The 'unofficial' 58 Club

Aloha,

Did I mention that at least 3 of the 57/58s are wearing Pachmayr

"plastic" Bill Jordan grips. Got them a long time ago and they Work.

I have a young Marine friend who is interested in shooting among other

things and just may introduce him to the wonders of 57/58s And reloading.

BTW, the 41 mag case will last almost forever when using 900 fps

"target" loads. Since I started, I have kept records of how many reloads I

have gotten out of the original 550 cases. I have stopped counting

once I reached over 50 reloads on the batch of cases I use Only for target loads

I have other cases just for 1200 fps jacketed magnum loads. The Most I

have gotten so far is about 12 reloads.

BTW, if anyone asks, Old discontinued Hornady Silhoutte FMJ 41 bullets

WILL go thru a 1968 Oldsmobile side to side, including one of the

metal side impact door plate.

Will also penetrate closed trunk and stop in the front dashboard.
 
Several years ago, I walked into my local gun shop and he told me that he just had two (2) nice S & W handguns come in that he thought I would be interested in.

Both handguns had been owned by a SFPD Police Officer that retired in the 1970's and he was now having to move to a nursing home which would not allow firearms. His kids didn't want them and so they ended up at the gun shop.

Both kids did not want them and so they wanted to sell them. The prices were reasonable and the handguns were in great shape plus they were including all of his duty leather goods.
I bought both of them and they will be among the last handguns that I will let lose.

I did 35 years in California law enforcement before retirement. My daughter is a San Diego PD Police Officer so when my time comes, I will pass them on to her to keep them in a LEO family.

,,,,,,,,,,and yes I really like the Model 58 and the Model 39-2 handguns!!!!
 
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Customized M58.

This was my first duty sidearm. It was bought new in '78 or '79, has a early 60s "S" serial number, though. It has had the rear sight trough opened a bit, and the fiber optic rod front sight added as compensation for my aging eyes. I am not sure I would go with fiber optic again, although some swear by them; I would have considered one of the XS tritium dots if I had been familiar with them at the time. It is easy to see and really draws the eyes. The refinish is electroless nickel. I can't find the original grip (or I would sell them). If I could find a grip like that on the 500 but for a square butt frame, I would swap.

It has always been a good shooter and I qualified well with it. I even made lots of "friends" qualifying with it under a covered firing point using the hunting load.
 

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Doug M. said:
I bought mine NIB in 1978 or 1979; s/n is S327XXX.
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Must have been sitting in a dealers safe for a loooong time. But that is quite believable. The 58 was not very popular with civilians in it's heyday.

I knew an old dealer with a large shelf of new/old S&Ws in red , gold and blue boxes in his safe. There were several Colt boxes too. I was actually one of the few people who ever saw the inside of his walk-in vault. He once asked me to help him carry some guns in , and when I pointed to the 'blue wall' and asked what he had good , he gently guided me out saying "that's my retirement fund!"
 
Anyone have any LE stories to share about their 58? I know that we have heard about Iggy's experience with the raging bronco....so who else has carried/used a Model 58?

Well there was the time I was going through and empty sorority house on a prowler call and and somebody bumped a door with an ironing board behind it. The door started swinging open and there was guy behind it.:confused:
He had a flashlight and was drawing a gun. I drew too.
Damn, he was fast!!!
We fired at the same time. He shattered and I didn't.:o
 
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Iggy said:
Anyone have any LE stories to share about their 58? I know that we have heard about Iggy's experience with the raging bronco....so who else has carried/used a Model 58?

Well there was the time I was going through and empty sorority house on a prowler call and and somebody bumped a door with an ironing board behind it. The door started swinging open and there was guy behind it.:confused:
He had a flashlight and was drawing a gun. I drew too.
Damn, he was fast!!!
We fired at the same time. He shattered and I didn't.:o
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First an innocent little Bronco, now a handsome trooper in the mirror...what's next? :p
 
How about gittn' knocked over a guard rail by a car while investigating an accident in a blizzard, and huntin' in the ditch for that 58 for 2 hours on a my hands and knees in a foot of snow?
LE ain't all as glorious as it seems.;)
 
Great stories Iggy...I keep saying you should write the history of you and that 58....

When I started with Dallas PD in 1977 there was a officer who had the locker next to me that carried a 58 and handloaded ammo with I believe a 210 grain Hornady HP...pre-XTP type. He loaded them to about a 1000 fps because the 210 Lead factory was not accurate and leaded the barrels too badly and the 1250 fps JSP/JHP rounds just too much for city work.

One night not long after I started he shot an armed robber just across the lake from the Northwest Substation. It was in an alley between two brick buildings. He told me the round flattened the guy on impact, went all the way through and took a chunk out of the brick wall behind the guy.... The officer later left and went to US Secret Service.

I shot nothing but revolver through 1980 in IPSC...all of it with a 4" 57. Took high revolver in the 1980 North Texas Sectionals/7th overall, with that gun. Did a 9.3 second El Presidente with all A-zone hits from full cover. Should have stayed with revolvers instead of going to .38 Super/1911s as I never placed that high again....

Yogi...how about some pics of the 58s????

Bob
 
SuperMan,
I too used reloads. 210 JHPs loaded down when I worked for the City PD and loaded hot when I went on the Patrol.

They will let the air out of a BG or anything else real quick. It's a very effective round.
 
Iggy said:
Well there was the time I was going through and empty sorority house on a prowler call and and somebody bumped a door with an ironing board behind it. The door started swinging open and there was guy behind it.:confused:
He had a flashlight and was drawing a gun. I drew too.
Damn, he was fast!!!
We fired at the same time. He shattered and I didn't.:o
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Chip - that's a real "Audie Murphy" moment !
 
bigshep85 said:
Anybody know how many nickel model 58's were made?
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If you believe the oft quoted yard stick of 10 to 15 percent of any given model turned out in nickel, that should be around 2000 to 3000 + or -, but, who knows ?

Supposedly 20,287 total manufactured between 1964 to the end of production in 1978.
 
RABULL said:
No photo but last year, I picked up a S.F.P.D. Model 58 revolver from a retired S.F.P.D. officer. He was also selling his off-duty handgun, a S & W Model 39-2 9mm L. I didn't want to break up the set up so both of them came home with me. They will have a place on honor in my collection and I won't be selling them off..... The one strange thing was that they also came with an extra set of N frame Target Grips that are still marked with the SFPD tag on them......
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Ahh, the good old days of the SFPD. Now we are requiered to carry the department issued sig 226 or 229 in .40.
 
Sebago Son said:
I've got alot of these guns, some in perfect condition, but this beat up, blue worn old S frame with the wrong stocks is my favorite....

5844004.jpg


Note the caliber....

5844012.jpg


It loves 8.2 grns of Unique in a .44 Magnum case under a 242 grn. cast lead round nosed flat point.
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Did you mean "N" frame instead of "S" frame? That is the first time I've seen a model 58 in .44 magnum. Did you do the conversion yourself from .41 mag to .44 mag? I've been looking for an old kinda beat up model 58 (because it has a fixed rear sight) to convert to .44 magnum, and then to put a .44 special pencil barrel on it with the old style half moon front sight and to relieve the bottom of the barrel for a larger ended ejector rod so it would look like a model 1917,....only in .44 magnum. Your's already has the correct heat treated frame for the magnum pressures and the .44 mag cylinder so I'd only have to change out the barrel to a .44 special barrel with half moon front sight and then relieve the barrel bottom to install a larger end ejector rod and it would be a fixed rear sight, .44 mag 1917 clone which doesn't exist. Wanna sell it? Seriously. If you do shoot me a P.M.


.
 
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M58 ammo tests from many years ago

I thought you guys would be interested in the ammo tests I did many years ago to find the "perfect" mid-range load for my Model 58. I've owned maybe 10 or so over the years not including the custom ones I own now. What I found from my testing was how consistently accurate the 58 was regardless of year of manufacture and how seldom the sights were not regulated fairly accurately to point of aim. I make no recommendation on which of these loads is the best because I was looking for three things to come together: velocity in the 900-1000fps region; acceptable accuracy at 25 yards (less than 2 inches); and point of impact as close as possible to point of aim. In this latter one I was surprised to learn that as the load changed the POI changed in not only elevation but windage as well. All my aim points were 6 o'clock on the black bull.

41MagnumTest2.jpg

41MagTest1.jpg
 
RPD20 said:
I just picked up my first .41 model 58. I realy dig N frames, new and old. I would like to put together a complete M&P collection. My Model 58 Serial # is N-5579XX. Would this 58 have been made in 1979?

Hopefully I will have it in a week or so, but here she is..............
S&W 58 .41 Magnum 41 Mag 4" Blue : Revolvers at GunBroker.com
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Nice grab...could never understand why anyone would put a BuyNow on a gun that is no longer made...

As to when your gun was made...The Book says 1977 was the last year but if the serial number is correct then it must be one of the last 58s made....

Welcome to The Cult.... If you don't reload you may want to order some 210 LSWC ammo from Georgia Arms...good target ammo...

Bob
 
Thanks for the info and the welcome. I have a Dillon 550, I just need to set her up a toolhead for .41 Mag. I hope all my N Frame .44's will make room in the safe for the 58;)
 
...once you shoot a .41 you start staring at the .44s trying to decide which one of going to go to make room for the next 57....

8.0 grains of Unique with a good quality 210 hard cast bullet runs 950 fps and matches the original police load. It also has shot to POA in all but two of the 58s I've had...

Bob
 
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