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The Smith & Wesson Model 19 is, in my estimation, the finest combat revolver ever made, for law enforcement, military, and personal defense uses. This is not my opinion alone – I'm backed up by a couple guys; 1. Bill Jordan, and 2. My dad. Since these gentlemen were tougher than you could ever be, your argument to the contrary is invalid. Needless to say, I got my taste for the K-frame .357 wheelgun from my father, who carried a 19 as a deputy sheriff for many years after he traded off a Model 28 (also a fine revolver, but very heavy) for one. When dad purchased his 19, he chose the custom options of a red ramp front and white outline rear sights, as well as a wide target hammer and trigger – he preferred the higher-visibility sights for obvious reasons (otherwise, standard Smith sights were black on black, a real challenge when shooting an all-black B27 silhouette target), and he preferred the wider hammer and trigger for comfort, since he felt the standard trigger was uncomfortable, especially when firing multiple rounds in double-action mode for qualifications. His gun came from the factory with the standard wide target grips, which he felt were too large for his hands. Back in the day, there weren't a whole lot of options for custom grips, but dad was able to find a compromise – he ordered the thinner "magna" grips, then purchased a Pachmayr grip adapter; he found the combination worked perfectly (he later added another such insert to his Model 60, which I still have). He carried this gun until he got into a series of desk positions for which a full-sized revolver was not required. Dad's Model 19 was the first centerfire handgun I ever fired. I put countless rounds downrange with that gun, from lowly .38 Special 158-grain police surplus LRN's to wadcutters to some fairly spicy 125-grain Magnum loads. Dad let me use it as a police explorer scout, from training to qualifications to competition, in which I used that old 19 to help our department's explorer team win some awards. However, while I was in training as an explorer, a few firearms trainers pointed out some issues to me: first, the wide hammer and trigger could potentially catch on the security holsters which had become commonplace in law enforcement at that time, creating a hazardous situation, and second, the trigger stop (an accessory that was always of dubious necessity) had the potential to jam up the mechanism if it failed. They told me if I wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement I would need to get something a bit more updated, like a revolver without those nasty features (or, heavens forbid, one of those newfangled semi-auto pistols which were just starting to become popular in police work at that time). Dad understood that if I were to follow in his footsteps, I'd need something a bit updated. He'd been eyeing the 19's stainless brother, the Model 66, for a while, and being a completely practical man, thought the 66's stainless construction would be easier to maintain than the mirror-like oiled blue of the old 19. So, he traded it off. I was sad to see the old six-shooter go, even if I liked the new one. The new gun didn't have a wide trigger, but the trigger it did have was ungrooved and much more comfortable than the old style. Plus, we now had a few more options in terms of custom grips; dad put a set of Pachmayr "Grippers" on it and it was good to go. Still, I missed that old 19, and hoped one day to be reunited with it. Flash forward thirty years: when I took my turn in law enforcement, I carried not the Model 66 but one of those newfangled semi-autos. I still had the 66; it's a good gun. However, I still lusted after a vintage 19 like dad's. I looked for one just like his but never found it. Sure I found Model 19's, but that combo of sights and trigger and hammer proved elusive. Then, just this week, I took some pistols into a local gunsmith for some minor service. There, in their sales cabinet, sat a vintage S&W Model 19 in almost pristine condition. I took one look at it. I took a second look at it. I took a third look at it, then asked the smith if I could see it. When he took it from the cabinet and laid it out before me, my eyes bugged out of my head. "That looks like my dad's old gun!" I exclaimed. And you know what, it looked almost like dad's old 19, sights and hammer and trigger. No, it didn't have the magna grips with Pachmayr adapter, but it did come with a lovely pair of Altamonts which actually feel better in my hands than the old combo did (my hands are larger than dad's were). It also lacks the trigger stop, but since it was a dubious feature anyway, I don't miss it (I do have a trigger stop on another 19 I purchased some years ago, so it works out). I have to say that the revolver feels smaller than it did when I was young; back then, that K-frame was huge to me. Could this be dad's gun, with a few modifications placed by a later owner? Probably not. This one is a 19-4, and while it is pinned-and-recessed, like dad's, I think dad's was probably a -3 or earlier (I seem to remember that the old target grips had a diamond in the center, which would mean it was made prior to 1968). So, while dad's exact gun remains, as far as I know, elusive, this is the next best thing, and probably as close as I'm ever going to get. Naturally, this gun came home from the gunsmith shop with me, and now has a place of honor in my collection. I've got to think that dad's smiling down on me, right about now.
