Classic Working Revolvers

[osteodoc08]

Recently received a very nice holster from rojo and slipped my M58 in it. Some revolvers just have a classic mystique all their own.

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Anyone else have some to share?

[bluelund79]

Looks great Sir! I’ll post some photos of mine when I get from my work trip, noting like a good Smith with good leather!

[RKJ]

I've got a M28 4" that has been neglected and only got it as it was such a good price. But I love that gun. It shoots great, can handle pretty much any load I would want to put through it and just asks for more. Out of all my pistols, it is one that I would not part with. There are others that I won't part with either but this one just has a certain character.

[texasnative46]

RKJ,

I understand. = About 15 years ago (when I was still in active LE), I bought a 1950s four-inch Model 27 S&W that "was uglier than a mud fence", for 75.oo, but it shot beautifully.

About 6 months later, a friend who was being sworn-in as a Reserve Deputy Constable in North TX, begged me for the old Smith, as he was "out of a job" & needed the part-time employment as a Deputy Constable.
(About 200.oo a week.)

After his part-time job became fulltime, Ron W_________ had the Model 27 professionally refinished, bought/installed new rosewood grips & as far as I know he is still carrying that revolver on judicial security duty at the courthouse.
(I saw the Model 27 after it was refinished & it was just HANDSOME. - Had he not told me that it was "the ugly ducking", I would not have guessed that it was the same weapon.)

yours, tex

[ReloaderFred]

Mine was my 6" Model 57, in a Hoyt high rise front break holster. That was my duty gun for many, many years, until I was forced to carry a plastic pistol the last year and a half before I retired... Grrrrrr!

[Outpost75]

Great thread idea. If you prefer a 4", full-sized service revolver for pocket carry, Robert Mika can make for you an NYPD off-duty pocket holster which will fit a 4" S&W Model 10 or similar, and if you wear Duluth Trading firehouse work pants, Carhart or Dickey's full-cut carpenter pants, these will permit a standard sized 4" .38 revolver to be carried in the pocket without printing.

I don't wear a belt these days, but use side-clip suspenders which support the weight of the gun and allow an old fart to carry a full-sized wheelgun as EDC. https://mikaspocketholsters.com/

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[FergusonTO35]

My little S&W 637 is my working revolver. I carry it in a Desantis Nemesis, load it with 150 grain full wadcutters at 712 fps. Little thing is more accurate than I can hold. Tip: nail polish works great for brightening sights and comes in many colors. I use a bright white on the front blade of the 637.

[condorjohn]

Here's my Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special, 3" in an older Hunter Shoulder rig. Very comfortable...226360

[gwpercle]

Nice rig ! They look good together .

When I got my model 58 (my avatar) the BRPD motorcycle patrol officer included his black Bianchi Sam Brown duty belt and holster.

These revolvers and holsters all hark back to another era...

Gary

[rintinglen]

226370226371226372Here are a couple of favorites of mine. The first two are of my Ruger Service Six and a pancake-style holster I made for it, while the third is my S&W M-28 in a thumbreak.

[FergusonTO35]

Another working revolver for the bunch. I also have a 1970's Charter Undercover .38 Special. It was a Gunbroker find, $130.00 with a broken front sight blade. I suppose the missing front sight kept it from being fired much as there was no cylinder turn line and the mechanicals are pretty tight. My gunsmith made a new front sight blade and silver soldered it in place for me. Shot it some today with 3.1 grains 700X and Hornady 158 grain SWC's and it is dead on, just like my 637.

[samari46]

Bought more than a few holsters from Rojo. Most in black basket weave and a couple or two without. Since I'm from NYC I had a model 10 and bought just a plain black holster. what really got me is that he came up with a black basket weave holster made either for S&W or they had it made for them. The revolver in question was for a S&W model 624 in 44 special with the 6.5" barrel. Holster is setup with a swivel on account of the long barrel. Even the Winchester 200 grain silvertip loading is like shooting 38 wad cutter ammo. Frank

[smokeywolf]

Mine was my 6" Model 57, in a Hoyt high rise front break holster. That was my duty gun for many, many years, until I was forced to carry a plastic pistol the last year and a half before I retired... Grrrrrr!

Back in the 1970s, Ventura PD (Ventura, CA) used to carry 6" model 57s; beautiful pistols.

[ReloaderFred]

Back in the 1970s, Ventura PD (Ventura, CA) used to carry 6" model 57s; beautiful pistols.

Actually, my Model 57 was a Ventura PD buy back gun that I bought from Cheshire & Perez, at cost, when Ventura went to the Model 66. All the Ventura PD guns that I saw were 4" (they gave me my choice of about 50 guns) and Kerry Freeman, Cheshire & Perez's lead gunsmith at the time, installed the 6" barrel on it for me, and did the action job for free.

I was rangemaster for our department in the late 1970's and spent quite a bit of time at Cheshire & Perez, since I had convinced my bosses that it wasn't safe to mail guns for repair, so I should hand deliver and pick them up.:) We had about 1,200 handguns (Model 19 and Model 59), so there was always a few that needed "professional" smithing. I was one of the few who was allowed in the back of the shop and got to know the gunsmiths and owners well. (and Angie the office girl was a cutie) Kerry, and his brother, Bill, were great gunsmiths, and Kerry was stolen away by Bill Davis, when he bought the George M. Cake Co., and renamed it Cake-Davis. Bill Freeman moved to Northern Idaho and was doing gunsmithing from his home there. Henry Perez had been a Sergeant with Stockton PD, and competitive shooter, and when S&W offered Chuck Cheshire the California distributorship, he partnered with Henry to form Cheshire & Perez. Chuck had been a field rep for S&W for years prior to that, and eventually ran the Las Vegas store when they branched out.

After Kerry left for Cake-Davis, they hired Danny Woo as their lead gunsmith, and he was a very talented smith, too. He moved to Utah after Cheshire & Perez closed their doors, and I understand he passed away from cancer quit awhile ago.

Shortly afterwards, I bought my Hoyt holster, which had been a holster originally made for SFPD, and so stamped, but they cancelled the order, so Hoyt sold them at a discounted price. I talked to them on the phone and Hoyt stamped my name on the back of my holster for me, and at the same time tried to sell me the company, but I didn't have the money, having just made Sergeant. They were only a 6 person company, and they wanted to retire, but they built one of the finest duty holsters ever made. It was a shame to lose a company that made such a good product. I carried that gun and holster even when I was a Commander when I was in uniform.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[osteodoc08]

Fantastic story Fred. Amazing the folks we run into. Hope you’re still enjoying that 57.

[David LaPell]

I wish I still had my old M & P made in 1950 in .38 Special. It was one of the most fun revolvers and it was a great carry gun. I just wish bills hadn't forced me to sell it, it wasn't mint, but it was a lot of fun to shoot.

[ReloaderFred]

Fantastic story Fred. Amazing the folks we run into. Hope you’re still enjoying that 57.

Yes, I still have it, and it's promised to my daughter when my time here comes to an end. I also have three 1894 Marlin's in .41 Magnum, and the oldest one is the most accurate. The newest one has never been shot, as it's part of a collection of limited editions that were done for Davidson's. I've got the whole set of Marlins (.357, .41, .44 and .45 Colt, all serial numbered the same).

I picked up some other revolvers that were turn in guns from departments, too. I've got a 4" Model 19 and Model 59 from my old department that they sold to us when they went to that plastic gun. I've got a Model 39 (not a revolver) that was a Santa Barbara SO or PD gun that I bought through Cheshire & Perez, plus two Calif. Highway Patrol guns, both .38 revolvers and a 2.5" Model 19 that was a PD gun from another department.

Heck, I even had a retiring UPS driver show up at my door his last week on the job and sell me a new condition 4" Model 10 that had belonged to an ex-father-in-law because he knew I liked guns and he was an "auto man". He made me a really good deal on it, too.

Fred

[smokeywolf]

Had several good friends on Ventura PD and while I know my memory is getting a bit fuzzy, I know for sure that 2 carried 6" model 57s.
Only six-gun I ever carried on duty was a Colt DS for backup. Main carry gun was a 1911.

Left the Ventura area in '77.

[FergusonTO35]

I have to say, my second favorite handgun in the arsenal (after my BHP) is my S&W 10-5. Made in 1967, came from the estate of a former Lexington, KY copper, and was carried alot/shot a little. It shoots like a laser with 150-162 grain boolits and has very minimal cylinder to barrel gap.