Smith & Wesson Model 10 is Back! Full Review

If the Glock is the default handgun of this century, the Smith & Wesson Model 10 is easily the default of the last. First introduced as the Military & Police in 1899 at the request of the US government after the Spanish-American War, this humble six-shot .38 Special revolver would go on to ride in the holsters of soldiers, airmen, and law enforcement worldwide for decades. As it happens, versions of the Model 10 have been in continuous production since then.

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All that time did not stand still. Bigger magnum revolvers debuted, and semi-automatic pistols went from a niche product to the product. Through it all, the Model 10 itself has gone through changes to make it a better shooter. Reducing costs while maintaining its proven reliability was also a priority. Improvements to the sights, grips, and the hammer block safety were followed by the introduction of MIM action parts and the dreaded key lock safety in 2003. But revolvers had largely disappeared from the consciousness of the shooting public by then. The Model 10 was briefly discontinued in 2010, with the heavy-barreled 4-inch model continuing under Smith’s classic series.

Just in time for the revolver renaissance in 2025, the Model 10 is back in its classic configuration sans key lock. I am a prolific collector of Smith & Wesson M&P revolvers. It only made sense for me to give this new take on the Model 10 a fair shake.

Smith & Wesson has kept some of their vintage designs in limited production via their Classic line. The Model 10 was brought to the lineup in 2013. These revolvers feature beautiful Altamont wood grips and finer bluing than what you will find on their stock models. Although well built, I had to shake my head every time I handled one, intending to buy. The key lock, which sits just above the cylinder release, is still there. The insides of these forged steel handguns were MIM or metal injection molding parts.

MIM parts have come a long way since Smith started using them in the mid-90s and are somewhat easier to polish. The continued inclusion of the keylock is the most confounding aspect of new Smith & Wessons. Smith & Wesson has always produced versions of their small J-frame snub-nosed revolvers without the lock. Now the option is available for the classic Model 10, Model 19, and Model 36.

The new Model 10 No Lock is something of an amalgamation of different versions of the M&P revolver. It features a four-inch tapered or pencil barrel, which was the most popular configuration of its run. The sights consist of a square notch rear sight milled into the top strap of the cylinder frame paired with a distinctive half-moon front sight, as seen on pre-Model 10 M&Ps.

The revolver wears plain, uncheckered walnut stocks like the Victory Models made during World War II. Lastly, the ejector rod features a flared tip. That feature and the milled recess under the barrel to accommodate it was done away with for the Victory Model and never returned post-war. Instead of the modern triangular cylinder release as seen on new Smith & Wesson revolvers, the Model 10 features a wider scalloped release of an earlier vintage.

Slight differences in the milling of the recoil shield and markings give the No Lock Model 10 away as a new production handgun. So does the fact that the internals are still hardened MIM parts up to and including a frame-mounted firing pin. But in every other aspect, it looks like any vintage Model 10 you would have found in a cop’s holster. Or as the generic movie handgun of the latter 20th century. The M10 has a gorgeous blue-black finish and has the classic square butt configuration, which are nicely complemented by the neutral slick service profile grips.

The Model 10, as with all of its ancestors, has a swing-out cylinder and ejects the empties with a strike to the ejector rod. It is chambered in .38 Special and is rated for +P ammunition. As with any six-shot K-frame, the new Model 10 will work with any speed loader or holster made for a K-frame revolver.

• Caliber: .38 Special +P
• Capacity: 6
• Barrel Length: 4 inches
• Overall Length: 9 inches
• Width: 1.4 inches
• Weight: 34 ounces (loaded)

The new Model 10 is an attractive handgun, if somewhat plain. But that is a feature rather than a bug. But if it can’t shoot, then everything else does not matter. Post-war Model 10s are among the easiest handguns to master. .38 Special, even with +P loads, does not produce prohibitive recoil in a four-inch-barreled all-steel handgun. The K-frame is also a natural shooter because it is small enough to carry and reach all of the controls.

For everyday carry, a five-shot J-frame is great for consistent carry, but you are asking a lot of your hands and fingers to manipulate one, let alone shoot one. Likewise for larger framed handguns. Although the new Model 10 still has some of the modern lock work purists may not be keen on, from a shooting perspective it lives up to its predecessors.

As a Model 10 fan, it does not take much to leave an impression. The fact that we are missing the key lock is a bonus. In the hand, the Model 10 affords a full firing grip from my larger hands. Although it wears form-fitting wood grips that sit flush with the grip frame, there isn’t any noticeable space once the hands are clasped together. On some handguns, there is space, and the trigger guard has the freedom to wrap the knuckles under recoil. I did worry that the grips, due to their round, texture-less nature, would be a slip hazard.

Mechanically, the Model 10 is a double-action/single-action revolver. The hammer can either be cocked for a lighter single-action trigger pull or pressed all the way. The internal hammer block safety and heavier double-action trigger negates the need for any manual safeties. Out of the box, the Model 10 needed some lubricant. After a few dry fire repetitions, the action was smooth. According to my Lyman trigger scale, the double action pull breaks at 9 1/2 lbs., while the single action pull comes in at 4 1/4 lbs. The single action pull has no overtravel and cocking the hammer presents a wall for you to break. The double action pull is long and audible, but it feels more effortless than my trigger scale would suggest.

Overall, I was confident the Model 10 had a decent chance on the firing line. With a fresh shipment of .38 Special ammunition from Ammunition to Go and a handful of old Safariland speed loaders, I headed to the range to burn some powder.

I started working my way around the Model 10 by putting it on paper with several different loads to see where the fixed sights were hitting. Initial accuracy testing was done offhand from a distance of ten yards. My first shots out of the box were with Magtech 158 grain target loads and I managed a 12-shot group of 1 1/2 inches. The double-action trigger pull feedback felt about the same as an older model, though a bit heavier. These light standard pressure loads produced little felt recoil and it was tempting to almost go too fast.

I followed it up with Federal Hydroshock 129 grain and Hornady Critical Defense 110 grain rounds. Both are +P and are louder than the Magtech round. These are the sorts of ammunitions that are more popular with .38 Special snubnosed guns today and older service revolvers with fixed sights tended to be sighted for then-popular 158 grain loads. But I found these lighter-grained rounds to be right on the money. Accuracy was remarkably consistent with the groups falling at four inches.

For the sake of science and going for round count, I took some muzzle velocity data by shooting the Model 10 over my Caldwell Chronograph from a distance of ten feet. The five-shot average feet per second and foot pounds of energy are as follows:

After establishing where my sights were, I spent the next few range sessions plinking away out to twenty-five and then fifty yards. Although not a target round by any stretch, the Federal FBI load gave me the best groups at those distances. The round favored still higher at twenty-five yards than at ten yards, but I could put all six rounds into the same four-inch group as before. The front sight of the Model 10 gave plenty of room to pick specific areas of my silhouettes. At fifty yards, the double action pull was getting harder to manage and I could drop my rounds into a seven-inch cluster into the belly. Those 158-grain slugs were finally starting to drop down to the line of sight.

A clean revolver with good, vetted ammo is probably going to run and run for quite a while. I fired three hundred rounds through the Model 10 with no failures of the handgun or the ammunition. The only hiccup of note is that, in my switch from little snub-nosed revolvers straight to the Model 10, I accidentally short-stroked the trigger and failed to fire my next round. Simple fix: let the trigger all the way out and pull the trigger again. Although more forgiving of shooter mistakes, revolvers like the Model 10 are not completely foolproof. You have to let the trigger all the way out after firing a shot and then run the trigger to the rear.

Speaking of the trigger, I only shot the Model 10 in double action as I never had any luck shooting double action revolvers in single action mode. The M10 arrived with a smooth trigger out of the box, and generally shooting smooths it out even more and makes the trigger feel lighter than it is. That was the case here.

Much of the rest of the new no-lock Model 10 met and even exceeded expectations. The cylinder release, which you push to free the cylinder for loading, works smoothly. The ejector rod, when struck to kick the empty cases out, kicks them out all the way. The flared tip on the ejector rod doesn’t mark up your hand when going for a sharp slap. I am glad to see the return of this underrated feature. The only flaw in the slaw I could think of was the slick grips, which tended to make my hands slide while using +P rounds, especially when my hands got slick with sweat. On the other hand, they function like service grips and do not hang up empty brass or any speed loaders I used.

The new no-lock Model 10 is part of Smith & Wesson’s Classic Series. These aren’t full in-line production handguns and are intended to satisfy those who wanted a new version of what is no longer made. They are collectibles at heart, but what is there to say about a collectible version of one of the least desirable handguns out there?

The world is full of Model 10s that are ready to serve and ready to collect at prices that are still hard to beat. But as time wears on, there will be fewer of them, and existing prices will only increase. That is where increasingly newer versions come in. For those who want a good centerfire revolver, any version of the Model 10 in hard to beat, and Smith’s removal of the keylock and the revival of the classic model is bound to bring back some old hands and intrigue newcomers as well. The new Model 10 may not be collectible just yet, but it is a dependable heir to a great legacy that will make a great choice for those who want the security of buying new.

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