Model 10 questions....

[Roger Norris]

I recently bought 2 police surplus Model 10's. They both have worn blueing, and super smooth actions. I'm thinking of having them reblued and cleaned up, and outfiting them with some classic stag grips. My question is that when comparing them sidexside, one has a pinned barrel, and what appears to be some slight dimensional diferences. To you S&W afficinados these differences are probably second nature.....what are they? Interstingly, the pinned Model 10 is in better shapeThanks.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I recently bought 2 police surplus Model 10's. They both have worn blueing, and super smooth actions. I'm thinking of having them reblued and cleaned up, and outfiting them with some classic stag grips. My question is that when comparing them sidexside, one has a pinned barrel, and what appears to be some slight dimensional diferences. To you S&W afficinados these differences are probably second nature.....what are they? Interstingly, the pinned Model 10 is in better shapeThanks.

Why???? Leave them alone and put your stags on them. We have a member-executioner-who makes beautiful stag & bone grips. I have a set of bone service grips on a 64 no dash that look great.

 

[P&R Fan]

If you look inside the crane where the model number is stamped you'll see the Mod. 10 is followed by a dash and then another number. Each successive number refers to engineering changes made through the years. The non pinned gun is a 10-8 or later. Let us know the dash number and serial number, found on the bottom of grip and we can tell you more.
I, and most of us on here would advise against re-bluing. It will negatively affect collector value, and takes away some of the character, especially on a law enforcement gun. There's probably some stories in those scratches.

 

[Roger Norris]

I'm suprised at the recomendation not to re-blue, but I'm listening. Honestly, I figured the value of these, as is, to be so low that a professionaly done polish and reblue certainly couldn't hurt. I'm not concerned with resale, but I don't want to screw up any historical significance either. Hmmmm. I will haul them out of the vault and report on the dash number(s) later, and hopefully post some pictures. Thanks, I appreciate the advice and comments.

 

[Iggy]

Check your private messages.

 

[TheKySharpshooter]

If you look inside the crane where the model number is stamped you'll see the Mod. 10 is followed by a dash and then another number. Each successive number refers to engineering changes made through the years. The non pinned gun is a 10-8 or later. Let us know the dash number and serial number, found on the bottom of grip and we can tell you more.
I, and most of us on here would advise against re-bluing. It will negatively affect collector value, and takes away some of the character, especially on a law enforcement gun. There's probably some stories in those scratches.

I agree with not re-bluing because I like seeing a little wear on it. I don't know about the 10-8 comment though, saying a 10-8 and up would not be pinned. I have a 10-8, built in 1980 according to another member on here, and it has a pinned barrel.

 

[Art Doc]

We don't care if you want to reblue your guns. They are not so rare or valuable that anyone would mourn the loss of treasured collectibles. We just usually recommend against it from an economics standpoint. Refinishing may end up costing more than the guns are worth. If you want new looking guns then buy some. It will be cheaper in the long run and the guns will be more valuable than refinished ones. Refinishing is a bad investment. But if it really makes you happy then go ahead.

S&W deleted the barrel pin in 1982. One of your guns was made before this date and the other was manufactured after 1982.

 

[aterry33]

There's nothing wrong with re-bluing them if you want to. S&W does a decent job. If they're not too badly worn, many of us would not re-blue as we like that look.

I have had a number of J/K frames reblued over the years. If you were talking about re-bluing an old Model 27 or 29 my opinion might be different.

Post some pics of 'em.

 

[P&R Fan]

I don't know about the 10-8 comment though, saying a 10-8 and up would not be pinned. I have a 10-8, built in 1980 according to another member on here, and it has a pinned barrel.

I have a 10-8 that's pinned too. The 10-8 ran from '77 to '88, they stopped pinning the barrels in '82, right about in the middle. I actually was surprised when I looked it up in the Catalog, I assumed the ending of the pin coincided with a dash. You learn something new on here every day.

 

[Camster]

We don't care if you want to reblue your guns. They are not so rare or valuable that anyone would mourn the loss of treasured collectibles. We just usually recommend against it from an economics standpoint. Refinishing may end up costing more than the guns are worth. If you want new looking guns then buy some. It will be cheaper in the long run and the guns will be more valuable than refinished ones. Refinishing is a bad investment. But if it really makes you happy then go ahead.

S&W deleted the barrel pin in 1982. One of your guns was made before this date and the other was manufactured after 1982.

Ditto Saxon.

 

[TheKySharpshooter]

I assumed the ending of the pin coincided with a dash. You learn something new on here every day.

I would have thought it changed with a dash too, that is very interesting. And I also agree about learning something new every day, that's why I try to make daily visits