A Nickel Smith

I went by the pawn shop where Kenny works this afternoon, and am I glad I did. Kenny still had his M&P resting in the case for $275, but beside it was a nickel Model 10-5 snubby. Kenny had priced the little revolver at $179. He said it was worth less, because the barrel was shorter. I said Hmmmmmmm.

The grips on the nickel Smith were bizarre. They looked like Jethro took out his Barlow knife and whittled up a pair of grips. Surprisingly though, they felt pretty good. The trigger was nice, and the bore was clean and bright. I did the Jim March Revolver Checkout on it. It checked good. The barrel was pinned, but the hillbilly grips obscured the serial number. Still, for $179 it did not really matter. I asked Kenny about the grips, and he immediately called them custom. I figured I had better stop while I was ahead. I asked for a 4473.

As I was filling out the form, Kenny asked me why I liked the old revolvers. I told him it is simple, that they are from another time, a time when hand craftsmanship meant something, and they are firearms that will never again be available new. Kenny looked at me kind of funny, so I said "Look man, it's like a '61 Chevy Impala convertible. These old guns are cool. They aren't like this now. They were better back then."

Kenny kind of understood that. He then asked me about the checks I had made on the revolver. Kenny said he had never seen that done before. I wasn't surprised. I told Kenny that most people don't really know how to check out a used gun. Kenny said "Well you sure know how to check one don't you?"

I replied "I know just enough to keep wanting another one, that's the problem!" I took my new revolver home and began to search through my grip box for some appropriate S&W wood.