Did S&W ever make 38 Special "Model 19"?

[Texas Star]

Sorry about bringing back a dead thread, but I saw one of these 19-8's at a gun show today and had to research it a bit.
4" adj. sights w/rubber grips. No box or papers, very good condition.
Did I pass up something I shouldn't have for $600?

Only if you're a collector. The regular M-19 in .357 is the more versatile gun.

The only reason to own a .38 M-19 or a Model 68 is if you work for a guard company or LE agency that requires a .38. And Brazilians and Mexicans are usually limited to .38 Special.

I don't know what you mean by very good condition. Do you know and mean NRA VG? Few here seem to know those traditional NRA grading terms. They tend to speak of percentage of finish left.

For $600, I'd expect a near new gun, hopefully with box and any tools or papers. Some look at prices on Gun Broker and think they can get those elevated fees. Look and you'll probably find a M-19 in .357 without box for maybe $450-500.

One of the Bond films had Bond (Sir Roger Moore) look at a M-19 used by some black girl from CIA. He commented that it was a custom .38. At the time, I thought it was just a movie writer who didn't know what he was talking about. Later, I learned that .38 M-19's do exist.

I'm pretty sure that most M-19's shipped to Brazil chamber just .38 ammo. Maybe Ray in Rio,or another Brazilian member will comment. Mexican members have covered this pretty thoroughly in prior threads.

 

[john.41]

Thanks, the only thing that got my interest was the fact it was in .38spl. I have plenty of other S&W revolvers, just struck me as odd. I'm not usually interested in anything that recent anyway.