The 'unofficial' 58 Club

I saw several agencies using Hoyt's during the '70s. Most popular was the break front design, as if afforded better retention than traditional designs.

Losing your sidearm to a suspect or assailant is not a good thing. Many makers brought different designs to the table.

Thankfully, I never got myself into a potentially dangerous situation when I had to worry about my sidearm being taken from me. It could have gone that way a few times, but didn't.

As far as dump pouches go for your .41, you can use the 44/45 model made by Triple K. They fit just fine. And you will be surprised at the cost. They make quality goods.
 
Other departments...I know that Evan Marshall carried a Model 58 when he was with Detroit PD....I believe officers had to carry the city issue .38 but were allowed anything for backup....which usually got drawn first.

Iggy (Forum Member) was with the Wyoming Highway Patrol and carried a 58 on duty...

Was talking to Peter Pi the owner of CorBon at the SHOT Show last year. He was also in LE and carried a 58...not sure where however.

Duty leather...Dallas was very "ununiform"...you could carry about any holster other than a breakfront....plain, Cordavan or basketweave. I carried plain leather. Had 2 HKS Speed loaders in a HKS pouch. Holsters were:

Safariland highrise thumbsnap....lost a 57 pushstarting a motorcycle and 58 out of it during a foot chase and stopped using it. It is very unnerving to have the little brother of the guy you just tackled run up to you with a handgun..."hey he has a gun just like mine...wait a minute that IS mine"....very unnerving...

Can't remember the name of the maker of the next holster but he was a Texas Highway Patrol officer. Steel lined, straight drop and held the gun well if the safety snap came undone. It was just a little too low to be comfortable when seated in a car.. Last was a G.William Davis straigh drop...I still have the holster. GREAT holster, probably the best duty holster for a revolver ever made. Had a tension screw so the gun would not come out if the thumbsnap came undone during a footchase.. Had a shop at the time and was one of his dealers. Had lots of these made for the local officers and he made a bunch for the 3" S&W Combat Specials that were coming out in the mid-1980s.

Bob
 
You folks probably already know this, but the Pennsauken, NJ PD also carried Model 58's for a time, as well.
 
hi Guys , here is the results of my emails inqueries on Nevada Highway Patrol .questions I asked are on the bottom , did not get all the aswer I was seeking but after several decades ,, well


Rob, I talked to a retired Trooper who was a range master. He said that the Nevada did carry a S&W .41 magnum during this period of time but he thought that they changed weapon earlier than 1984. He said he believed that it was the Model 58, which everyone had the fixed sights. I can remember that they were blued. As for the other information you want, I will need to contact some of the older retired Troopers. They went away from this when female officers started to hired because they could not fire the weapon accurately. If you could tell me the purpose of your research, I will see if I can locate some more information which you requested.

Frank Adams
Executive Director
Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association
P.O. Box 3247
Mesquite NV 89024

Rob, I had a chance to talk to a retired range master from the Highway Patrol. He said that the Nevada Highway Patrol carried a .41 magnum during that time. It was a S.





Greeting , can you please assist me , I am doing research on the Smith & Wesson Model 58 in .41 Magnum that your Dept once issued can you please assit me in a few queries ??


Were the revolvers blued or nickled ??

Date of issue and removal from service ??

How many did the Dept issue ??

Holsters issued or recommended ??

Issue Ammo ??

How was the spare ammo carried, loops or dump pouche ??

How many extra rounds was policy ??


Many thanks, robbt
 
hi guys , I just finished reading a article on reloading the .41 magnum , in the article the author mentionsin the 1960's seeing boxes of .41 magmum ammo marked .41 Police ???
has anyone seen any or have a picture ??
last post for tonite , robbt
 
So, I'm still new and learning about my model 58.

The 'ammo situation' is just that, a situation for me, since I do not handload (yet). I'm stuck with factory loads, and I wanted to ask which load does what in the model 58.

I have the 210 gr. Remington JSP, both in the Express and High Terminal Performance series. (What's the difference?)

I also bought some 210 gr. Speer DeepCurl Hollowpoints (I think they are Gold Dots), which are their hunting loads.

I figure the Speers are better for self defense, and that's what I'm currently carrying in the model 58.

The Remingtons kick and scream pretty good at the range.

1) What factory loads are good for the model 58 for defense?
2) What sort of velocities should I expect from the Remington and Speers?

Thanks.
 
My favorite .41 Magnum factory carry load is the Winchester 175gr Silvertip. Its recoil is very manageable and it has a long and enviable street record. From the 4" barrel of the Model 58, it has a muzzle velocity of ~1150-1175 fps. My own M58 is always loaded with them unless I'm woods walking. In those instances, I switch to the Winchester 240gr Platinum Tips.
 
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XTrooper said:
My favorite .41 Magnum factory carry load is the Winchester 175gr Silvertip. Its recoil is very manageable and it has a long and enviable street record. From the 4" barrel of the Model 58, it has a muzzle velocity of ~1050-1075 fps. My own M58 is always loaded with them unless I'm woods walking. In those instances, I switch to the Winchester 240gr Platinum Tips.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the 175 gr. Silvertips. Would the 1050 muzzle velocity make these closer to '41 special' power, or a mild magnum load? I assume with a bullet of .41 diameter and 175 grains, we don't need super high velocities.
 
The Remington 210 SP runs in the area of 1325 fps from a 4" barrel. They modestly expand and penetrate like no tomorrow. They are probably the hardest kicking of all the factory ammo, that said I have not tried the 265 hardcast from Buffalo Bore. There is no difference in the ammo...just an old box and a new box.

The Speer Gold Dot/Deep Curl HPs run in the high 1200s from a 4"...I think it was 1280 from my 57. They expand very well all the way down into the 950 fps range. Speer used to call everything with a Gold Dot HP "Gold Dot" but now have that designation for their personal defense ammo and Deep Curl for their "hunting" rounds. So again if you have an old box marked Gold Dot and a new box named Deep Curl it is the same bullet and same velocity.

As to personal defense factory ammo, probably the best going right now are those made with the Barnes 180 grain copper bullet. Velocity is in the 1300s but recoil noticeably less than the 210s. When I spoke with Peter Pi of CorBon he stated this is what he is now carrying in his 57 and 58 when he carries a .41 for personal defense. Federal, CorBon, Barnes and several others market ammo using that bullet. It is what I have been carrying in my 57.

There is also a new company with solid copper bullets that have a HP noticeably larger than the Barnes. They are C.O.P. and the bullets and ammo are available through MidwayUSA. The owner of the company gave me a half a dozen bullets at the SHOT Show last year but didn't have the time to test them this last summer as planned.

The mildest shooting would be the Winchester 175 SilverTip HPs at 1225 fps....but they may shoot a little low in a fixed sight 58. But at defense ranges it really won't make any difference...


















Hope this helps....Bob
 
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What Superman/Bob said. :D

And, yes, the Silvertips do shoot a bit low out of the M58, but not enough for a bad guy to notice. ;)

Oh, and sorry about the velocities I mentioned above. I was quoting from memory (not a good thing anymore). It should have read (now edited): ~1150-1175 fps.
 
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The factory specs for STs are 1225 fps from a 4" which is what the rounds out of that same box of ammo got several years ago. They clocked 1300 even out of a 6" 57....no clue why that round was down in the 1100s. It did expand however....

From what I read the 38-40 (.401" bullet of 180 grains) was one of the more popular gun fighting rounds of the Old West. The reason stated is it gave the lowest recoil of a round that was still a reliable manstopper. And remember this was generally with an all lead non-expanding bullets going in the 900 fps range.

The original no longer available .41 Magnum "police" round was a soft lead SWC at 950 fps from a 4" barrel. It had a good track record but leaded barrels very very badly. It also shot to POA in the 58. I still have a few boxes of this ammo and hope to run them into some water this spring...

Bob
 
Wow, quite an educational string of posts SuperMan. Many thanks.

I guess I'll load the M58 with the Remington 210's when I go camping, and for normal everyday carry, I'll go with the others that you mentioned.

The Remington 210's were the very first shots I took with my M58, about 3 weeks ago. Very fun to shoot, makes a thunderous boom at the indoor range that causes everyone to stop what they are doing. Much louder than even my snub nosed .357 mag with full house loads.
 
I posted a picture of my old 58 that I carried on duty for 13 years back in #137.
I carried reloads reccomended by Elmer Keith. The 210 grain bullet over a healthy dose of 2400 was a salty round to say the least.

I put one thru the spare tire, the tubular tire carrier, the tail gate, rear of the front seat and took out the dashboard radio of a 1970 Ford Bronco with one. Feller tried to run me down and kinda torqued me off a bit.

I was in 3 serious social encounters, and in each case, only one round was all that was needed to bring them to a quick end.

Heck, even the guy driving the Bronco went to the PD and reported that "messicans" was shooting at him. So I guess that was a one shot stop too. Another HP was there and arrested him. He got out of jail before I got out of the ER.
 
Iggy said:
I posted a picture of my old 58 that I carried on duty for 13 years back in #137.
I carried reloads reccomended by Elmer Keith. The 210 grain bullet over a healthy dose of 2400 was a salty round to say the least.

I put one thru the spare tire, the tubular tire carrier, the tail gate, rear of the front seat and took out the dashboard radio of a 1970 Ford Bronco with one. Feller tried to run me down and kinda torqued me off a bit.

I was in 3 serious social encounters, and in each case, only one round was all that was needed to bring them to a quick end.

Heck, even the guy driving the Bronco went to the PD and reported that "messicans" was shooting at him. So I guess that was a one shot stop too. Another HP was there and arrested him. He got out of jail before I got out of the ER.
Click to expand...

Interesting stories, Iggy. It sounds like the model 58 and 41 mag cartridge did very well. This certainly offers a lot of extra confidence in the hardware.

Thank you for sharing.
 
1776...if you look at the above pics you can see the line of jugs and then a bullet proof vest insert. All the HPs went though the milk carton and 2-3 jugs... The 210 Remington SP ran through the carton, 4 jugs and buried itself in the vest insert....



....then CRACKED THE JUG THAT WAS SUPPORTING THE VEST so it had to be replaced.

I always have a few boxes of that stuff around.


Bob
 
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