38 Specials predominantly, though some would be produced in. It would later become known as the K-38 with that barrel length, and the Combat Masterpiece with either a 2- or 4-inch barrel. It was simply the same gun with adjustable sights, usually fitted with a 6-inch barrel. The Military & Police Target came out almost as soon as the original Hand Ejector. Standards & Variants M&P revolvers with 3-inch heavy barrels, shown here with a round butt, are considered ideal concealed carry handguns by many revolver aficionados. Midway through the first decade of the 21st century, the one and only small-frame (J-frame) Military & Police revolver appeared, the M&P340 in. 357, and in both chrome-moly and stainless steel variations a 3-inch-barreled Model 13 would be the last standard-issue FBI service revolver before the Bureau switched to semi-automatics. A 3-inch heavy barrel would prove to be a popular variation in both. The Model 347 was offered in 9mm, but didn’t last long. This would soon be augmented with a stainless variation, the Model 65. 357 Mag that had begun as a variation produced at the request of the New York State Police. In 1974, introduced the Model 13, a heavy-barrel Model 10 chambered for the.
38 Special stainless steel, an instant hit in the police community. Later came the Model 64, a standard K-frame M&P. The first and only large-frame, fixed-sight M&P, the Model 58 in. The aluminum-frame Smith & Wesson Airweight version introduced in 1952 was designated the Model 12. The Military & Police became the Model 10 in its standard format of all-steel construction. In roughly the same timeframe, S&W started assigning numeric designations to its handguns. S&W began offering an un-tapered “heavy barrel,” 4 inches in length, which most felt improved handling and recoil control, adding about 3.5 ounces of weight up front. In the late 1950s, two major events occurred with the Smith & Wesson M&P line. 357 Mag “Registered Magnum” of 1935, these stocks improved the handling of the M&P revolvers when added during the postwar years. Originally created for harder-kicking guns like the. S&W’s “Magna” stocks, upswept toward the horn at the back of the grip frame, distributed recoil more comfortably to the web of the hand. The post-WWII years saw subtle changes in the action mechanism, with S&W going to a shorter version, which inevitably resulted in collectors calling the older models “long action” guns. RELATED: Smith & Wesson M&P Combo Training All of those WWII guns were known as Victory Models, made quickly with smooth walnut stocks instead of S&W’s usual fine checkering, and with gray Parkerized finishes instead of the lustrous commercial blue that characterized an American cop’s or citizen’s S&W M&P. Bush, later to become President of the U nited States, was carrying one when he was shot down in the Pacific during that conflict.) Before WWII was over, S&W also manufactured more than a half-million M&Ps for the British chambered in. Throughout World War II, the company manufactured a huge number of them in. M&P Warriors “The military & police was and is extremely accurate 1-inch groups with the best ammunition at 25 yards are more norm than exception.”īy 1942, Smith & Wesson would produce its millionth M&P revolver.
By 1915, there was a snubnose version with a 2-inch barrel.
A square butt was added at the same time, which would be the most popular configuration. It didn’t have a locking lug at the front of the ejector rod, but that was added in 1902 with the Second Model. The First Model, as collectors know it now, had a round butt. That would be its primary caliber from then on, and the M&P revolver would be largely responsible for the huge and enduring popularity of the. 38 Long Colt, Smith & Wesson’s Military & Police would soon be the first revolver chambered for the. Introduced in 1899 as the Hand Ejector in calibers.