By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
The iconic .38 Special Smith & Wesson M10 Military and Police revolver has remained in continuous production since 1899 with over 6,000,000 made, making it the most produced handgun of the 20th Century, and the most popular sixgun on the map.
The public wanted a mid-sized revolver and the .38 Special M10 seemed the best answer. At 34 ounces with a 4-inch barrel it has just enough weight to mitigate recoil without being too heavy to carry easily. It measures 8.75 inches long and 5.85 inches high, and is 1.45 inches wide at the cylinder making it relatively easy to conceal. Other barrel lengths were offered causing the weight and measurements to vary accordingly.
First appearing in 1899 as the S&W Hand Ejector in .38 Long Colt, it was quickly renamed the Military & Police model after the Army and the Navy placed orders. Reports of the .38 Long Colt failing to stop Philippine Moros led Smith and Wesson to slightly lengthen the .38 Long Colt case, increase the bullet weight from 150 grains to 158 grains, and increase the velocity slightly. This was the .38 Special, a highly accurate load that quickly made a name for itself among target shooters.
It was supposed to be the answer to the charging Moros but unfortunately the Moros couldn’t tell the difference between the two .38’s and continued their habit of charging with their big knives and killing American soldiers armed with the .38-caliber revolvers before succumbing to their wounds. It took a .45 to reliably stop them.
The story of .38-caliber revolvers failing to stop fanatical attackers began with the .36 caliber Colt Navy cap and ball revolver and continued through the .38 Short and Long Colt, the .38 S&W, the .38 Special, and the .357 Magnum. Each one promised reliable stopping power and each one failed.
The Army settled this issue for all time in a WWII manual which stated bluntly that the .45 ACP had more stopping power than a .30-06. Now no one has ever dared to compare the stopping power of any .38 or .357-caliber handgun to the .30-06 and if even the .30-06 can’t match the .45 ACP as a manstopper we have our champion.
The average American pistol buyer was not worried about stopping Moros or bears or wolves. Most criminals weren’t that dedicated in their attacks. A typical example of those days was when my late aunt Lily woke up to find a man raising her bedroom window and crawling inside. One shot from her top break .32 Long and he grunted, fell back out of the window, and ran away. End of story.
The .38 Special proved adequate for most situations that befell it’s users and it rapidly gained popularity. During much of the 20th Century the S&W M10 Military & Police .38 Special was the most prevalent police issue sidearm. Not too big and heavy to easily carry yet not so small and light that it kicked badly and was hard to hit with.
The M&P was as accurate as it’s cartridge. I remember one instance in the 1950’s when a group of men couldn’t hit a squirrel perched extremely high in a tall tree. The Chief of the Fisheries Division of the Georgia Game and Fish Commission was watching and finally said “Let me show you how to do it.” He drew his issue 6-inch barrel S&W M10 M&P and brought the squirrel down with one precise shot, totally embarrassing the riflemen.
Throughout its long history, the S&W M10 has had many improvements. In 1902, S&W introduced the improved second model featuring improved lock work and a locking lug for the ejector rod under the barrel. Thirteen years later, in 1915, a passive hammer block and more modern enlarged sights were added.
WWI saw large quantities bought for the conflict as pistols came to the forefront in the confines of trench warfare and all the warring powers were scrambling to get any pistol that would shoot. The M&P remained popular after the war, selling well throughout the roaring 20’s although the Great Depression that followed drastically cut all sales across the board as people no longer had money. It was so bad that the city of Atlanta had to pay its workers with I.O.U.’s that you could take to the Sears Roebuck store on Ponce de Leon Avenue and exchange for groceries and whatever else the store had.
WWII brought a surge of new orders and the M10s made from 1942-1944 were marked with a “V” for victory. The British bought 590,305 of these guns, chambered for their .38/200 cartridge which was the old .38 S&W with a 200-grain bullet. Like all .38 S&W cartridges, these are a slightly larger diameter than the .38 Special and guns rechambered to .38 Special by post war surplus dealers are not as satisfactory with .38 Special ammunition as they are with .38 S&W cartridge, which they will also still shoot.
The Model 10 in .38 Special was standard issue for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps air crews and 352,315 were bought for the U.S. Military. There were some quality control issues until an Army inspector was assigned to oversee the new guns. WWII also saw an improved hammer block safety added after an incident where one fired when dropped on its hammer. The original 1915 S&W design for a hammer block safety had proved inferior to the Iver Johnson and Colt hammer block safeties and the military insisted on an immediate change after that incident.
After WWII the popularity of the M10 M&P remained high throughout the rest of the 20th Century and for good reason. The long double action trigger pull is far less likely to go off with a nervous policeman holding a potentially innocent suspect at gunpoint than a 9MM semiautomatic. For this reason the double action revolver is the best police weapon for use by police departments that value their citizen’s lives and remember that a suspect is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
For the casual shooter that just wants a handgun it is far less likely to go off before they want it too under stress. There is no slide to jack back, no safety to remember to take off, no double action first shot and single action thereafter to throw the aim off. Just point and pull the trigger. That’s about all a lot of folks can manage under stress. The S&W M10 M&P seemed about perfect to a lot of folks as testified by the over 6,000,000 made over the years.
Picking up the M10 S&W at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia that S&W had sent for review was a lot like picking up an old friend. For many years I have used a S&W Victory model .38 Special equipped with a Light Load, a device that replaces the crane and cylinder and has an insert down the barrel so that the pistol will shoot a beam of light at an indoor target for practice. It is easily removed and converted back to firing live ammo and the fact that it is no longer made is a great shame.
I chose a slightly used WWII Victory model made in 1944 over new production because of the rigorous inspection given by the Army inspectors in WWII. Nothing much ever slipped by them and over the years I have never regretted my choice.
The new M10 displayed their usual flawless blue job, and an excellent trigger pull that was 11 pounds 7 ounces double action and 5 pounds 10 ounces single action as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gauge from Brownell’s Gunsmithing Supplies. The trigger broke smoothly and clean, just as it should. The grips were smooth and uncheckered of a somewhat lighter shade than I am used too. The sights were fixed modern Partridge type of a large enough size for anybody. All in all, a beautiful revolver living up to its proud legacy.
I had 1,100 rounds to fire through it consisting of 500 rounds of Black Hills Honeybadger 100-grain at 1,200 FPS, 500 rounds of Black Hills 148-grain HBWC at 700 FPS, and 100 rounds of Remington 130-grain FMJ at 800 FPS.
The Black Hills Honeybadger is a deep penetrating solid bullet at high velocity with deep flutes in the sides that are larger in the front than they are at the back. These act like a garden hose nozzle to force blood and tissue outward 35% faster than the bullet velocity thus causing a cavitation effect that gives a large wound channel similar to an expanding bullet without the loss of penetration inherent to expanding bullets. They were developed by Jeff Hoffman, owner of Black Hills ammunition as a police load that offered the advantages of both solid and expanding bullets without the drawbacks each type had. The result was the best of both worlds. Deep penetration and a big wound channel.
Jeff knows what is needed for police work as he is a long-time policeman and still serves as a SWAT Team sniper.
The little revolver happily digested everything fed it and displayed the accuracy people have come to expect of the .38 special and the S&W M10 Military and Police revolver. It was a worthy example of the most produced revolver ever made.
