10-6 .357 Magnum SCORE!!!

I was in DJs gunshop in Bothel WA just wandering around and minding my business, and this 10-6 in .357MAG just come up and slapped me in the face. Not the prettiest, but perfect working order, and SMOOTH.
Stole is fair-and-square for a very nice price. Pics to follow after I shoot it tomorrow.
Beside myself happy about this purchase. I wanted a 13-2, but this fits the bill, maybe even better!

Man, I had to look at that twice. I thought you were in Brothel Washington. I was getting ready to call my travel agent.:D Anyway, nice score!
 
You can't tell that Model 19 has an enclosed extractor rod and adjustable sights?! :eek:

I take what he said to mean he can't see much difference in the frame that would warrant a problem with a model 10 frame standing up or not to .357 rounds. If the pre 13 barrels were the same profile as any other 10... what would it matter if a someone reamed out a heavy barrel 10 for .357?

That's what I think he was getting at and it's not a bad question IMHO. What is different about the pre 10 .357 or 13's than a heavy barrel 10? I think is the crux of the matter. Is it metallurgy or size of something? If there is no size difference and no metallurgy changes, then why not ream a 10 to .357 if someone was so led to want that.

I'm not saying I want to do that but I think it's a fair question.
 
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Neet that this thread is alive again. I bought that gun eight years ago and wow time has flown!
It was a great gun. I have others that fill the niche now, and many more S&Ws since then.
The fellow that bought it from me was active on the forum and I am a little surprised he hasnt hit this thread.
Anyhow, they are cool. If I see another maybe I would buy it, but it seems that my tastes are a hair different now, and some other lucky person can enjoy it.
 
If I'm not mistaken, weren't the .357 model 10s a thing they were doing for the NYS police? Sort of led to the model 13?
 
If I'm not mistaken, weren't the .357 model 10s a thing they were doing for the NYS police? Sort of led to the model 13?
Yes. A special order from the NYSP. 1200 were made for them, plus an unknown number of overruns. After other departments, including the FBI, expressed interest, a new model - the Model 13-1 - was introduced. Some .357 Magnum Model 10-6 examples are overstruck in the yoke cut to read MOD 13-1.

BTW there was never a Model 13.
 
I take what he said to mean he can't see much difference in the frame that would warrant a problem with a model 10 frame standing up or not to .357 rounds. If the pre 13 barrels were the same profile as any other 10... what would it matter if a someone reamed out a heavy barrel 10 for .357?

That's what I think he was getting at and it's not a bad question IMHO. What is different about the pre 10 .357 or 13's than a heavy barrel 10? I think is the crux of the matter. Is it metallurgy or size of something? If there is no size difference and no metallurgy changes, then why not ream a 10 to .357 if someone was so led to want that.

I'm not saying I want to do that but I think it's a fair question.

S&W has always claimed to use both a special steel with more chrome and nickle content and a different heat treat for Magnum guns. They said that much of the added cost of a Magnum was in that special steel.

Some have bored out .38-44 guns to take .357 loads, but there's a lot more steel in the thick chambers of those guns. I haven't heard of any turning into a hand grenade, but I wouldn't do that. And today , it ruins a valuable collectors' gun.

In the thinner chambers of a Model 10, such a thing might lead to a cracked cylinder or worse.
 
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Yes. A special order from the NYSP. 1200 were made for them, plus an unknown number of overruns. After other departments, including the FBI, expressed interest, a new model - the Model 13-1 - was introduced. Some .357 Magnum Model 10-6 examples are overstruck in the yoke cut to read MOD 13-1.
Yeppers. Mine is one of those...
 

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From Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (Second Edition) Pg. 128

"In 1972 several thousand were chambered in .357 magnum for the
N.Y.S.P. with 4" heavy barrel with pinned barrel. Predecessor to the
model 13..."
 
Roy Jinks has stated numerous times that the heat treatment of the Magnum revolvers was different from non-Magnums.

Has it been confirmed that the steel is different as well? One member mentioned that the magnum cylinder use a higher chromium and nickel content, which makes sense if they're looking for a stronger cylinder. This also confirms the need for a different heat treat.

If its the same steel as the .38 Specials, then it wouldn't make sense to run two separate caliber specific heat treatments. Just batch treat them all to the same point and move on.

If anyone has specific information on the steels used in these cylinders, please let me know.
 
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I do not know about the exact steel alloy. It is very likely in the range of 4140. 4140 can vary some as to chrome, carbon, moly and manganese. I do know that if you take 4140, forge, NORMALIZE, harden and temper it you get a small increase in yield strength over 4140 that skips the normalization cycle

I don't think nickle would do much for additional tensile or yield strength.

If you had access to a PMI gun you could have a cylinder shot with one and it would tell you the metal composition, minus the carbon as it only detects the metals. I am around them when I work in refineries, but getting caught with gun parts in a refinery now days would get you fired.

I do have a model 10-2 that I made into a 357 by fitting a model 19-3 cylinder to it. The frame have been my experiment frame for years, has adjustable sights a 2 1/2" 357 barrel, round butted. It have several hundred 357 round through it with no ill effects.
 
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Nice find. Regarding conversions there have been companies successfully converting K frame cylinders to 9mm with moon clips for years. I don't see much practical pressure difference between 9x19 and 357. Although If I wanted to convert my 10-6 I could probably find and fit a 357 cylinder for less money that re-cambering.
 
Could you imagine if some 357 magnum guns were accidentally made on 38 special frames? With as many model number stamping mixups over the years you would think it would have happened already. They surely would have recalled those guns and to my knowledge that has never happened. I cannot imagine the factory taking that risk of a frame mixup by making some guns weaker than others. I’m talking about the 10 and 13 here.

Now 38 special cylinders are a different length than 357 ones so the chance for a mixup is nearly impossible. I can see them having different cylinder composition
 
I don't know if there is a difference between the cylinder materials of the S&W models 10 and 13. Kind of doubt it, simply based on the economics of using different metals for virtually identical parts.

But, as previously stated, that is just a guess on my part.

Rich
 
Saw one of these at the gun show today...thinking about going back and getting it. I'm sure it's one of the NYSP guns, 10-6, D serial with the 4" .357 Magnum HB and .400 smooth combat trigger. Only reason I didn't get it is it has a lot of wear. Worn down to a patina on the barrel and part of the frame. It's seen some significant use - but I do like LEO guns. It's still wearing pachmayrs too.

Earl
 
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