Another S&W M&P . . .interesting grips

[Shear_stress]

Adopted another forlorn-looking Smith and Wesson M&P from the gun pound.

A quick review. Decades before the name was given (some say sacreligiously) to a coal-black brass chucker molded from congealed Texas Tea, the "Military & Police" was what Smith called its bread and butter K-frame during the middle half of the last century. In 1957, they switched to numeric nominclature and the gun became the Model 10. Crack open the 2006 catalog and the Model 10 is still there, like a living fossil.

Mine has a six-inch barrel. It's a modern short-action, yet still has the half-moon front sight. The serial number, C140XXX, places production somewhere between 1948 and 1952, according to Supica and Nahas.

The blueing on the frame, cylinder and barrel is in good shape, though the finish on the front and rear grip strap has been reduced to a brown patina. The color case hardening on the hammer looks great but has been rubbed off a bit on the trigger. A couple of small dings can be found here and there. Good, honest wear.

The gun is nothing special. Smith and Wesson made more than a couple M&Ps. What never ceases to amaze me is how beautifully finished they are, despite being on the low end of the product line. Accurate, too.

The only thing remotely odd about my gun is the grips. They are walnut, bear S&W medallions and are Magna-sized, yet are unchecked. There is a serial number on the reverse side of the right grip (250XXX) that doesn't match the gun. I haven't seen these before but I'd be curious to know more about them.

Anyway, here's the gun:

Here it is with my long-action, post-war five inch M&P:

 

[Old Fuff]

S&W did make uncheckered Magna service stocks as a usually optional item. I would expect the wood to be more figured then the run-of-the-mill chckered kind. Uncheckered target grips are more comon though. I would consider what you have to be a find... Both the stocks and the gun.

 

[Shear_stress]

Thanks, Fuff. Can always count on you for this kind of stuff.

We're lucky to be living in a time when you can still pick up the older k-frames pretty cheaply. Smith made a lot of them, but they won't be making any more.

 

[Old Fuff]

We're lucky to be living in a time when you can still pick up the older k-frames pretty cheaply. Smith made a lot of them, but they won't be making any more.

The old warrior is still in the catalog, but I think its days are numbered...

But I sort of like the situation as it is. There is still some demand for those with barrel lengths at or under 4 inches, but you can hardly give one away with a longer barrel - particularly 6 inches...

I don't think I would use one of these as a carry gun (although I have) but at a shooting range you can humble some hot-shot with a new high-cap that measures his groups with a yardstick.

For the money spent you won't find a better shooter, and in an age when the company has a MSRP on a new one that's over $500.00 an absolutely mint older one with a 6" tube will likely cost no more then $275.00.

But I am having trouble finding one with a tactical rail...

 

[Shear_stress]

Well said!

Edited to add: You're right on about demand for the longer-barreled guns, or lack thereof. Mine collected dust for months before I made the store an offer. The price was definately right.

I rather like the six-inch barrel. It's clearly less than ideal for defensive purposes. Still, you get a little more sight-radius and can also wring a little more velocity out of the 38 Special. Not that the paper/cans will know the difference.

What's odd is that, though this is no small gun, it feels incredibly light for its size. Maybe that's part of why the Hand Ejector was the premier tactical weapons systems of 1899.

 

[thatguy]

Perhaps a previous owner sanded off the checkering?

 

[Shear_stress]

Perhaps a previous owner sanded off the checkering?

I suppose it's possible, but whoever did it did an excellent job. They would have had to temporarilly remove the medallions and turn down the escutcheons as well. On comparison with the k-frame diamonds on my pre-18, the smooth grips are narrower and have a different profile. When viewed from the back, the smooth grips have a definate "coke bottle" shape to them. However, I thought the "cokes" were only used on N-frame frame guns.

 

[XavierBreath]

Here's my take on these grips.
First I like them.
I'm jealous.

I do not believe they are sanded down magnas. I have seen sanded down magnas, and there is no way to do the job and arrive at grips that look this authentic. You just have to remove to much wood to do away with the checkering. I believe these smooth magna grips are the real deal.

I also believe these grips did not orginally come on this revolver. A M&P from this era should be wearing transitional magnas. Even if these are authentic, non-sanded down grips, the rounding of the upper curve lets you know that they came after 1952. If that curve was more of a corner, like a transitional grip, I would say they came on the gun. This, along with the number mismatch makes for an almost certain assessment of non-original but really sweet grips. It is possible these grips are original, but more likely they are not. At any rate, they are period, unusual, and very very nice.

BTW, Those are darned nice M&Ps too!
Here are a couple more

For comparison, the lower revolver, also a pre-Model 10 bears serial S 841XXX

 

[Old Fuff]

Nope, they were made that way, and no - someone didn't sand off the checkering. The borders on checkered grips are deep, and if you sand enough to get that out it will be very obvious. However uncheckered service style stocks are very scarce, and you have a lucky find.

 

[Shear_stress]

Great information. I owe both of you.

Looks like you've also got a couple of nice M&Ps, Xavier. The serial number on your post-war gun is not that far from mine (S 837XXX). Probably made within a few weeks of each other!

By the way, those smooth grips actually look a little better in person. The camera adds ten pounds, you know

 

[XavierBreath]

The serial number on your post-war gun is not that far from that of mine (S 837XXX). Probably made within a few weeks of each other!

Yep, and FWIW, mine has the matching serial number stamped inside one of the grips, so we know they were still stamping the grips at about that time.

 

[Shear_stress]

so we know they were still stamping the grips at about that time.

You're correct. My 1953-vintage pre-18 also has a matching serial number under the right side grip.

I wonder how long S&W continued the practice as SOP. I've got a late 70s M67 that, somewhat surprisingly, also has a matching serial number-marked set of magnas. Not sure how consistently they were doing that (or much of anything, for that matter) in the Bangor Punta days.