Finally got to the range with my M&P Pre-Model 10

[Rickkster]

Hello,

Some of you may remember when I posted that I had picked this up a little less than a month ago:

I finally had the chance to get to the range this morning. I had loaded two boxes of ammo to try; one box with my cast 148 grain WC's from a nearly worn out Lee mold, and one box from my cast 160 grain SWC's from RCBS-38-150-SWC mold, both sized to .358.

The WC's were loaded over 3.0 grains of Bullseye and the SWC's were over 4.4 grains of Unique. The Lee mold is having alignment issues, so I need to replace it.

I shot both boxes at seven yards with my elbows on my range bag. I didn't take the chrono today though.

Six rounds with the WC's:

Six rounds with the SWC's:

I am very happy with the SWC load! The 148 grain WC's I think will be better once I replace the mold. It was a gorgeous mild sunny morning here in South Western PA. The M&P was a lot of fun to shoot. I had a great time!

Cheers,

Rick

 

[SAFireman]

Good shooting Rick!

Those old M&P's will surprise lots of folks...They are just as accurate as an adjustable sight gun.

 

[GF]

Good shooting.

You don't seem to hear much about SWC or WC ammo these days but I always have good luck with them in revolvers like yours.

Next trip stretch it out a little farther & give us another report!

GF

 

[Texas Star]

The hammer on the gun looks later than the rest. ???

I'm not surprised that it shoots well.

 

[Rickkster]

The hammer on the gun looks later than the rest. ???

I'm not surprised that it shoots well.

Texas Star,

I have wondered about the hammer myself. I don't know if it could have shipped with that hammer or not. It does shoot well though. When I take a new (new to me) gun and/or handload to the range the first time, I generally use the close range just to see how things go. After today, I will use the middle handgun range (15 or 16 yards) the next time out.

The farthest handgun range at the gun club is 25 yards. I might try that one down the road. My less than stellar eyesight makes that one interesting for me ;-)

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Nice revolver and nice shooting! Anytime I want to feel good about my shooting ability I grab an mid 50's five inch M&P of mine and feel better!

 

[larry8]

A friend of mine has one like yours but , I think much older. His has the old style ejector rod button and the side is marked "made in USA", not the 4 line address like yours has. I looked it up and his is made around 1929. I would be interested when yours was made.

 

[Lenny_D]

Rick,
Great shooting! The SWC can't get much better than that. Not only does it shoot, it looks good too. Good for you.
Len

 

[Rickkster]

A friend of mine has one like yours but , I think much older. His has the old style ejector rod button and the side is marked "made in USA", not the 4 line address like yours has. I looked it up and his is made around 1929. I would be interested when yours was made.

larry8,

I am certainly not an expert. There are experts on the forum and folks much more experienced than me. Looking at the SCSW, the C prefix started in 1948 and went from C1 - C999999. My S/N is C1812XX. The front sight looks like it changed from a round blade to a ramp in about 1952, and the upper sideplate screw was deleted in 1955. I don't know if these are definite dates. Hopefully, one of the much more knowledgeable folks will comment.

Without getting a factory letter, (I may) I would guess my revolver might date from 1950 - 1951.......maybe, haha.

Cheers,

Rick