An Old M&P

[Stephanie B]

This came home with me today:


12088

A man sold it to the LGS a bit back. It was his brother-in-law's service revolver. What I'm told is that Don Merrill was a cop for 42 years and was issued this gun by the Jacksonville, FL PD. They let him keep it when the department upgraded to something else.

Story is that Officer Merrill walked into an armed robbery of a burger joint in the 1960s. The robber was a ex-con, having served a stretch in Mississippi for murder. The robber had been out of prison for a month.

A gunfight ensued.

Officer Merrill sustained a through-and-through wound to his upper arm. He was bandaged at the scene and drove himself to the hospital. After waiting for awhile, he washed out his own wound, put some stuff on it, re-bandaged it and went home.

The robber was paralyzed from his wounds and died in prison a paraplegic.

As to the revolver, it's a 5-screw, .38 Special, 4". Serial No. is 471xxx, no letters before or afterwards. The finish is crappy and there are traces of fingerprints. The backstrap is entirely without finish, as one might expect. Screwheads don't show signs of being buggered up. Timing is good, no detectable endshake. Barrel looks very good, maybe a couple tiny pits.

[BN]

Awesome. :)

[Malamute]

It may look better after soaking the finish in oil or Hoppes No 9 and a gentle steel wooling to card whatever rust off, then a rubdown with soft rags. If theres any flaky rust, a genuine copper penny with sharp edge can help scrape it off (with oil or solvent) without messing up the surrounding blue.

Cool old gun with lots of character.

[Dagga Boy]

This came home with me today:


12088

A man sold it to the LGS a bit back. It was his brother-in-law's service revolver. What I'm told is that Don Merrill was a cop for 42 years and was issued this gun by the Jacksonville, FL PD. They let him keep it when the department upgraded to something else.

Story is that Officer Merrill walked into an armed robbery of a burger joint in the 1960s. The robber was a ex-con, having served a stretch in Mississippi for murder. The robber had been out of prison for a month.

A gunfight ensued.

Officer Merrill sustained a through-and-through wound to his upper arm. He was bandaged at the scene and drove himself to the hospital. After waiting for awhile, he washed out his own wound, put some stuff on it, re-bandaged it and went home.

The robber was paralyzed from his wounds and died in prison a paraplegic.

As to the revolver, it's a 5-screw, .38 Special, 4". Serial No. is 471xxx, no letters before or afterwards. The finish is crappy and there are traces of fingerprints. The backstrap is entirely without finish, as one might expect. Screwheads don't show signs of being buggered up. Timing is good, no detectable endshake. Barrel looks very good, maybe a couple tiny pits.

Those guns, and those cops are why I collect what I collect. I imagine the officer got a pat on the back from men he respected as his "therapy" and was as hard as woodpecker lips. Great find.

[BillSWPA]

Nice gun with a nice history.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lex Luthier]

Great story and a nice Hand Ejector.
Has that front sight blade been re-shaped? I had a RB 1912 .38 Special variant and it had the full moon front sight.

I might try a light polish with 100 % cotton flannel and a small amount of Flitz metal polish (does not remove factory bluing) to see if those fingerprint marks come out.

Of course, if the trooper put his bloodied hand on the gun during that encounter, it might have etched the bluing away.

[Stephanie B]

I'm not going to try to clean it up very much. There isn't any rust, though I haven't pulled the grips. A little rubdown with light oil should do.

[mmc45414]

A man sold it to the LGS a bit back. It was his brother-in-law's service revolver.

I always wonder about the circumstance that leads you to sell something like this, especially that has/had family ties.

[Stephanie B]

Great story and a nice Hand Ejector.
Has that front sight blade been re-shaped? I had a RB 1912 .38 Special variant and it had the full moon front sight.

It might have been. If so, they did a nice job of it. There are very light serrations on the back side.

[deputyG23]

Looks like someone changed the original stocks to postwar Magnas.
Nicer for shooting than the prewar ones IMHO.
Cool Smith.

[Al T.]

Very cool. :)

[entropy]

Revolvers tell stories.

Glocks are like Cliff Notes.

[Hambo]

Story is that Officer Merrill walked into an armed robbery of a burger joint in the 1960s. The robber was a ex-con, having served a stretch in Mississippi for murder. The robber had been out of prison for a month.

A gunfight ensued.

Officer Merrill sustained a through-and-through wound to his upper arm. He was bandaged at the scene and drove himself to the hospital. After waiting for awhile, he washed out his own wound, put some stuff on it, re-bandaged it and went home.

The robber was paralyzed from his wounds and died in prison a paraplegic.


That is a heartwarming story. :) I'm glad someone who appreciates that ended up with the revolver.

First, order some of these:
http://www.letargets.com/content/ice-qt-2009-ice-qt-target-2009-version.asp

And some of these:
http://www.sgammo.com/product/38-special-ammo/1000-round-case-38-special-158-grain-lrn-ammo-sellier-bellot-sb38a

Then watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERs7VyRMETg#t=601

Then head to the range and put that revolver to work.

[rainman]

Awesome piece with an awesome pedigree...enjoy!


-Rainman

[Stephanie B]

It shot pretty well. The sights are not terribly easy to see, compared to a Model 10 or a 10-5. I had no trouble keeping in on minute of thug, double action, strong hand only at 50'. The only issue was the gun twisted around in my hand a little. So I might have to get a grip adapter for it.

[Stephanie B]

As to the revolver, it's a 5-screw, .38 Special, 4". Serial No. is 471xxx, no letters before or afterwards.
Googling around, I found a post on another forum that discussed another such gun with the same first three digits. Mfg dates to `26-27.

[Duelist]

12250
This one is supposed to date to 1930. Six-digit serial, starts with a 6. The grips are a bit older. I found them at a gun show and paid almost as much as I did for the gun.
12251
When I got it, it was wearing this set of rubber grips. I got a set of magna grips as soon as I could, and put a T-grip on it too. That's how I usually shoot it.
12252

It's a former department of corrections gun, but doesn't say from what state. I rescued it from a pile of more modern model 10's, but wish I'd bought one or two of them, too. It's been loaned out to family members a time or two.

[okie john]

I'm not going to try to clean it up very much. There isn't any rust, though I haven't pulled the grips. A little rubdown with light oil should do.

Massage it with a little Hoppe's #9 on a red shop rag. That's what it would have gotten back in the day.


Okie John

[Stephanie B]

It works (10 yards).

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161211/4d85abd785664bd3f30a3cca25cfb1d5.jpg

[GMSweet]

Sorry, I just had to:

An old M&P.
A piece; tarnished history.
Roars to life once more.

Nice find.

[Stephanie B]

12250
This one is supposed to date to 1930. Six-digit serial, starts with a 6. The grips are a bit older. I found them at a gun show and paid almost as much as I did for the gun.
12251
When I got it, it was wearing this set of rubber grips. I got a set of magna grips as soon as I could, and put a T-grip on it too. That's how I usually shoot it.
12252

It's a former department of corrections gun, but doesn't say from what state. I rescued it from a pile of more modern model 10's, but wish I'd bought one or two of them, too. It's been loaned out to family members a time or two.

Nice! I may get a Tyler grip adapter for mine.

[Lex Luthier]

Heh.

M and P sidearm
respected and feared by all
except Godzilla

That revolver seems to shoot very well! What load were you using, Stephanie?

[Stephanie B]

Heh.

M and P sidearm
respected and feared by all
except Godzilla

That revolver seems to shoot very well! What load were you using, Stephanie?

.38 lead round nose Geco from the local Rural King.

[deputyG23]

It shot pretty well. The sights are not terribly easy to see, compared to a Model 10 or a 10-5. I had no trouble keeping in on minute of thug, double action, strong hand only at 50'. The only issue was the gun twisted around in my hand a little. So I might have to get a grip adapter for it.
Those tiny sights are hard for those of us with post-40 year old eyes. My 2" 1948 M&P is nearly unusable for me in regards to sight picture.

[Jim Watson]

Heck, I can't see the sights on late Model 10s very well.
This is not a new problem, if you follow the S&W board you will occasionally see a pre-war gun with a fixed taller flat rear blade set into the topstrap across the old hogwallow notch.
H. Bowen had a neat but hideously expensive high visibility fixed rear scaled to fit J Smiths and Ruger SP.
I once saw a similar sight on a M&P but the shop mentioned no longer lists it.

[Stephanie B]

Those guns, and those cops are why I collect what I collect. I imagine the officer got a pat on the back from men he respected as his "therapy" and was as hard as woodpecker lips. Great find.

I finally got around to running a search for officer and found this obit. (https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jacksonville-fl/donald-merritt-4883385). His last name was Merritt, not Merrill. (I found the note that I made at the LGS when I bought it and the guy who sold it to the store came over to talk to me.)

[Stephanie B]

I finally got around to running a search for officer and found this obit. (https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jacksonville-fl/donald-merritt-4883385). His last name was Merritt, not Merrill. (I found the note that I made at the LGS when I bought it and the guy who sold it to the store came over to talk to me.)
Also, the gun's seller was his nephew-in-law, not his brother-in-law.

[okie john]

Screwheads don't show signs of being buggered up.

I'd bet a PF dollar that the sideplate hasn't been off since it left the factory.


Okie John

[Stephanie B]

I'd bet a PF dollar that the sideplate hasn't been off since it left the factory.

If the department had an armorer, he probably had the right screwdrivers.

[Stephanie B]

I did take it to the range after I bought it.

67452

Shot at ten yards, a mixture of SA and DA. Ammo was Geco LRN, which seemed appropriate for the gun.