My Highway Patrolman was my second gun, if I blew the dust off my memories right. It's sort of funny now to recall that my intention at the time included getting my then-wife to like shooting. Instead of the six-inch K-22 that I bought soon after, I decided in my youthful way that a really heavy .38 wadcutter gun was the answer. Of course, a six-inch Model 28 is a little much for a petite woman with small hands, and the experiment, at least that part of it, failed.
No matter, because 35 years later, the 28's still here. It doesn't get shot too much any more, since for .36 caliber shooting I tend to prefer a Python. The double-action pull on this one was never the greatest and didn't respond to tuning attempts, so I put it back to original and just left it at that.
I also recall that my fourth attempt or so at organized pistol competition found me on the line of a steel plate match with the 28 and a belt full of HKS speedloaders. My respect goes out to the folks who've mastered those things, but I never did, leaving fresh ammunition frequently spread around on the ground or in the carrier. Since Safariland doesn't make their superb CompIIs or -IIIs for the N and I don't see the point of getting it moonclipped, it just remains as it always was.
It came as you see it here, with the exception of the orginal Magnas. Since I couldn't shoot the thing with the Magnas and bought these goncalo alves targets immediately, that's to me the real original appearance.
The serial number is 1072XX and I seem to recall that I bought it new at Bell's in Franklin Park, IL in November, 1973, for the princely sum of $140.00 plus tax.
There's no telling how many rounds have gone down the tube, but I'd guess it's an easy 30,000, the huge majority of them the old Hornady 158gr. swaged semi-wadcutters we used to get from the old Gander Mountain on Wilmot Road. I never did cast my own .357 slugs back in the day, saving that effort for .45s.
Ironically, if I could have any new Smith I could dream up, it would be a four-inch Highway Patrolman, in .44 Special or .45 Auto. Not a Highway Patrolman if it's a big bore you say? I say the HP has its own distinct personality, more workaday and lunchbucket-plain, and that's how I'd like my new one. I just like the bigger holes.
