When it comes to guns, I'm not much of a "collector."  Sure, it's nice to have one in fine cosmetic shape, but I don't mind a bit of character, especially in one that shoots this well.  Box and papers don't mean much to me, and I'd sooner have a working gun than one I'm tempted to stow away in the safe.

As K-38's go, this one wouldn't seem too special at first.  It shipped in 1975, the same year Maggie Thatcher ascended to power and Francisco Franco stepped down.  Minnie Riperton was big in the charts, and Jimmie Hoffa stopped filing tax returns.

At that point, the Model 15 was still standard-issue in the United States Air Force, as well as several police departments.  This specimen was issued to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

The department in question phased the 15 out around 1985 in favor of the Beretta 92, and by 1990, the Air Force would do the same.  More than a few Vietnam veterans maintain a sentimental tie to the weapon, and for good reason.

The SD9 and SD40 are Smith & Wesson's most recent polymer pistols. Their price places them squarely between the Sigma and M&P, which would be around $420 on the street.

The Sigma pistols are excellent guns for the money, but a few things have always been lacking.  First off is the dreadful trigger pull, which is a long and uneven.  They have plastic sights which are prone to breakage during adjustment, and the accessory rail is of proprietary design.

The SD pistols seem to address these issues.  In fact, it appears that this model is simply an improved Sigma in many respects.  What follows is a brief comparison.

This specimen was manufactured in 1979. The Steelers won the Super Bowl, Voyager photographed the rings of Jupiter, Greenland gained home rule, and Disco began its rapid downward spiral.

We also had the Jimmy Carter Rabbit Incident. That one never gets old.

This 65-3 was produced in 1987.  Other notable events from that year include Gary Hart dropping out of the Presidential race, Sonny Bono running for the office of Mayor of Palm Springs, and Ronald Reagan delivering what was possibly his most important speech.  U2 released The Joshua Tree, and Rick Astley's song "Never Gonna Give You Up" reached #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, long before anybody with taste found it the least bit ironic.

The Model 65 was produced from 1972 until 2004.  It was the fixed-sight counterpart to the 66, and was carried by the Customs Service, as well as several state police agencies.

A common misconception is that the 65 was a stainless version of the Model 13.  This isn't entirely true, as the 13 was not introduced until 1974.  Prior to that, the blued counterpart to the 65 was the 10-6, which had been upgraded to .357.  While the 19 and 66 were referred to as the Combat Magnums, the 65 and 13 were never explicitly named.  Given their heritage, they could be referred to as the Military & Police Magnums.

Both the 13 and 65 share the distinction of being among the last standard-issue revolvers in law enforcement. There's some confusion as to which was the last issue revolver for the F.B.I.  As far as I can tell, it varied by field office and starting date, but agents were carrying both well into the 1980's.

Pictured below are the sad remains of a S&W M&P 340 revolver.  The 340 is a J-Frame chambered in .357 Magnum.  Its frame is an aluminum alloy infused with a small percentage of Scandium, and it weighs in at 12 ounces.

The owner fired six rounds of .38 Special through it without issue. The first shot of .357 blew up the gun. The operator was unharmed, as all of the unpleasantness happened forward of the muzzle.

When FN Herstal came out with the 5.7×28mm cartridge (and the accompanying Five-seveN pistol) a few years back, there was a bit of hand-wringing in certain circles over its ability to pierce body armor.

Bear in mind, the 5.7mm is really a souped-up .22 WMR, not some >5000 ft/s barnburner.  It's not the first (or only) gun made that'll punch through body armor.  Yet, everyone got their panties in a bunch over it.

S&W Model 29 Mountain Gun. The loads were factory CorBon 200gr .44 Special. The operator was an experienced shooter with military training.

The shooter started with .44 Magnums, then switched to Specials. It's likely that he expected the milder report and recoil of the .44 Special loads and therefore didn't notice the discrepancy at first.

Surprisingly, the ejector rod is fine, as are the topstrap and cylinder. Looks like a new barrel assembly should have her back up and running. The shooter was wearing eye protection and was not hurt.

Lesson learned: be careful when switching between Magnum and Special loads, as you might not pick up on the difference in time.

Sunday morning, I put some Ahrends on the Model 18 and took her shooting. Even with the bargain-basement stuff, she does me proud:

According to Wikipedia, a penny is 0.75" in diameter. 3/4 of an inch. Double action.

Man, did it feel good shooting that!

The Smith & Wesson K-Frame in .38 Special was a resounding success from its inception. In 1931, they introduced the K-22 Outdoorsman, a 6" K-Frame in .22. The platform was an immediate hit, and its utility and popularity have never waned.

The K-22 was designed for the "high velocity" .22 rounds that were in vogue at the time. There had been concerns over the possibility of case head failures, so D.B. Wesson bored the cylinder with recessed chambers. This approach would also be used on the company's Magnum caliber revolvers until the late 20th century, when stronger metallurgy (and better ammo design) rendered it unnecessary.

For many collectors, the recessed cylinder is a symbol of a bygone era of better craftsmanship. I'm not sure I agree, but given the choice, I'll certainly take a revolver with pinned barrel and recessed cylinder over one that doesn't have those features. I don't know why; perhaps it's just the allure.

The year after its introduction, the K-22 would see service on the American Olympic pistol team. After a few slight changes, the K-22 Outdoorsman became the K-22 Masterpiece in 1940. In 1957, Smith & Wesson assigned model numbers to their pistols, and the K-22 became the Model 17. Despite its demotion in nomenclature, affectionate shooters continued to refer to it as the Masterpiece, and with good reason.

So, the 2009 Shot Show hasn't even happened yet, and folks are already making predictions. Some are true, some are probable, and some are real head-scratchers.

First off, Smith & Wesson appears to be bringing the .41 Magnum back with a vengeance, reintroducing several "Classic" iterations of the Model 57. They're also chambering one of the Night Guard revolvers (1) for the cartridge, as well as introducing one in 10mm. They've decided to jump on the .327 Magnum bandwagon with a really odd hodgepodge of features.

The Classic series will also include the Model 14, 17 and 18. As much as I want a Model 18, I don't like the newer lockwork, so I'll be holding out for a good used specimen.

Of course, all that's verified by their web site. Still in uncertain but viable territory is the suggestion that they plan on producing the 19 and 66 again (2). It'd be nice to see them keeping my favorite platform alive.

In the "not so sure" category, there's a rumor that they'll be introducing a revolver in H&K's all-but-ignored 4.6×30mm cartridge (3).

As far as Sig, they quietly bought the patent for the Colt Mustang last year, and I expect to hear something about this next week (4). Apparently, Taurus is planning a bunch of stuff, but after the problems I've seen with their products, I find it hard to get excited.

So, that's the (mostly) verifiable scuttlebutt. Now let's get on to the fun stuff. That means the unsubstantiated, taboidesque crap I keep hearing from people who aren't part of the industry at all but claim to know folks who know folks who are.

Glock is producing a carbine, which will revolutionize the market.
Glock is producing a carbine in .45GAP, which will revolutionize the market.
Glock, HK, Springfield, Taurus, Bersa, Kimber, Wilson, S&W and all other manufacturers will be introducing a clone of Ruger's doomed LCP. The Glock version will be in .45GAP.
HK will be making civilian versions of their military rifles, just like they have every previous year I've heard this (which also happens to be every year I can remember).
Kel Tec will be making a revolver. So will HK. No, really, I hear this stuff!
Sig will actually bring their products to market on time, right after HK and Taurus.
Smith & Wesson will be reintroducting the 1940 Light Rifle.
The FN SCAR will actually appear in the wild.

This is a model 19-3.  There are many like it, but this one's mine.

The Model 19 is the descendant of the Combat Magnum, introduced in 1955 at the behest of Bill Jordan.  Jordan recognized that the K-Frames were a marvelous balance of weight and accuracy, but he wanted a Magnum, and Smith & Wesson's N-Frames were a bit heavy to be carried all day.

So the engineers started brainstorming.  They gave it a heavy barrel and an underlug (like the N-Frames), and thanks to advances in heat-treating, the steel was strong enough to handle the increased chamber pressures of the .357 (1).

It was an immediate hit with law enforcement, and when Smith & Wesson starting numbering their revolvers, the Combat Magnum became the Model 19.  The 19 was produced until 1999.

More gorgeous custom wood from Kim Ahrends.  The wood is cocobolo, the gun is a S&W Model 67.