Tag Archives: police revolver

Dinosaurs still walk the earth

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As a guy who started his law enforcement career back in the 1990s– back when I still wore size 36 uniform pants!– I always had an affinity for wheel guns, having cut my teeth on Smith K-frame carry guns and J-frame backup/off duty guns. From time to time, I still grab a faithful and well-used snub while heading out the door, for various reasons.

With that, I was surprised that one of the largest departments in the country, the Dallas PD, still had some officers with wheelguns as late as this month. I say “had” because they just transitioned the last of those “dinosaurs” to semi-autos.

Still, local media report that at least one officer in nearby Plano and a whole pool of Dallas SO bailiffs still carry six-shooters– at least for now.

Updating the Old Smith

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What happens when a wonderful revolver falls into your life but it has a few issues? You rehab it, love it, and let it evolve into a better version of itself.

A few months ago, I came across an old Smith and Wesson Combat Masterpiece K38 revolver. This model 15-3 Smith was born a little over thirty years ago in Massachusetts but spent its life in the heavy saltwater air of the Gulf Coast. Those of you dedicated readers out there may remember this crusty old sea dog from a past article. For those who don’t, to make a long story short, this long serving veteran found itself at the bottom of Davy Jones locker in Hurricane Katrina. After a lot of tender loving care, disassembly, cleaning, a liberal amount of Ballistol, and the odd replacement spring or two, it came back to life and shot fine, but looked oh so bad.

While well suited for a ‘Jeep gun’ or a tag along on the trail during deer season loaded with rat shot, it still presented the ever-present crisis of surface rust control every week. Therefore, even though I am a sucker for leaving a gun au natural, I had to break down and do something, for the gun’s sake.

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk

Tale of a Salty Old Smith

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In my lifetime of a firearms owner and collector, many different guns have passed through my hands. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve bought, sold, and traded these tools of wood, steel, and (occasionally) polymer. Over the years, I’ve had the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some of them have stories behind them. This is one of them.

It Started in a talk with Dan

Dan, my coatings guy at Custom Coatings, was doing a Duracoat (link) job on my LCP and when I dropped by to see him, had an old Smith wheel gun he was working on. Always a sucker for old K-frames, I asked to look at it. It was a beat-up Model 15 .38-Special. Its previous owner had been a Hurricane Katrina victim and the revolver had sat submerged in salt-water from the epic storm’s surge for days before being rescued……and that was seven years ago.

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com