D437753 would have been shipped circa 1972/3. The one I pictured is a "C" prefix and shipped about 10 years earlier to Robins AFB.

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

Best you could probably do is to get a non military use one in the same configuration in the same serial number range. Carry and use it and if you ever are lucky enough to come across a u.s. Marked one that can be verified as correct, snap it up!

Thanks guys, great info.