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Nickel 3" Model 10 -- How many?

B

Bladeswitcher

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Picked this up on the big auction site. It's a nickel Model 10 with a 3 inch barrel. Appears to be factory nickel ("N" stamp on cylinder).

My sense is that these aren't real common. Anybody have any production numbers?

0Eb4pn8.jpg
 
I have no knowledge of production numbers, but can’t be very common.
To start with 3” K frames are hard to find, and most I have come across are usually model 13 or 65 ( 357 magnums) I have seen very few 3” 38’s. And nickel would be even less common.
 
MajorD said:
To start with 3” K frames are hard to find, and most I have come across are usually model 13 or 65 ( 357 magnums) I have seen very few 3” 38’s. And nickel would be even less common.
Click to expand...


I have two 3-inch Model 64-3 revolvers in .38 special. One has a bobbed hammer, which does not appear to be a home-bob job. Looks factory, or at least a factory part. I also have a blued 3-inch Model 10-6 square butt. That one is a mystery to me since the Catalog doesn't show that the 10-6 was offered as a 3". That one also has polished trigger and bobbed hammer. I suspect it may be a rebarrel. I also have three magnums with 3" barrels (65, 66 and CS-1).

But yeah, I don't see many model 10 revolvers with 3" barrels.
 
The 3" bull barrel model 10s all seem to be -8s from my observations. They spanned the pinned to unpinned barrel transition so probably started production in the early 1980s, but were made for only a few years.

Since nickel finish K frames were always a relatively small fraction of total production I'd guess this one is a scarce gun. Enjoy!
 
Bladeswitcher,
Very nice nickel 10-8! Thanks for sharing it. Your 10-6 may also be a factory 3” barrel. My guess is the hammer and trigger were modified. 3” barrels were available by special order on both non-model marked and model marked Model 10s. I have a 3” Model 10-5 square butt that shipped June1974. 3” barrels were cataloged in the 1980s and 1990s. You will find both “standard” and heavy barrels in the 3” varieties.
 
Kansasgunner said:
Bladeswitcher,
Your 10-6 may also be a factory 3” barrel. My guess is the hammer and trigger were modified. 3” barrels were available by special order on both non-model marked and model marked Model 10s. . . .
Click to expand...

The thing that leads me to believe my 10-6 might be a rebarrel is that the breech end of the barrel appears to be threaded (beyond the gun frame). That doesn't look like something S&W would have done. Maybe I'm wrong, but since the Catalog doesn't indicate that the 10-6 was offered with a three-inch barrel I've always assumed somebody altered it. They did a good job, though. When I look at the transition from frame to barrel, it looks legit.

Here's a few pics. Pay no attention to the cheezy white plastic grips:

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s7VYPnj.jpg

cgcbuQd.jpg

OkrFANm.jpg
 
Bladeswitcher that looks like a factory bobbed hammer on your 64-3. Can’t say if it’s original or not but that’s the way they were made from S&W. I’ve had my eye out for one for my 65-3.
 
Bladeswitcher,
I agree that’s odd to see the threads on the barrel shank of your 10-6, but all the lettering appears centered just like the other 3” guns. A letter is the only way to know for sure if the barrel length is factory. Same thing with the bobbed hammer on your 64. All are very nice revolvers in my eyes.
 
That is an eye-poppin' nickel 3-inch Model 10 Bladeswitcher!

Your revolver fires the imagination. I don't think I've ever seen nickel 3-inch Model 10 in person and don't recall encountering a photograph of one here on the Forum. Probably have and have just forgotten, but yours is bound to be one of the more uncommonly seen nickel variants of various Smith & Wesson models and configurations.

Thanks for the good photos. It's hard to take good representative photographs of nickel guns.

A factory 3-inch Model 10-6 lives here. It's serial number is 317,000-and-something which likely puts its shipment in the early 1971 time period. It doesn't have a threaded barrel shank. The ramp front sight extends farther down the top of the barrel than the front sight on your blue one does, but I don't know if that is an indication of anything.

The 3-inch with my old favorite 4-inch Model 10-6. I have its serial number committed to memory, D 362370, and a factory letter indicates it was shipped in June of 1971. I acquired it used in December of 1975 and it and its faultless service represents the original reason I'm here on the Forum.

Sorry about the ugly T-Grip on the 3-inch. I wanted to equip it with a Tyler T-Grip and one came along for cheap, but it was brass so I took a black Marks-A-Lot to it. Didn't really improve the looks and now the black is wearing off. Do y'all think it'd look better cleaned off? It'd be garish shiny brass then.

From this thread I'm getting the impression that the 3-inch Model 10s of the 1960s-mid 1970s era were uncatalogued items. Is that a correct assumption?
 
Last edited:
bmcgilvray,
Yes 3” barrels were a non-catalogue item on the M&P/Mod. 10 from sometime in the 1950s until the 1980s. Looking at your 3” it lacks the wide “rib” usually associated with the heavy barrel guns. The longer front sight and narrow frame at the barrel junction make it appear in your photo to be a twin to my 10-5. Is it possible that your 3” gun in the photo is also a 10-5?
 
Last edited:
MajorD said:
I have no knowledge of production numbers, but can’t be very common.
To start with 3” K frames are hard to find, and most I have come across are usually model 13 or 65 ( 357 magnums) I have seen very few 3” 38’s. And nickel would be even less common.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought looking at the pic before reading the post fully... I said that is one sexy M13... It's a really nice and "Minty" M10 in reality and I love the nickel finish. My primary as of late with this stupid China-Virus paranoia around us... Scumbags are getting more desperate than usual. So I'm pocket carrying an M36 nickel snubby in a DeSantis Nemesis due to it's sweat and superior wear resistance qualities more and more...

OP you found a great M10 rare or not...
 
Kansasgunner said:
bmcgilvray,
Yes 3” barrels were a non-catalogue item on the M&P/Mod. 10 from sometime in the 1950s until the 1980s. Looking at your 3” it lacks the wide “rib” usually associated with the heavy barrel guns. The longer front sight and narrow frame at the barrel junction make it appear in your photo to be a twin to my 10-5. Is it possible that your 3” gun in the photo is also a 10-5?
Click to expand...

It IS a 10-5 Kansasgunner! Thanks for pointing that out.

I've been looking at the model marking for some years now, sometimes even with reading glasses on, and seeing a -6. Close scrutiny this evening after your post reveals otherwise.
 
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