Defensive Carry banner

S&W Model 10-6 info

22K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  bmcgilvray 
#1 ·
Need some help finding the year made, if +p ammo is safe, and any other info I possibly can on a S&W model 10-6. The gun was purchased new in Fairbanks Alaska in July of 1977 I believe. The serial number from from the bottom of the grip area is 2D444XX. When the cylinder is open to the side Mod. 10-6, 32961, and A17 can be seen in the hinged portion. Barrel is marked 38 S&W. Special CTG on the right side. Gun has a 4" bull barrel, fixed sights, and checkered wood grips with gold S&W medallion in each side. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Give S&W a call they will be happy to give you that info over the phone. I have called them many times about my S&W handguns and they have been quite helpful. The 10-6 can eat +P ammo all day long and ask for more. I have a 10-8 and that is what I feed mine. A security contract I once worked required us to use 125 Gr. 38 Spec+P SJHP. This load shot very well in my 10-8. We had to shoot at 3, 7, 15, and 25 yards on a mansize silhouette target focusing on center chest shots.
 
#3 ·
Purchased in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1977 when it was "hot off the press."

According to the Supica/Nahas "Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson" your revolver was also manufactured in 1977.

The Model 10 Heavy Barrel was introduced in 1958 as a variation of the standard 4-inch Model 10 with tapered barrel. It became hugely popular with law enforcement agencies in the 1960-1980 time period. Jim Cirillo made good use of a Smith & Wesson Model 10 Heavy Barrel while in the NYPD stake-out squad back in the day.

Your Model 10-6 will consume more +P ammunition than you'll want to purchase to feed it or will enjoy shooting through it. I have a couple of Model 10-6 revolvers around here along with some additional Model 10s. All eagerly shoot +P ammunition and especially like the +P158 grain lead SWC stuff, printing it only about an inch lower on target than standard velocity 158 grain ammunition at 15 yards. Any Model 10 I've used shot 158 grain standard velocity to point of aim.

Sorry to be enthusiastic but I can't say enough good things about the Smith & Wesson Model 10. My first handgun was a Model 10-6, shipped from the factory in June of 1971. I purchased it used from an armored truck guard in 1975. It is still my favorite "go to" handgun and the one most often carried for self defense. It has fired many boxes of +P 158 grain ammunition, mostly Winchester brand. It has also fired even more +P equivalent handloads along with a goodly amount of the Winchester produced +P+ "Treasury Load" and even hotter Super Vel ammunition.

If a handgun could be considered "used and abused" then this one is. I got it when I was too young, immature, and ignorant to make prudent use of reloading manuals. After living through a season or two of mass consumption of handloads that were overloads, it has since toiled on by being the test bed for every handloaded .38 Special concoction that I have wanted to experimentally load and run over the chronograph screens. This Model 10 is still shot at least weekly. It has never had a mechanical failure and still possesses all its original parts! Though it was still shooting great, I finally put a shim in it a little over a year ago to take up the end shake that had developed over its life time. A few years back I made a semi-educated estimate that I have probably loaded around 90,000 rounds of .38 Special since I began handloading in 1976. Probably 2/3 of that ammunition has been fired through this one revolver. The great majority of that ammunition was loaded to standard velocity specifications though.



Old favorite Smith & Wesson Model 10 Heavy Barrel fitted with a Tyler T-Grip, a relatively recent installation.



Earlier photo taken without the T-Grip.


I posted a narrative about my old favorite Model 10 here on the Forum a few years back. I wrote it up a few years before even posting it here.

Link:
http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbull...on/28377-s-w-model-10-revolver-long-haul.html

Glock reliability? Bah!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top