History of S&W's Model 10 Revolver

Shooting Times provides us with "The History of Smith & Wesson's Famous Model 10 Revolver." This revolver was known under different names, including S&W's original Military & Police, before taking being designated as the Model 10.  The author begins:

With more than six million of them made, Smith & Wesson’s Model 10 revolver holds the distinction of being the most-produced handgun of the 20th century. From its use by the armed forces and law enforcement to its popularity with civilian shooters, there’s no denying the huge impact that the Model 10 revolver has had on the gun community as a whole. One could write an entire book on this handgun’s history, but a comprehensive-yet-not-exhaustive article is arguably going to be more popular and is undoubtedly more readable.    

He continues:

    Introduced in 1899 as the “.38 Hand Ejector Military & Police,” this new revolver was built on the company’s K-size medium frame, and was a departure from all previous revolver designs in that it featured a swing-out cylinder instead of a top-break design. This new swing-out cylinder is behind the “Hand Ejector” part of the name because it required the user to push on the ejector rod to remove spent or live rounds instead of having them eject automatically like they do on top-break designs.

    While there was an earlier Smith & Wesson revolver that also featured a swing-out cylinder, it did not have the now-familiar push latch on the left side of the frame and it was not available in .38 caliber. 

    The equally new .38 Special cartridge, for which the revolver was chambered, was a marked improvement over the .38 Long Colt. This new gun and ammo would go on to be one of the most widely used combinations in law enforcement for the better part of a century. The United States Military embraced the gun immediately, placing the first order for 1,000 revolvers in June 1900. Another 1,000-gun order followed in February 1901. 

Although typically manufactured to shoot .38 Special, the author relates that "[i]n March 1940, they began producing what is known as the .38/200 British Service revolver, which is the exact same Military & Police gun except that it is chambered for the .38 S&W cartridge. By war’s end, 568,204 of these .38/200 revolvers had been made for England." 

    (As a side note, the .38/200 uses the same case as .38 S&W and the same diameter bullet, but a much heavier and longer bullet--originally a 200 grain lead bullet. Most .38 S&W revolvers cannot safely fire the .38/200 load; so only shoot .38/200 out of revolvers marked for that loading. On the other hand, any revolver built for .38/200 will also shoot .38 S&W). 

    The article goes on to discuss the Model 10 in U.S. service during WWII and its long life after the war as one of the most widely used police revolvers.  Smith & Wesson still offers the Model 10 in its catalogue as part of its classic series.