Help verifying my Model 10-5 and tips on restoration.

[Cubs249]

Hello I'm brand new to the forum but have already learned a bit from other people's posts. I would like to verify that I have a Model 10-5 4-screw revolver. I'd love to know when it was made and am looking for pointers on how to do an arm's length restoration on my revolver. I rescued it from a local pawn shop looking terrible with rust, pitting, and damaged grips.

Model number: 10-5
Serial Number: C 359xxx
Finish: Blued
Caliber: .38 Special
Barrel Length: 4"
Screw Count: 4
Strain Screw: Yes

 

[BC38]

You have a well used, but (hopefully) NOT abused, Model 10 - the most common of all S&W 38 Special revolvers.

Assuming it is in good mechanical condition (timing, lock-up, etc.) you and your children, and your and grandchildren should be able to shoot this revolver for generations.

In terms of an "arms-length restoration", IMO, anything more than a good cleaning and maybe a cold-blue touch-up would cost more than any value it would add to the revolver.

So basically, you have a GREAT "shooter-grade" revolver, and it should be treated as such. It isn't and never will be a collectable, so, take it out and shoot it to your heart's content.

JMO, and welcome to the Big Blue forum - the BEST source on the internet for all things S&W!

 

[alwslate]

If your idea of restoration includes having it re blued realize that you will have more money in it that you will ever be able to get out of it.

 

[JP@AK]

First, welcome to the S&W Forum, Cubs249.

What makes you think it is a Model 10-5? Frankly, it cannot be any such thing. Here's why:
1. C3590xx is much too low a number for any Model 10, let alone a dash 5. That number points to production in 1956.
2. The threads on the extractor rod are right hand threads. Those changed to left hand threads in 1961, a year prior to the advent of the Model 10-5 and about five years after your revolver was serialized.
3. The fourth screw was eliminated in 1962, with the advent of the Model 10-4. No dash 5 units had four screws.

From what I see here, you have a .38 Military & Police revolver from the mid-1950s that will not have a model mark. It isn't a Model 10 anything. It is simply an M&P.

Open the cylinder and look on the frame in the yoke cut. You won't find MOD 10 stamped there, let alone MOD 10-5.

 

[s&wchad]

Edit: Jack beat me to it.

Welcome aboard!
You have a .38 Military & Police revolver with a 4-screw frame, but it's not a model 10-5. Your serial number dates to about 1956, which was before model numbers were assigned and stamped in the yoke cut.

 

[Baxter6551]

Welcome from CT. As others have noted a great shooter. Mine sure is - it's a 10-5. Finish was really rough like that I had it parkerized.

 

[JP@AK]

I had it parkerized.

You also changed out the thumbpiece.

 

[max503]

I'd love to find something like that.
The closest thing to it that I have is a Taurus 605. It's nice to have a bullet-proof gun that works well that you can shoot the heck out of.
I have a Dillion SDB progressive to feed it. Heck yes. Scrounge range scrap, melt and cast it into boolits, load 'em up and choot 'em. No better way to sharpen your shooting skills. And you got just the gun for it.

 

[murphydog]

You have a few alternatives given its current status.

Inspect/repair, clean and enjoy. The least expensive.

An aftermarket refinish (Parkerizing, hard chrome, Cerakote) and refurbishing the stocks. Good alternatives but would not appear factory. Relatively inexpensive.

A full factory-level refinish. Don't know if you have the equipment and skills personally, but even if so it will be time- and labor intensive, and paying for it to be done will easily cost the gun's value and then some.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[ken158]

Well, the folks responding have been kind but also accurate. You do not have a 10-5. What makes you think you do? Your gun has seen a hard life and was obviously carried in a right hand holster noted by the grip damage. The finish and pitting were likely caused by being wet in a leather holster. The gun was not cared for by any previous owners which suggest a security company, maybe a prison or even an armored truck detail? A total tear down with internals cleaned and a good blasting and perhaps cerakote or parkerizing will make the gun as good as it is gonna get. My belief is that you will have much more invested than your M&P will ever be worth.

 

[s&wchad]

Second photo in the original post shows a three-screw revolver.

The large sideplate screw below the hammer was on 5-screw frames. His gun lacks that screw, but it still has the screw in the front of the trigger guard, which makes it a 4-screw.

 

[Bald1]

I'd rub it lightly with oil and 0000 steel wool. Then blast with brake cleaner and lube. Pick up some cheap magnas on eBay or even here on this forum. Call it good and go shoot……..OP probably thinks it's a 10-5 because the pawn shop had it labeled as such.

 

[jmiles1960]

Welcome to the forum! There are several videos on YouTube regarding disassembly / re-assembly of this model. Cleaning the parts with brake cleaner, Hoppe's, etc. would do wonders for restoring this piece. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions here. Lots of excellent talent and experience.

 

[Baxter6551]

I had a very finish worn ex police model 10 bead blasted then reblued. It's not a matte finish blue kind of like a model 28 now.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Welcome to the Forum! You purchased a 4-screw .38 M&P revolver in pretty rough shape...I hope you didn't pay the pawn shop too much for it. As others have said, there were millions of these revolvers manufactured over the years, they are very common, and they usually don't bring big $. However, they have a reputation for being accurate and dependable shooters. In your case, minimal restoration is probably the way to go. A thorough cleaning (barrel bore, internals, frame) is in order. You may want to try to do a very light polish job with some Flitz Polish and a microfiber cloth, and follow with some Renaissance Wax (or Johnson's Paste Wax). The wood stocks are basically worn out, but since they have matching s/n it may be worth spending a little time stripping and refinishing them (if you're a DIY guy). You can also easily pick up a set of replacement stocks (wood, rubber, composite, etc.). Good luck with your restoration!

 

[Retired W4]

I'm just wondering now, but the OP shows the gun with the side plate off and the sliding hammer block not there, so was it in there when the plate came off?

 

[Slufstuff]

Honestly, the ugly grips bother me more than the blue wear. If it were mine, I would clean it thoroughly, buy a pair of used magnas off ebay, then maybe some touch up cold bluing if you felt inclined (I am not normally a cold blue fan, but it cannot hurt in this case).

 

[Jim Watson]

I agree, the steel doesn't look bad considered as a used gun of that age.
The grips are much worn, looks like they were painted black. But they are numbered, presumably to match after the 359XXX nonsense.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

The large sideplate screw below the hammer was on 5-screw frames. His gun lacks that screw, but it still has the screw in the front of the trigger guard, which makes it a 4-screw.

Quite true, of course, which I realized almost immediately, but not as fast as you did. I guess 1962 was the time of the change.

 

[gmborkovic]

Once and for all, can we get off the steel wool. We are not cleaning a Weber grill. Just bronze wool! Please save the steel wool for an old car
bumper.

 

[Cubs249]

Thank you everyone for your input. It is exactly what I needed. I thought i had a 10-5 because there was a -5 behind the yoke. I found out I have a M&P 4 screw made in 1956. As for restoration cleaned the bore out, completely taken apart for ballistol bath and brass brush scrub. I'll blue the gun using Blue Wonder and will try to strip these grips since they are the originals. Thanks again!

 

[Cubs249]

I'm just wondering now, but the OP shows the gun with the side plate off and the sliding hammer block not there, so was it in there when the plate came off?

Yes, I have it.

 

[raljr1]

Thank you everyone for your input. It is exactly what I needed. I thought i had a 10-5 because there was a -5 behind the yoke. I found out I have a M&P 4 screw made in 1956. As for restoration cleaned the bore out, completely taken apart for ballistol bath and brass brush scrub. I'll blue the gun using Blue Wonder and will try to strip these grips since they are the originals. Thanks again!

I think this is the perfect plan of action for this revolver. It will look better and you can shoot it till you run out money for ammo.

 

[Slufstuff]

Thank you everyone for your input. It is exactly what I needed. I thought i had a 10-5 because there was a -5 behind the yoke. I found out I have a M&P 4 screw made in 1956. As for restoration cleaned the bore out, completely taken apart for ballistol bath and brass brush scrub. I'll blue the gun using Blue Wonder and will try to strip these grips since they are the originals. Thanks again!

I agree you need to hold onto the original grips, but they are pretty bad IMO. I do not think they will ever look presentable again. If I might suggest bagging them and keeping them with the revolver for history's sake, and getting some nicer looking used grips to mount on the revolver. Just a suggestion, your plan is good to go.

 

[Cubs249]

Yep, these grips are pretty far gone. Used some green scotch brite to remove old varnish/lacquer on grips trying to avoid the checkering. Going to let them be and buy some grips correct to 1956.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Thank you everyone for your input. It is exactly what I needed. I thought i had a 10-5 because there was a -5 behind the yoke. I found out I have a M&P 4 screw made in 1956. As for restoration cleaned the bore out, completely taken apart for ballistol bath and brass brush scrub. I'll blue the gun using Blue Wonder and will try to strip these grips since they are the originals. Thanks again!

Do not forget to re-install the hammer block. It is an essential safety feature of the revolver. It is not drop-safe without it as the US Navy found out causing S&W to re-design the hammer block during WWII. It is possible your hammer block remained in the sideplate due to oil being gummed up, etc., causing it to stay in its slot in the sideplate, but it is equally likely that some amateur kitchen-table gunsmith removed it. I saw one clown on You Tube who disassembled his Model 329, and he said he always removes it because it "rattles." If the hammer block is actually missing, it is imperative that you obtain a replacement before using that gun.

 

[Gun Relics]

Hello I'm brand new to the forum but have already learned a bit from other people's posts. I would like to verify that I have a Model 10-5 4-screw revolver. I'd love to know when it was made and am looking for pointers on how to do an arm's length restoration on my revolver. I rescued it from a local pawn shop looking terrible with rust, pitting, and damaged grips.

Model number: 10-5
Serial Number: C 359xxx
Finish: Blued
Caliber: .38 Special
Barrel Length: 4"
Screw Count: 4
Strain Screw: Yes

You've had a lot of great advice and information here, so I thought i would give you some dumb advice.

Here's a snippet from the GunRelics website of the 1957 catalog featuring your model. I would love to run a bore scope down the barrel but I bet it is clean. To me this looks like a service pistol, police or guard. It spent a lot of time in and out of a holster and probably not a lot of time shooting.

Leather holsters are an awful place to keep a gun for 50 years, especially when it's attached to a belt and is being jostled around with each footstep, exposed to dirt and rain and sweat, then hung on the back of a chair for the evening. Slowly they will abrade, rust and degrade a pistol and it will look like this. The wear on your Magna grips look like holster wear to me along with some nice Kiwi polish. Why they put wood grips on duty pistols is beyond me.

So I am thinking I am going to pick up a good, but cheap and common gun like this. I am going to take it apart and clean it, remove rust and pits and make sure the gun is 100% functional. Then I am going to learn how to polish and finish each piece, blue it and restore it to the best of my ability. I'm just going to do it for the hell of it because I love old guns. I will try to make it look like new.

And I'm going to document it each step of the way right here.

 

[JP@AK]

Going to let them be and buy some grips correct to 1956.

Good plan.

In case you are not too familiar with the changes in S&W stocks over the years, here is what you are looking for (use those you have as a model):
1. The "soft" tapered shoulder
2. The diamond at the screw location
3. The rounded bottom edges (not squared off at the butt) - these are called "Modified Magna" stocks, AKA PC (for "Plain Clothes") Magna stocks. The PC stocks were used on the fixed sight revolvers, beginning in the early 1950s. They differed from the Magna stocks used on target sight revolvers, which had the squared butt edges.

 

[Hawg Rider]

Gun Relics: "So I am thinking I am going to pick up a good, but cheap and common gun like this. I am going to take it apart and clean it, remove rust and pits and make sure the gun is 100% functional. Then I am going to learn how to polish and finish each piece, blue it and restore it to the best of my ability. I'm just going to do it for the hell of it because I love old guns. I will try to make it look like new."

I've done some garage gunsmithing a couple of times just for fun, and had OK results. The first was with a Marlin 1895 .45-70 rifle that had been in a minor fire. Picked it up cheap at a local gun show. Tore it down, fabbed and hardened a couple of missing parts, polished, and cold blued it. I would never shoot it, and ended up turning it in at a local Sheriff's Dept. "Kicks for Guns" event for a gift card! Another was a Colt 1862 Pocket Police .36 Cal. that was a block of rust. Got it at a local auction in an old toolbox full of rusty tools. Was able to soak it and get it apart and make a few repairs. I lightly polished it and only partially cold blued the frame and barrel (except the brass) so that it still looked old. I was able to get it mostly functional, and I still have the Colt in the safe. Both projects were a lot of fun and interesting. Good luck with your future project.

 

[Gun Relics]

Gun Relics: "So I am thinking I am going to pick up a good, but cheap and common gun like this. I am going to take it apart and clean it, remove rust and pits and make sure the gun is 100% functional. Then I am going to learn how to polish and finish each piece, blue it and restore it to the best of my ability. I'm just going to do it for the hell of it because I love old guns. I will try to make it look like new."

I've done some garage gunsmithing a couple of times just for fun, and had OK results. The first was with a Marlin 1895 .45-70 rifle that had been in a minor fire. Picked it up cheap at a local gun show. Tore it down, fabbed and hardened a couple of missing parts, polished, and cold blued it. I would never shoot it, and ended up turning it in at a local Sheriff's Dept. "Kicks for Guns" event for a gift card! Another was a Colt 1862 Pocket Police .36 Cal. that was a block of rust. Got it at a local auction in an old toolbox full of rusty tools. Was able to soak it and get it apart and make a few repairs. I lightly polished it and only partially cold blued the frame and barrel (except the brass) so that it still looked old. I was able to get it mostly functional, and I still have the Colt in the safe. Both projects were a lot of fun and interesting. Good luck with your future project.

Hey I admire that but I'm talking about taking an average old gun and spiffing it up. Sounds like you dug those up from the grave!