I was telling a friend that the Model 19 and the K-38 are the guns that made me fall for S&W when I was a kid. I remember my dad walking in the door as a policeman...I would be on the floor playing. I really do remember this at 4 or 5 years old.
I could smell his leather police jacket...I could hear the creaking leather of his gun belt, and I would look at the Model 19 hanging off his hip. He used to shoot a 6" K-38 in competition, and oddly enough, he would even shoot his 2.5" Model 19, which was his off-duty weapon.
He eventually traded the 19 for a 66.
A 6" K-38 was the first gun I ever bought when I was 15.
When I found out my friend had a NICKEL Pre-19, I begged, I pleaded, and I even threw myself on the floor and had a tantrum. But when I told him that I was going to hold my breath until he sold it to me, he gave in.