Ultimate police revolver ( Mod 58 )

lowriderfxr

lowriderfxr

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I remember hearing in the early 80s that the model 58 was the ultimate police revolver. I'm sure that was S&W marketing but when I heard that they had me hook line and sinker. I started full time in 1983 when I was 20 and as soon as I could find and afford it I got a model 58 and my captain and I went to the range to shoot it. After managing to make it through a cylinder , stopping to wring my hand a couple of times, I put it back in the case. My captain said " kinda stout ? ". I said if this is the ultimate police revolver then clearly I am not the ultimate policeman. I sold it and got a model 66. Still have a special place in my heart for the brute. Was happy to get this one today. 1973 vintage.
 
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What you experienced was surely the downfall of the .41 cartridge in LE circles, ie., the use of the true magnum JSP round when the LE-intended LSWC load at about ~900 fps would have been more appropriate.

Have heard discussions where the idea that the 210 gr. LSWC load should have been labeled '.41 Police' or '.41 Special' and the JSP labeled 'magnum'.
I'm sure that would have induced confusion though.

I started LE in 1980, and would have carried a M58 in a heartbeat, but that was not even a remote possibility in my city.
 
Yup. Too big for small hands. Too much recoil. Too heavy. Doomed from the start. Bill Jordan had it right. The K frame 357 was a police officer's dream.

Don't know what to do with mine. No purpose it can fill that isn't handled better by another gun. Paid $189 for it in 1989. Came with a duty holster and drop pouch and it was advertised as a police trade in. Shipped to Philly, but no idea what agency may have used it.
 
I bought a pretty well carried S frame 58 for $75 with two boxes of 41 magnum in about 1972 or 73. It did bark with factory loads.
 
The Model 58 doesn't weigh much more or less than the Model 28 Highway Patrolman, and is the same size. Many cops carried those throughout their careers even when smaller, lighter guns were available.

Before the advent of hollowpoints that actually reliably expanded in people, the best we could have was a large diameter, heavy flat-faced semiwadcutter. I think that the 210 grain lead .41 Mag was probably about the max, as far as recoil, that an interested average cop could shoot.

Try your new Model 58 with a set of grips that fit your hand and I bet you can shoot it better now than you did your first one! I have never liked Magna stocks for anything that kicked. My Model 58 wears Pachmayrs when I shoot it.

I pinned on a badge in 1981. We had the 125 grain jacketed hollowpoint in .357 by then, so I carried that. Had I been ten years older and started earlier, knowing what I know now, I think I would have carried a .41 Magnum had my department allowed it.

At it's time, I think the Model 58 really was the ultimate police revolver. It's time was just cut short by progress.
 
I went through the academy in 1983. My agency carried model 66's, though most agencies around us carried model 10's or model 64's. The neighboring agency carried model 58's. While the rest of us shot .38 wad cutters as was the norm back then, there were no down loaded practice loads available for the .41 so those guys had to shot the whole week with full house loads. I believe that they carried a 210 grain silvertip as the duty load.

I will always remember night firing and having an officer with a 58 on each side of me. With the ground pounding muzzle blast and huge muzzle flash, it was quite the experience for a young officer. I knew right away I HAD to have one of those.

Despite going on to become the head range master at the range and working in a gun shop for years, I never had the opportunity to purchase a 58. I fanned my love for the .41 magnum cartridge with several 57's and 657's.
 
I started in 1977 and was lucky enough to carry most anything I wanted to. Started off with a 6.5" 29-2, went to a 4" and then to the .41. Carried both 57s and 58s but with a Keith 212 grain cast SWC with 8.0 grains of Unique for 950 fps....same as the "POLICE" load.

Have had about nine 58s over the years and still have two...

http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-revolvers-1961-1980/173441-unofficial-58-club.html


Bob
 
Like many other models, I waited too long to finally get one. Bought a 58 from a member here a few years back, an 'S' prefix 1965 gun.
Very fond of it, and have hunted with it, taking one deer year before last.
I have large hands, so the Magna/T-grip combo is about perfect for me (and I like the looks)

They make a great woods gun.
 
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One of the Akron PD Motorcycle Officers had a Model 58. He seemed to handle it well.

Simialr to the Model 58, the Model 22-4, a fixed sighted "N" frame with a 4" tapered barrel but chambered for the 45 ACP would be the one I would have liked to carry when I wore a badge.

Kevin
 
SaxonPig said:
Yup. Too big for small hands. Too much recoil. Too heavy. Doomed from the start. Bill Jordan had it right. The K frame 357 was a police officer's dream.

Don't know what to do with mine. No purpose it can fill that isn't handled better by another gun. Paid $189 for it in 1989. Came with a duty holster and drop pouch and it was advertised as a police trade in. Shipped to Philly, but no idea what agency may have used it.
Click to expand...

All Philly used were Model 10 until the switch over to Glock in the mid 90s. There are plenty of townships surrounding Philadelphia and many were still mostly rural at the time S&W was making the 58
 
Nice story! I started in 1983 as well. We were authorized to carry only .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolvers, but loaded with .38 Special +P LSWC. I bought a S&W Model 581. I now have a Model 58 and it is certainly one of my favorites. Shooting LSWC loaded to around 1000 fps seems about perfect to me. Best wishes!
 
I carried a Model 58 for a while as a rural county Deputy. I used W-W 210 grain silver tips.
As an "Old Timer" I liked to have my "Back Up" the same caliber as my primary, so I changed to a Model 29 with a Charter Arms Bulldog, both using .44 special silver tips. One of my five LEO sons now has the Model 58 and loves it.
 
I bought one in 1966. Changed the grips and used Elmer's recommendation for a police load. Carried it as a duty gun for 13 years.
Mdl58.jpg

We were in some squabbles, but the 58 did it's part and we're both still here.
 
The ultimate police revolver. . .a Model 19-P specifically made to contract in 1987 by Smith & Wesson and used in Peru and Europe for that purpose.
 

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"At it's time, I think the Model 58 really was the ultimate police revolver."

And yet it was an utter failure in the market. I think it had the shortest production life of any S&W revolver. Sure, same size as any other n frame, but most cops found the N frame too much size and weight. I can shoot an N frame 357 fine, but that would be a lot of weight on an already overloaded duty belt.

Simple truth is that the 58 was rejected. Some of us on this forum want to defend it now, but when it was available it didn't sell. Mine has a serial suggesting a 1974 date but wasn't shipped until 1977. They were moving very slowly when they moved at all.
 
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