Pre-Model 15 S&W Project

[Patrick L]

I too have a soft spot for older Smith's, especially the "pre" models. I have 2, a nice pre 25-2 in .45 ACP and my pre 29 .44 magnum. Something about them old ones...

[Harry O]

I bought about a half-dozen of the Model 15's back when they were being traded in by Police Departments. This was one at a time over a 3 or 4 year period around the turn of the century. I think the first one was about $125 and the last one was about $250 (high, but it was stainless and in excellent condition). All but two of them were rough on the outside, but essentially new inside. The two were a stainless steel model and a sandblasted/reblued one. Nice inside and outside.

All shoot accurately, nearly as good as my K-38's. I take them out once or twice a year to make sure they all still shoot. They do. I bought them to give to close relatives in need of a handgun for self defense (along with ammunition). I have given away two of them so far. They are a nice gun that anyone can learn to shoot well.

[Baltimoreed]

Attachment 233516I’ve always liked the pre model 10’s. Great .38 snubnose. Got another in the safe that I need to have a 2 inch bbl screwed all the way in and refinished but I can’t decide if I want another that’s nickel or a blue one.

[Mackay Sagebrush]

The Model 15 is a favorite.

Well balanced and easy to shoot double action on targets.

[Mackay Sagebrush]

[cabezaverde]

Jkrem,

Mine is from 1956 - birth year. I had to buy it when I figured that out. It has about 95% blue. It will get shot a lot once the weather breaks.

These are the grips you are looking for.



Edit to add. I have also managed to buy a Model 19 made the year I graduated high school.

[Dale53]

I, too, am a fan of the Model 15. I picked one up at our local club sales table for a nominal fee three or four years ago. It was everything I had remembered in the past. What most today don’t realize is what great field pistols they are when properly loaded (as those excellent rabbit pictures show). The .38 Special with a proper load is about as good as it gets for edible small game.

They are one of the most undervalued pistols out there. When they were THE duty revolver, thousands of them were made. They are not as readily found in good shape but there are still deals out there. They are VERY useful.

FWIW,
Dale53

[LAH]

The .38 Special with a proper load is about as good as it gets for edible small game.

FWIW,
Dale53

Agree, my choice.

[Texas by God]

Even though it seems like I was born with a .45 auto in my hand, I'd probably grab the m15 when I needed to take a gun and GO.....

[jonp]

I've got one next to my bed right now. The 15's are fantastic and with the right loads, tackdrivers.

IMHO some of the best SW made in weight v power. You stole that one for that price.

[Jkrem]

I continue to be impressed with how this gun shoots, or rather how i’m able to shoot it. Unlike Cabez and Mackay’s beauty above, the finish on my pistol looks like it “fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down”. Probably has less than 50% finish and in fact it appears it may have been reblued at some point in its life. I have an old school gunsmith who specializes in fine bluing that has offered to reblue for $100. Would I be committing some sort of 5 screw K model owner’s law violation if I give in? I normally am in the school of not messing with guns. Opinions please.

[tazman]

Currently, your revolver is a shooter. That isn't going to change just because you have it re-blued.
If you want it to look nicer, have it re-blued and enjoy.

[TNsailorman]

My wife has a Model 15-3 beside the bed on her nightstand. I bought it for her for our 40th wedding anniversary years ago. I has a target hammer and trigger. I had a 15-2 that I bought in 1966 but turned it into a match gun with a heavy barrel and shot it in matches until I finally sold it for more than I had in it. My bedside gun is a .45ACP Revolver. I believe in a bigger hammer to drive nails. james

[Texas by God]

I love to ply my paltry DA shooting skills on tin cans with my m15. The Lee 105swc saves lead and is a flat shooting wonder over 5grs of B'eye. It removes raccoons from trees much better than a .22 does.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got two 15s and a 64 I bought as police trade ins about 10 years ago for a 150 bucks a piece. All three were in excellent shape. As a matter of fact I bought 3 more 15s that ive given away to family members. Big mistake I made was not taking a loan out and buying all 50 of the guns that dealer picked up. It probably would have made more money then buying silver.

[JoeJames]

I like Smith's. Favorites are the kitguns and combat masterpieces. My Model 15-3 is about my favorite.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I continue to be impressed with how this gun shoots, or rather how i’m able to shoot it. Unlike Cabez and Mackay’s beauty above, the finish on my pistol looks like it “fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down”. Probably has less than 50% finish and in fact it appears it may have been reblued at some point in its life. I have an old school gunsmith who specializes in fine bluing that has offered to reblue for $100. Would I be committing some sort of 5 screw K model owner’s law violation if I give in? I normally am in the school of not messing with guns. Opinions please.

"Opinions please." Opinions are probably more easily obtained than are top quality bluing jobs on revolvers. If your gunsmith will do it for $100 and knows what he's doing, it's a good price and I'd go for it. Personally, I like my guns to look the best that they can. It's always a balancing act, deciding whether the reblue balances out against the present appearance and any alteration to the gun's value. In the case of M-15s, they're not as yet as scarce as original Schofields, so I wouldn't hesitate on that account. Would I hesitate to make my M-15 look better? No. So for me it would just be the level of skill of the gunsmith. I'd ask to see some, at least two, examples of his rebluing work, especially revolvers. Look for rounded edges that should be sharp, dished out screw holes, blurred lettering. I'm speaking as the voice of experience here, because I used to be in the business. Revolvers are just about the hardest rebluing job to get right. Scratches, pitting, etc. can only be removed by appropriate polishing and buffing, some filing if necessary. Once the metal is removed it can't be put back, and a goof-up remains eternally visible to the trained eye. The photos of your revolver show a badly worn finish, but not too much real abuse. The way to proceed might be to just chemically remove the remaining finish and the put the gun into a bluing tank without any further work. You'll come out with a nice even, all over blue without any of the irreversible horrors I've mentioned. This should cost much less than a polish job, will look much improved, but any dings or scratches will remain visible under the new bluing. So, there's an opinion, for what it's worth! Below is an example of a good polish and blue job. This was in poorer condition than yours is presently, and required a lot of hand work.
Attachment 238285
click to enlarge.

DG

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 238293Attachment 238294
Click to enlarge.
Sometimes one has trouble with the photo posting system. I reblued the revolver in the first photo, but not the second. I have another just like it which I did do the work on, and selected the wrong picture. I was unable to remove the second photo, and reached my photo storage limit for this website. I'll have to remove some photos from other posts in other threads to free up some space, and will then add the correct photo to his post as an edit.

DG

Just FYI, I think the 1917 in the wrong photo in the preceding post was reblued by the US Govt. between the world wars.
I did No.s 1, 3, & 4.