Had a visit from a family member last week. He brought something in a Walmart bag and put it on my kitchen counter.
"Thought you might want this," was all he said.
His dad, a WWII veteran who saw combat in Europe, was a man I greatly admired and respected. As a child and young man I literally sat at his feet to hear the stories he would tell about Operation Torch, North Africa and Sicily. We lost this tough old bird at age 90-something, going on a decade ago now.
After coffee and a talk - we hadn't visited in a while - he told me to open the bag, and I was delighted to find a Smith & Wesson Model 10-5. (Serial traces to end of 10-5's 1962-1977 range).
The S&W Mod. 10 needs no introduction to this forum. Six million were made, and it's likely you own one!
This one is (believed to be) unfired. More on that in a bit.
Unfortunately, it was stored for decades in a zipper case, and some surface rust got to it. I carefully removed with brass brush, which didn't damage the luxuriously deep blue. Or the case-hardened hammer and trigger. The next day I touched up with Brownell's Oxpho blue. There is a little pitting, but. It is believed to have never been fired!
Family story goes: The WWII vet, a family man, was also a business man. At some point his life was threatened by a tough guy. He was unperturbed.
"Any time, any place," was his calm response to the death threat. He had seen a thing or two overseas. But he did buy a pistol; a S&W Model 10-5.
Which alarmed his wife. Who then hid it and would never tell him where she hid it!
The men settled the disagreement peacefully. Was the gun in the attic? Garage? I don't know.
But it turned up when the house was cleaned out recently ... and the family thought of me.
Now I already have a K-frame, Model 65, bull-barrel 4" in stainless. Bought it in 1978, so, K-frame feels pretty familiar to me.
The trigger on this one is amazingly light! The DA pull is so, so good. And case-hardening is so classy, and my stainless does not have.
But the pencil-thin 4" barrel on this is so elegant; it practically is the S&W Victory Model of WWII - worn by so many Navy and Marine pilots!
Only difference is the Parkerize and half-moon sight (Victory model below)
So, yeah. Gotta get the M3 holster rig for this ...
So. Time has passed on to me another family heirloom - you might recall I got a Colt Police Positive Special under similar circumstances.
The WWII vet won his dispute without fighting, Sun Tzu-style. That's a true Victory Model, then.
Now I've got two .38s I'll never sell ...
All right. Let's see your Model 10s! Because you already have pictures of them!
AA
"Thought you might want this," was all he said.
His dad, a WWII veteran who saw combat in Europe, was a man I greatly admired and respected. As a child and young man I literally sat at his feet to hear the stories he would tell about Operation Torch, North Africa and Sicily. We lost this tough old bird at age 90-something, going on a decade ago now.
After coffee and a talk - we hadn't visited in a while - he told me to open the bag, and I was delighted to find a Smith & Wesson Model 10-5. (Serial traces to end of 10-5's 1962-1977 range).
The S&W Mod. 10 needs no introduction to this forum. Six million were made, and it's likely you own one!
This one is (believed to be) unfired. More on that in a bit.
Unfortunately, it was stored for decades in a zipper case, and some surface rust got to it. I carefully removed with brass brush, which didn't damage the luxuriously deep blue. Or the case-hardened hammer and trigger. The next day I touched up with Brownell's Oxpho blue. There is a little pitting, but. It is believed to have never been fired!
Family story goes: The WWII vet, a family man, was also a business man. At some point his life was threatened by a tough guy. He was unperturbed.
"Any time, any place," was his calm response to the death threat. He had seen a thing or two overseas. But he did buy a pistol; a S&W Model 10-5.
Which alarmed his wife. Who then hid it and would never tell him where she hid it!
The men settled the disagreement peacefully. Was the gun in the attic? Garage? I don't know.
But it turned up when the house was cleaned out recently ... and the family thought of me.
Now I already have a K-frame, Model 65, bull-barrel 4" in stainless. Bought it in 1978, so, K-frame feels pretty familiar to me.
The trigger on this one is amazingly light! The DA pull is so, so good. And case-hardening is so classy, and my stainless does not have.
But the pencil-thin 4" barrel on this is so elegant; it practically is the S&W Victory Model of WWII - worn by so many Navy and Marine pilots!
Only difference is the Parkerize and half-moon sight (Victory model below)
So, yeah. Gotta get the M3 holster rig for this ...
So. Time has passed on to me another family heirloom - you might recall I got a Colt Police Positive Special under similar circumstances.
The WWII vet won his dispute without fighting, Sun Tzu-style. That's a true Victory Model, then.
Now I've got two .38s I'll never sell ...
All right. Let's see your Model 10s! Because you already have pictures of them!
AA
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