Old Smith revolver help. 10-6, airweight, 19-3

[bigretic]

Helping out a relative going through dad's stuff. He was a lifer patrolman.

Found a 10-6 38 S&W Special CTG. that seems to be double action only. I want to know if this is (likely) his original police service revolver. Is it weird that it's double action only or is it broke? Serial D79xxxx Wood grips with smith emblem. 4 inch.

Airweight 38 SPL. CTG. Seral 10xxxx marked 29099 in the crane? Wood grips with smith emblem. 1 3/4 inch.

19-3 .357 Serial K91xxxx Some kind of rubber grips. 6 inch.

also a Beretta 96G .40 cal which i'm sure was a work piece, probably the last one he carried before retiring. Serial BER06xxxx M

All of these firearms are in embarrassingly poor condition. Rust is not a nice thing. I about teared up when i pulled them out of the bag. I need to assign a market value for them. The 10 and 19 and beretta seem to function ok, save the question of the dbl action only model 10. The airweight seems iffy, but i haven't cleaned any of them up yet.
So, if you have any opinions, let it fly.

 

[bigretic]

Here are the photos. They actually look a little better in the pics... lmao.

 

[Old Bear]

Many police and corrections issue revolvers were converted to DA only. The thought was that they were less apt to have an accidental discharge. However, all of them that I have seen also have a bobbed hammer. So, I would say either someone ground off the SA notch on the hammer, or it has broken off. Easy enough to check by popping off the side cover.

A copper penny (pre 1980 I think) and some oil will do wonders on the heavy rust on the model 10. My model 36 snub nose looked a lot like that airweight you have. I used 0000 steel wool and motor oil to clean it up to look really nice. The secret is to rub LIGHTLY and go slowly.

 

[walt o]

If the snub is a air weight it will be a m-37 ,dont use steel wool on it nthe frame is alum.alloy .If you must use copper wool spairingly.The number on the crane is probably a fitters # the S/N is on the butt of the gun I usually remove wood grips and soak the gun in a bucket of EDS RED (google it)for several days before attempting to clean them up .Just enough rubbing with the bronze wool and oil to remove rust It will never look new but you will stop the rust action and have a shooter grade gun . and enjoy it as your dads gun

 

[Leadeye]

^ This.

Those are nice looking revolvers.

 

[snorko]

I have owned a couple LE trade-in Md 10s that were DAO with a traditional hammer. I think they often made those to work with traditional retention straps. I agree with Oldbear that they are uncommon but they do exist.

 

[Old Bear]

I have owned a couple LE trade-in Md 10s that were DAO with a traditional hammer. I think they often made those to work with traditional retention straps. I agree with Oldbear that they are uncommon but they do exist.

Good point about the holster retention straps. I've never run across a DAO with the full hammer, but it would make sense to retain it for the standard LE duty holster designs of the time.

 

[bigretic]

Thanks for the info all, i should point out that the airweight cylinder has NO blue left on it. Doesn't look so bad in the pic. In person it's awful.

 

[Old Bear]

Thanks for the info all, i should point out that the airweight cylinder has NO blue left on it. Doesn't look so bad in the pic. In person it's awful.

Maybe not going to win any beauty contests, but cleaned up and oiled....it makes a perfect carry gun! No worries about scratches, sweat stains or holster marks. I would rather own something like that than a "barbeque" gun any day

 

[Smith& W]

If you wanted to convert the model 10 back to single and double action , its an easy fix. Just swap the hammer and trigger with standard ones. They can be found at gun shows or Ebay for about 10. each. Probably just doing the Hammer will do it.

 

[sloughfoot]

Part of your question was market value. For the revolvers, 250 to 350 dollars. As is. Or get them re-blued and sell them for 450 to 600 dollars.

 

[bigretic]

Many police and corrections issue revolvers were converted to DA only. The thought was that they were less apt to have an accidental discharge. However, all of them that I have seen also have a bobbed hammer. So, I would say either someone ground off the SA notch on the hammer, or it has broken off. Easy enough to check by popping off the side cover.

A copper penny (pre 1980 I think) and some oil will do wonders on the heavy rust on the model 10. My model 36 snub nose looked a lot like that airweight you have. I used 0000 steel wool and motor oil to clean it up to look really nice. The secret is to rub LIGHTLY and go slowly.

Penny worked wonders Bear. Thanks.
Here is the cover off. I didn't see anything ground off or broken?

 

[Old Bear]

This picture shows the location of the single action "notch". It is very shallow, around .005" deep, and locks on the back of the trigger hook. It is possible the either the notch is worn down or the trigger hook is worn. Possibly the notch was stoned off by a department armorer to convert it to DA only. From the looks of the innards, its also possible that the is enough gunk in the notch that it isn't latching properly.

Regardless, replacement parts are cheap and easy to come by. I would suggest Numerich gun Parts. I have bought many S&W revolver parts from them.

 

[BE Mike]

Part of your question was market value. For the revolvers, 250 to 350 dollars. As is. Or get them re-blued and sell them for 450 to 600 dollars.

I agree on the as is prices. They are always going to be shooters, not collector firearms. Although getting them re-blued will make them more attractive, I doubt that the cost of doing it would generate such higher prices that it would be worthwhile. If the crowns of the revolvers are severely rusted, that would also require re-crowning. Too bad that the internals are so rusty. You could easily put much more money into them with the cost of restoration than would be ever be recouped at the end.

 

[MrSmitty]

They are still neat guns, clean 'em up, oil 'em up, and choot 'em!! I'd love to have another Smith revolver, haven't had one in years, in my opinion, they are the most beautiful revolvers out there! just great lines, and fit the hand just right!