What's your favorite K frame?

[NE450No2]

When I was a "kid" and rad my dads hunting magazines I read the S&W add that described the 6" Mod 19 as the best all round revolver.
38 wadcutters for target and practice, 38 Specials for defense, and 357 Mags for hunting. I knew some day i would have one...

However my first rifle was a Ruger Deerstalker in 44 Mag. My first revolver a Super Blackhawk in 44 Mag, my first S&W revolver a 6 1/2" Mod 29...

So I just never became a 357 Mag kind of guy...

I did use a 6" Mod 14, with a Bomar Rib as my PPC gun. This stock barreled shot as good,and better than any of the other Custom Bull Barreled PPC guns I ever shot. And I shot most of the best guns of the day...

However, I needed a short barreled revolver for "Snub Nosed" matches.

So I bought a 2 1/2" Mod 19. Again I must have been lucky as this short Mod 19 shot as good at 25 yards as any 6" Custom PPC gun I ever fired.

I won many a Snub Nosed Match with it. I did the action job myself.

I even carried it on some plainclothes assignments. It was 100% reliable with full power 357 Mag ammo and very accurate.

I must say it is my most favorite K frame.

However I am an N frame S&W kind of guy, in calibres of 44 Mag and 45 ACP, and I make no apologies for it...
But I still have a soft spot in my heart for a 2 1/2" Mod 19...

If I WAS, a 357 Mag kind of guy, I would have a whole "fleet" of 2 1/2" Mod 19's... And a few 4" and 6" ones as well, with a few Mod 66's thrown in too...

 

[mesinge2]

Something about those early post war M&P snubs.

I agree. Awesome gun!

 

[NE450No2]

Also, I will say, that I just do not understand, why S&W does not make a Mod 19 and 66 today in 357 Mag.

OK, WE ALL KNOW, that a K frame 357 Mag is not as rugged as an L frame or an N frame 357 Mag...

That was known from the start of the K frame 357's...

I think this problem started when Police Depts. started requiring officers to qualify with 357 Mag ammo. "Back in the day" most Depts had their officers shoot 38 Special ammo, but they could carry 357 Mags.
Durring this time I was carrying a S&W 44 Mag, and I had to shoot 44 Mag ammo in my qualifications as well.

The K frame 357 is just not suited to a lot of 357 Mag ammo, and as it is so light it just kicked too much for the average officer, in a 50 round qual course with 357 Mag ammo.
The truth is no Police carried 50 rounds of ammo on their belt...

The L frame solved 2 "problems" it was stronger and heavier, so it lasted longer and kicked less...

But this was near the end of the Big Magnums of Police carry, and near the end of Police issue of Revolvers...

However for Sport Use, I still think a K frame 357 Mag is an excellent choice, for 357 Mag kind of guys...

 

[WASATCH CHARLIE]

64

Mdl.10-5
Dick

IS THAT BOTTON ONE A 1971-72? NO DASH 64? BEAUTIFULL K FRAMES.

 

[Yurko]

My favorite K-frame in my collection is a 10-5
My favorite K-frame NOT in my collection is a 65 (preferably P&R)

 

[Poohgyrr]

I like them all, from 2" to 4". This M19-3 is one of my better shooting, and the M66-2 is built for carry. Both are sweet.

 

[ldp4570]

17-3

 

[LOBO]

This is not an easy question to answer.


10-8, 2 1/2"

or,


M&P Pre-10 that shipped in October of 1946

or,


19-2 from 1968

 

[mesinge2]

This thread makes me want to look for an M&P Pre-10 snub!

 

[O2Guy]

It's hard not to like a Model 10.

 

[Kframe66]

Aluminum, some folks smooth the edges a tad so they are less likely to mar the wood.

5Star is the company .357 K-Frame Accessories

Much thanks for that link to the speedloaders.

 

[Rapidray]

that would be my 10-6

better known as the pre-13

 

[Sportsterguy]

I love all the K frames!!!

However, I was going to mention my favorite is my Model 65-3, 3" barrel K-frame . . . perfect pointing, fast from the holster, great in matches and easy to carry.

BUT . . . the venerable M&P K frames have not been represented on this thread yet . . . and I love my old 62 year-old 5" M&P.

A great shooting and very good looking K-frame indeed . . . so here's a tip of the hat for this awesome and huge-selling staple of the S&W revolver line up for soooo many years!

That beauty can start collecting Social Security! Gorgeous revolver Tom. Long time, no see. Good to see you back!

As I mentioned before my favorite is a 3" 66-2, followed by my 19-3 with a 17-3 coming in 3rd. They are the most perfectly balanced revolvers ever made IMO and are extremely accurate to boot. Especially the 17-3. This is my nice one. Have a beater and I mean beater for shooting and hunting. It will keep up with my model 41 on the range.

Nice "K's" everyone. Here's mine, in order:

66-2

19-3

17-3

 

[ladder13]

M&P Pre-10 that shipped in October of 1946

Love those early post war M&P's with the long action

 

[BlackAgnes]

These .22LR Combat Masterpieces...

Tim

 

[JCS&W]

I posted a couple of my favorites earlier, M19/66's. However, a couple of the other K frames had their feeling hurt, so here are a couple more.
M15-4

M12-3

 

[perrazi]

since no one mentioned my favorite k frame,i will. any model 53 with any bbl length.

 

[Doug M.]

Also, I will say, that I just do not understand, why S&W does not make a Mod 19 and 66 today in 357 Mag.

OK, WE ALL KNOW, that a K frame 357 Mag is not as rugged as an L frame or an N frame 357 Mag...

That was known from the start of the K frame 357's...

I think this problem started when Police Depts. started requiring officers to qualify with 357 Mag ammo. "Back in the day" most Depts had their officers shoot 38 Special ammo, but they could carry 357 Mags.
Durring this time I was carrying a S&W 44 Mag, and I had to shoot 44 Mag ammo in my qualifications as well.

The K frame 357 is just not suited to a lot of 357 Mag ammo, and as it is so light it just kicked too much for the average officer, in a 50 round qual course with 357 Mag ammo.
The truth is no Police carried 50 rounds of ammo on their belt...

The L frame solved 2 "problems" it was stronger and heavier, so it lasted longer and kicked less...

But this was near the end of the Big Magnums of Police carry, and near the end of Police issue of Revolvers...

However for Sport Use, I still think a K frame 357 Mag is an excellent choice, for 357 Mag kind of guys...

*
I have a 4" 66, and would no problem carrying it for a lot of uses. However, I do recall some of the issues that came up with the "train with .38s, carry .357s" paradigm. One, very simply, was that the radical difference in shooting the boomers under stress compared to wadcutters on the range was that shooter performance in actual shootings was ... poor. This is also related to the ergonomics of the revolver compared to the auto pistol, especially for those with small hands. John Bowman at the U/Illinois Police Training Institute wrote an article on the issue in the late 70s or early 80s, describing a female officer who had an awful time with the 66, and did great with the 1911. (John was the sort of guy who would tell off Chiefs when they started hand wringing about the officers carrying 1911s - maybe even worse than me.)

There were a couple of spectacular and ugly lessons about training as one fights that had a lot of impact on LE firearms training. The Newhall incident's impact was more on high risk encounter tactics and range procedures. NYSP had an ugly civil case in the early 60s (as I recall) in which their firearms training was raked over the coals in terms of judgment and proficiency under stress. As a result, NYSP shot a LOT, and almost all of it with service ammo. In their revolver days, it was enough to screw up their K frames pretty quickly. I spoke to one of their troopers about it, and he described a very high volume of shooting, and told me that this had resulted in substantial damage to the Ks, leading to a move to the N frames. The inability to "fudge" by using wimp ammo in training with auto pistols was advocated as another supporting reason for such a transition.

There is research data from the Marine Corps (I have assumed it is from their HSLD folks in Force Recon, as they are among the few who shoot enough and under controlled circumstances, but I don't know) which showed that measurable deterioration in shooting skill shows in 7 days without training. A realistic volume of shooting (500+ rounds/week) for maintaining skill using ammo that actually reflects that with which one needs to be able to perform will beat the heck out of many firearms, and in revolvers, K frames will start to poop out fastest. Given that knowledge, I can't blame S&W for not wanting to deal with the issues that will come from hard shooters and K frames, much as I like that frame.

I don't mean to single out revolvers, especially the K frames - there are a couple of makes and models of auto pistol which have reflected a lot of fragility under such use.

 

[stantheman86]

Most of us don't have the ability to shoot 500+ rounds a week but I have heard of Model 64's with documented 70,000+ round counts before they needed to be rebuilt.

The French GIGN shoots every day and their .357 revolvers are a mainstay. I forget the exact amount but they shoot several hundred full bore .357's every day for training and the Ruger GP100 and Manurhin were the only revolvers they found were able to take the abuse of daily training.

 

[s2harry]

HELLO FROM VIET NAM

Mdl.10-5
Dick

[/QUOTE

On vacation in Viet Nam north today in Chau Long Sapa 1click from the Chinese border. Its beautiful here. Got to keep in touch. I love the Skinney barrel mod-10 4" for K frame guns. Haven't found one when I have money. Last one I got was a worn Mod-66 but good shooter. Harry

By the way Viet Nam aint the same place I remember. Long Binh 518th Engineers Nov 1970- 27 July 1971. Long Binh is not there and Tahn Son Nuit Air Base is Ho Chi Min Airport. Where'd the Soda Stands go? Has anyone seen Jay Bucktel?