most sickly 610 in america

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Hatiwolf

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Let me start off with a short introduction since this is my first time posting. Long time reader of the forum but always just that ... because some of the posts here trump any intelligent thing I know about revolvers. Im a fanatic of full lug long barrel revolvers. I roll my own so revolvers are the perfect guns for me, even moreso because I can hit a target at 50+ yards with them and 80 yards with my bow yet I cant hit my foot with rifles.

Im always on the prowl for used revolvers. If its slow at work during the day I snoop the local pawn shops, gun stores, shows on the weekend ... the places I sniff around are endless. 2 weeks ago I came across a pawn store just outside of Houston that I had never stopped at. I waited for the girls at the counter to buzz me in while I scanned across the shotguns and rifles against the wall from outside the glass doors. Hey so I already know they have guns, lets go sniff out the pistols under the glass. I can already see what looks to be a 686 from 30 feet away and im thinking im gonna have to cut a deal for her. Problem here ... this isnt a 686 ... its 10MM wearing a non fitting pachmayr! Theyve only got 3 other pistols and its a major chain pawn store so I know they dont know anything about guns so I figure. Well they at least know that this one should have a $900 price tag! Im looking it over and going from happy to sad quickly. She has no moon clips to start. The barrel looks good ... looks like it wasnt fired much. Except ... the rear sight is bent. Not only that it appears to be out of time (never seen one out of time and mine are cared for like glass .. fling my cylinder open or whip it shut if I let you shoot one of mine and you might end up with an unhappy me giving you a very nasty look). The cylinder rests up against the frame and lightly rubs when you open her up. Its just a sad situation. So I call my revolver brother and hes ecstatic that ive found the holy grail. As im sending pictures over the phone and telling him whats going on hes getting depressed too. I forgot to mention the owner scratched up the face of the cylinder trying to get it cleaned up. I offered 500 without being rude as they were looking it over with me and saying the girl never looked it over when taking it in and walked out after getting turned down. Manager claims it just came in and someone will buy it at his price. No biggy its not going anywhere.

Today is two weeks later. Its still on my mind. Even moreso after trying to find others for sale online. Im sitting dead in the area waiting for work and decide to scoot over and check out the holy grail gone to hell that im not gonna pay for. I walk in and immediately the kid that helped me last time brightens up and proudly tells me that hes now the manager. Not only is he the manager but he still has "my gun". Its got a price drop to 750 after only being in the store for 15 total days after my sad review of a once proud gun. I go over to the gun counter and shes the only pistol left. Nothing new in houston as pistols here go quick even if its not the mad gun grab like it is now. As im looking with no expression on my face at the new price tag the kid pulls it out and sets it on the counter in front of me. He reaches under the desk and pulls out the folded intake paperwork on it and points to the price paid of $450 on a loan that never got paid a penny on. The only thing he had to say was what he said to make my day "We knew you would come back for it. Its yours for $500 out the door, dirty harry".

I promised to take him to shoot it at the range when I get it back up and alive. Now its time to take care of it and im going to need some help. The only place I know to start on what I can do for it is some Hogue grips for N frame and a few days of loving polishing. Id rather not send it to smith if i dont have to. They did at least tell me it was made april of 1990. The poor thing came with nothing. No moon clips, no box and the wrong clothes. Im not even sure where to start, but like all my revolvers she can have whatever she wants and needs.

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The Pachmayrs on the gun are perfect. I would much rather have them than the Hogues. Find a competent gunsmith in your area and have him go over the gun. Being out of time is not a big deal to fix.

Looks like a nice gun.
 
For the price im in love. If I can get this gun back in shape for under 250 ill be happy. There is no way I would have ever bought a glock 20 so this is the only way ill ever own a 10mm pistol.
 
Most of us here would give anything to find a 610 for $500 out the door. That is a great price for what you have. +1 on the Pachmyer grips. They fit a hand better than the stock grips and are more comfortable to shoot. A few scratches just add "character" or personality to the gun. Either send it back to S&W or find a local competent gunsmith to send it to. For a few hundred bucks he should be able to do some action/trigger work to get it back in shape. I think you did well. Also shoots .40 cal ammo as well. Get her fixed and shoot it. Enjoy.

Don't hate the G20. They are great shooter with some hot 10mm loads.

 
Last edited:
ken158 said:
Send it back to the factory and you will receive a perfect gun in return and most likely cost you nothing. How can you beat that?
Click to expand...

I'd check into that too. I'd love to have a 610 but the prices are out of my reach. Congrats on your purchase and Welcome to the forum!
 
Polishing the front of the cylinder (and elsewhere if needed) and replacing a rear sight blade are pretty easy tasks, and moon clips are not difficult to find. Well done on the price negotiation!
 
Went to the gun show today and ran into gunsmith TR Graham. I handed it over to him and when he had it stripped down he told me there was absolutely nothing wrong with it other than a few spots of rust under the grip and pointed out that it has barely been fired from the lack of any wear. Tipped him an extra 10 and found a table with a set of hogue 25002 grips to tide myself over until I get a set of originals for it and pachmayrs that might fit. Several dealers made through the roof offers as I walked around the show including one offering to trade me a 6" blued python. Pythons you can get at every show, online out the wazoo, and from a fair amount of locals looking to make a profit ... 610 ive never even seen for sale in my life. Jokingly I said 1500 to one table and he started counting bills out until I said not right now. I dont plan on looking at a gun, I plan on using it no less than monthly for both target and hunting. Not sure how crazy that sounds but im not interested in money. Several friends think it was stupid not to sell it for a 1k profit. If I wanted extra money id pick up a few extra jobs at work or travel up north and buy a few cars to flip at the endless car lots I have connections with. Money comes easy, unique pistols do not. And besides with the money I would gain from the sale id be at a loss when I hopped on gun broker or armslist and bought someone elses 610 for the same 1300-1500.

Ill run it through a good cleaning and polishing over the next few nights if I get free time and get some pics up that dont look shameful. Need to replace the sight blade but for the short term thinking I can just try to bend it straight so I can play.

As for moon clips my revolver buddy immediately stopped me from buying moonclips from S&W. He showed me the set of clips for his 625 from RIMZ and a set from S&W. Im sold on the RIMZ and will be ordering a pack of 15 later tonight.
 
Im not sure if it actually even "happened" to me. I hit at least 1 pawn shop a day to check out their stock while im passing by during work. I go to one gun show a month or have friends that do and call me if they see anything I would want. So lets say in 2 years ive hit at least 700 pawn shops and 24 gun shows. This is the first one ive come across. I would have to say its a merciful donation by the gun gods to keep me from giving up. Sadly I had to pass on a .30 carbine blackhawk yesterday because ... im low on funds after getting another 686 and the 610 this month. So the gun gods laughed at me for their offering. To make it worse a local was there with his ruger .22 security six (i think) and was telling a dealer he wanted 350. I passed at that price and ran into him an hour later. He smiled and showed an empty holster ... said he sold it for 250. I would have snatched it up if he told me he would have taken offers! So one giant step forward and 2 small steps back.
 
Ugh, $500 for a 0xxx 610, even if it is a six-inch! Congrats! Everybody gets one deal like that, I'd like to think. I got mine on a Corvette, so I can't complain, but man, I hope you shoot the hell out of it once it's back out of bed. Maybe trade those escalator-grip Pachs for something nice.
 
I appears that the front screw that holds the rear sight in place is loose. See if that helps.

Nice gun and at half the price I paid for my 5". You did good.
 
You made a fantastic buy. Even more so because judging from the appearance of the cylinder and frame it still has its factory finish. Please return the gun gods' favor by not polishing off the factory finish. As previously posted, a few light scratches just give a gun a little character. Using any metal polish designed to change the appearance of metal will take a big chunk out of its collector value. Other than replacing the rear sight leaf screw and buying a correct vintage set of Combats for show and tell just enjoy her accuracy and mild recoil.
 
Now I just have to find ammo for it until I get suitable powders. The only thing I could find for an outing today with 3 friends was a box of american eagle in 10 and two friends each brought a box of 40 so they could test her out. I left the remington box at home by accident in my rush packing job to get out the door and file the rest of my moonclips down at the same time. I absolutely refuse to buy a box of blazer aluminition even though there has to be 100 boxes on shelves locally.

Performance... pulled right hard for everyone with 10mm and left with the 40 and both groupings looking more like deranged constellations. What the hell? If it was just me I would blame myself but the 3 of us willing to shoot it (always a 380 user in the crowd afraid of anything bigger) had the same problem. I kept it at 7 yards so I could compare it quickly to the spot on groups left by my 686 and to see if it was human error. Something isnt right.
 
Do you have access to a Ransom Rest? Hard to believe it's all over with factory loads out of a lightly-used 6" at a mere 20'. It hasn't been recrowned, has it? I wonder if it's a tiny bit out of time, and relying too much on the forcing cone; I don't even know if you could catch that with a chrony but the possibility would scare me out of shooting it until I got it to a 'smith.
 
Nightowl said:
I appears that the front screw that holds the rear sight in place is loose. See if that helps.

Nice gun and at half the price I paid for my 5". You did good.
Click to expand...

Did you tighten up the rear sight before you shot it? That would probably explain the groups if you haven't. You can see the front of the sight body is raised way up in the air.:)
Ed
 
Had the sight tightened and worked the bent blade back into place after being told by 2 smiths getting any parts wont be fast. That picture was literally the minute I got it in the door from purchase so I would have the memory of it and proof that I got it at that price as i wouldnt believe it without pics. I dont have a rest but plan to get one soon ... same with a chronograph since my friend that had one I no longer see and I absolutely have to have one for working up loads. No clue on the guns past at all. I do know im not that bad though period as I picked off a rabbit with the 686 at 40-50 yards to save a broadhead recently. TR Graham and another smith both cleared the gun to shoot. If it was just left or just right, no problem because the sight blade is bent so that would be expected. Personally it feels loose for a smith but I only have 3 smith revolvers (686+ and 66-5) and only have experience with maybe a dozen that ive put more than 50 rounds through in my life. One thing I left out ... shooting offhand sent my arm almost a foot right with the recoil yet not at all left or right a minute later with the 686.

Its not getting groups, nedlate. If it was shooting 5 inches left and 2 inches down I would be quite pleased as thats just an easy cure. It is very inconsistant and that implies something (or someone) is the problem. Since I wasnt the only someone I know its not someone. When I go to the range with friends we switch up guns to compare one to the other and a fun "hell you might as well sell it to me since it seems to like my hands better". My gun isnt a wife anyways ... if you handle it properly and dont act like your in the movies I gladly let people around me enjoy my guns and some of my ammo even. I didnt adjust sights as I was just wanting to shoot it period and generally I shoot no less than twice a month so theres plenty of opportunity to get things adjusted for field use later. I dont normally go to two smiths to ask if a gun is safe to shoot though but the fact that the sight blade is bent, the cylinder release is finicky about letting go and in my opinion the whole gun just feels off for a smith revolver sent me for advice before pulling the trigger with a live round. Only the trigger feels right. I am convinced something is wrong with the yoke but im neither a gunsmith nor a guy who owns a massive collection of guns and has a lifetime of experience in anything more than the enjoyment of target shooting for fun and hunting. No question in my mind that she has hit the ground or at least some other solid object hard before reaching my hands. Because of what it is though and the price it was selling for I wasnt going to pass it up. Just like a car, it can be fixed. And this is a car you dont see often so its worth taking a risk on needing to replace an engine.

At this point its just going to get cleaned from sundays outing and im going to ask if theres any reccommendations of who to go see within 100 miles of houston who is well versed in smith revolvers that anyone here might know of. I like to be present to listen and learn as often as possible. The second smith did say in his rushed opinion (he was backed up for a month but was gladly willing to take a quick peek at an old clients gun for a safety exam) that it looked to not be the original trigger but he wasnt sure. I was more than tempted to snatch up the older model coonan in his store but I didnt have a 1500 dollar bill laying around and im not going to pay a premium for a low serial number when im a shooter, not a collector. Dont want to explain that decision to the wife less than 3 weeks later either after buying one of my 10 guns to own in life.

Ill post an updated picture of her later tonight when I have a free minute after I get back from work.
 
murphydog said:
Polishing the front of the cylinder (and elsewhere if needed) and replacing a rear sight blade are pretty easy tasks, and moon clips are not difficult to find. Well done on the price negotiation!
Click to expand...

Sounds like he's a good negotiator and actor to me :) Nothing particularly difficult to fix with that gun. He done good.
I'd send it to S&W as good wheel gun smiths can be hard to find, and the good ones are back logged with work. Congrats to the OP
 
I talked to smith and wesson on the way home from purchase. Looking at a 4-6 month wait time after it arrives with them. At that time I will get a written estimate of the cost to repair if they determine it needs repair according to the representative on the phone. Lets expand that ring to a revolversmith within 200 miles of houston ... austin and san antonio area even. I dont mind driving.

I have friends willing to build me a 1911 38 super from the ground up yet no one can properly smith a real smith?
 
Right at a year later it is finally resolved. The hangup was from a groove worn into the hole in the recoil shield. Alan Harton of Single Action Service happens to live 2 miles down the same major street from me!!! He told me after hearing my problem to bring it in and he could fix it in no time. I dropped it off and he called me back an hour later to come pick it up. Now the problem is a week later I just had to pick up a 625-3 that was giving me the puppy eyes behind the glass. Was not the same luck in price though.
 
Hatiwolf said:
Right at a year later it is finally resolved. The hangup was from a groove worn into the hole in the recoil shield. Alan Harton of Single Action Service happens to live 2 miles down the same major street from me!!! He told me after hearing my problem to bring it in and he could fix it in no time. I dropped it off and he called me back an hour later to come pick it up. Now the problem is a week later I just had to pick up a 625-3 that was giving me the puppy eyes behind the glass. Was not the same luck in price though.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it worked out. Speaking of Alan Harton, take a look at this 10mm he fixed up for me:
Ruger1copy.jpg

Alan even took this photo to show me what he had done with my bright stainless .40 S&W Vaquero...now it has adjustable sights, is bead blasted stainless, and is a 10mm!
 
He will be getting the nod to build a 500 linebaugh from me in the next year. And holy heck, I got to see his customer projects and personal toy collection with my wife present! Take that, hon. I do not own near enough revolvers!
 
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