S&W Model 19-2 Combat Magnum

[da gimp]

cool... I think you did even better on the trade than the straight cash price...

[joem]

We made the swap. I traded an Israeli surplus Hi-Power, 100 rounds of 9mm, and a 20 year old guitar amp that had been sitting in my garage for the last 10 years collecting dust for the featured Model 19. I think I did okay. The revolver looks even better in person. It is an honest 90% and probably closer to 95%. Old school bluing in gorgeous.

Thanks to all for your input.

I'd say you did pretty darn good. I would have bought in a NY minute.

[Iceman66]

A word of caution on the S&W mdl 19. A steady diet of .357mag ammunition will cause problems with these revolvers, which were never designed for a standard feeding of full house .357mag ammo. These are just fine with .38special. The common problem is with the forcing cone. This problem was discovered by LE in the early 1970's and led to the development of the mdl 586/686. S&W exchanged most department mdl 19's for the new guns built on a larger frame to handle steady firing of the .357mag ammo.

Hope this helps.

[Art]

A word of caution on the S&W mdl 19. A steady diet of .357mag ammunition will cause problems with these revolvers, which were never designed for a standard feeding of full house .357mag ammo. These are just fine with .38special. The common problem is with the forcing cone. This problem was discovered by LE in the early 1970's and led to the development of the mdl 586/686. S&W exchanged most department mdl 19's for the new guns built on a larger frame to handle steady firing of the .357mag ammo.

Hope this helps.

This is correct. In the old INS we trained and qualified with .357 Magnum ammunition, for several years that was the very hot Remington 125 Gr. "M1" ammo. In addition we all got 600 rounds a year to practice on our own. It was not unusual for us to put over 1,000 rounds of this stuff through a revolver in a year. I used a K frame Magnum (Model 13) at that time. After about 3,000 rounds the forcing cone cracked, I had the barrel replaced but the revolver wouldn't hold time after that, mine wasn't the only K frame Smith to develope problems due to overuse with Magnum ammo.. The issue guns were Ruger "Speed Six" revolvers and there were no problems with them. After that the Agency discouraged the use of K frame revolvers and went to the lower powered 110 gr. Remington magnum ammo.

So .357 Magnum is ok for carry or occasional practice but don't make a steady diet of it. I carry 110 gr. Remington magnums in my S&W 640 and practice regularly with it. When I go to the range my normal procedure is to fire off the five magnums in the gun and follow it up with a box of .38s. I've had it for nearly 20 years and nary a hiccup with that protocol.

[da gimp]

thanks Ice, Art.