Here's a new addition to my too large (for me) Smith and Wesson revolver collection. It's a Model 13 in .357 Magnum, my first K frame in that caliber. I have many other K frames, but all of them are .38 Special.
I found it several weeks ago at Cabela's. The reason I'd never purchased a .357 K frame before is because I kind of have a $500 limit on gun purchases, and most Model 19's or 13's are priced well above that around here. This one was a little over that price, too, but I see Model 13's so rarely for sale at gun stores that I thought I better buy it. I placed the production date around 1983 as I recall.
I finally took it out shooting last week, so I thought it was time I posted a few pics and a range report. The gun was accurate, I felt - as good or better than the 4 screw model 14 no dash I had along. It's always nice to have a fixed sight gun with the point of impact pretty close to point of aim. I can't remember what type of ammo I was shooting, but it was factory .38's mostly. The target I've shown was shot at about 13 yards with .357 magnum from PMC, however. I was very pleased that the more powerful .357 rounds weren't any less accurate than the .38's...a little more accurate, in fact. (That's weird, isn't it?)
Cylinder lockup is very tight. The ejector rod has very little finish wear, leading me to believe the gun hasn't been shot much.
The gun is about 95% as far as bluing, but the grips have kind of odd stains...possibly someone tried to put some wood preservative on them. By the 1980's the magna grips were no longer numbered, and I have another set of non-numbered grips in much better shape, so I might change them out...or not. I love the gun because it's such a sweet shooter. Sorry I didn't post pics from the other side, but it's in the same condition as the side shown. Thanks for looking.
I found it several weeks ago at Cabela's. The reason I'd never purchased a .357 K frame before is because I kind of have a $500 limit on gun purchases, and most Model 19's or 13's are priced well above that around here. This one was a little over that price, too, but I see Model 13's so rarely for sale at gun stores that I thought I better buy it. I placed the production date around 1983 as I recall.
I finally took it out shooting last week, so I thought it was time I posted a few pics and a range report. The gun was accurate, I felt - as good or better than the 4 screw model 14 no dash I had along. It's always nice to have a fixed sight gun with the point of impact pretty close to point of aim. I can't remember what type of ammo I was shooting, but it was factory .38's mostly. The target I've shown was shot at about 13 yards with .357 magnum from PMC, however. I was very pleased that the more powerful .357 rounds weren't any less accurate than the .38's...a little more accurate, in fact. (That's weird, isn't it?)
Cylinder lockup is very tight. The ejector rod has very little finish wear, leading me to believe the gun hasn't been shot much.
The gun is about 95% as far as bluing, but the grips have kind of odd stains...possibly someone tried to put some wood preservative on them. By the 1980's the magna grips were no longer numbered, and I have another set of non-numbered grips in much better shape, so I might change them out...or not. I love the gun because it's such a sweet shooter. Sorry I didn't post pics from the other side, but it's in the same condition as the side shown. Thanks for looking.
