Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,746
- 5,823
Bought this well-used .357 magnum S&W Model 19 a long time ago. It was a police trade-in, back when the cops were switching from GREAT revolvers to... semi auto 9mm pistols... Sigh...
It was used when I got it. The cylinder was pitted from being put away/stored while wet. The blueing was worn. But it was a shooter! I actually carried it on duty for a while, while working a plainclothes assignment and arrested a couple of pretty serious bad guys while using it. One fellow woke up, seeing it pointed right at him... I relish that memory. :mrgreen:
Mostly though it's been my hiking, mountain-biking, fly-fishing, skiing and hunting sidearm. I've also used it to introduce people to revolver shooting. Normally I shoot mild .38 Special loads through it, but often carry it with stout .357 mag ammo. And yes, the .357 stuff generates impressive velocity even from a mere 2.5" barrel, like 1240 fps from factory Remington 158 grain jacketed hollow point ammo...
But... It has been operating kind of "glitchy" lately. Not smooth like a good old S&W should. And spitting lead to the side. And the finish looks much worse than in this photo...
So - it's in the hands of a good local gunsmith. He's going to fix the "timing" issues, smooth things up, and sigh... Cerakote it a nice matte black. I thought about having it re-blued, but the pits from rust on the cylinder are too deep to polish out. So - it was either bead-blast & blue, or Cerakote it. Or some other finish. I went with Cerakote. Hopefully I'll be happy with the results.
Am also considering either re-finishing the factory grips or replacing them with something a bit fancier. Wood of course.
I'll post up photos when I've got it back in hand.
Regards, Guy
It was used when I got it. The cylinder was pitted from being put away/stored while wet. The blueing was worn. But it was a shooter! I actually carried it on duty for a while, while working a plainclothes assignment and arrested a couple of pretty serious bad guys while using it. One fellow woke up, seeing it pointed right at him... I relish that memory. :mrgreen:
Mostly though it's been my hiking, mountain-biking, fly-fishing, skiing and hunting sidearm. I've also used it to introduce people to revolver shooting. Normally I shoot mild .38 Special loads through it, but often carry it with stout .357 mag ammo. And yes, the .357 stuff generates impressive velocity even from a mere 2.5" barrel, like 1240 fps from factory Remington 158 grain jacketed hollow point ammo...
But... It has been operating kind of "glitchy" lately. Not smooth like a good old S&W should. And spitting lead to the side. And the finish looks much worse than in this photo...
So - it's in the hands of a good local gunsmith. He's going to fix the "timing" issues, smooth things up, and sigh... Cerakote it a nice matte black. I thought about having it re-blued, but the pits from rust on the cylinder are too deep to polish out. So - it was either bead-blast & blue, or Cerakote it. Or some other finish. I went with Cerakote. Hopefully I'll be happy with the results.
Am also considering either re-finishing the factory grips or replacing them with something a bit fancier. Wood of course.
I'll post up photos when I've got it back in hand.
Regards, Guy
