Question about S & W model 14

[Tdunn541]

Hey everyone,
I inherited my father's old police service revolver. It's a really cool S & W model 14 with a 6" barrel. It's been modified. When he was going for 'distinguished expert' with the LAPD he had a bull barrel put on it. Also, at that time the LAPD required carry pistols to be neutered to double action only.
Would it be difficult or costly to have it changed back to single and double action?
thanks!

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[jjfitch]

I shot PPC for a number of years and competed at the Nationals for 6 years as an Expert. I also shoot pistol games with a couple of S&W revolvers. I can't recall the last time I shot one in "single action" mode!

If you learn to shoot D/A you'll never go back to shooting S/A!

When I gave one of my old "gamer '" guns to my son it had quite a bit of bluing worn off from my shooting. I thought I'd do him a favor and had it re-blued.

He loves the gun but he was a little disappointed that I'd removed years of honest wear from "my shooting"! He said now it's just another gun like every body else's.

Don't change "your Dad's gun" you will regret it later. M14's are about the best revolver out there and they are plentiful just expensive right now! Buy one that is yours that is D/A-S/A. Remember your Dad when shooting his!

In a few years I'll be giving my son my Distinguished M14 "honest wear" and all!

Smiles,

 

[Tdunn541]

E

I shot PPC for a number of years and competed at the Nationals for 6 years as an Expert. I also shoot pistol games with a couple of S&W revolvers. I can't recall the last time I shot one in "single action" mode!

If you learn to shoot D/A you'll never go back to shooting S/A!

When I gave one of my old "gamer '" guns to my son it had quite a bit of bluing worn off from my shooting. I thought I'd do him a favor and had it re-blued.

He loves the gun but he was a little disappointed that I'd removed years of honest wear from "my shooting"! He said now it's just another gun like every body else's.

Don't change "your Dad's gun" you will regret it later. M14's are about the best revolver out there and they are plentiful just expensive right now! Buy one that is yours that is D/A-S/A. Remember your Dad when shooting his!

In a few years I'll be giving my son my Distinguished M14 "honest wear" and all!

Smiles,

I love this answer. I remember when I was 11, my parents had just gotten divorced. My father would pick my up every Friday evening and take me to the range with this Smith. I remember him getting the bull barrel installed and some trigger work done and how much he said it improved his accuracy. I don't quite remember when the LAPD made him change it to double only. But I do remember him training me to feel the two clicks in the trigger. And how to get used to how the hammer dropped right after that second click. Being only 11 he started me off with the hammer back to lighten the trigger pull. But as I got more used to it I remember him training me in double action only. I'm going to take your advice. I can see your point about not modifying his gun too. I think i would have regretted that choice. Thanks !

 

[jjfitch]

Pictures of the gun honoring your Dad would be great.

You might be confused about Distinguished vs. Open revolvers.

Open Revolvers allowed heavy barrels, Distinguished class had to be "factory" and I'm pretty sure the trigger mechanism could not be modified!

My Open revolvers!



Smiles,

 

[Tdunn541]

It's being sent to me from out of state. I'll post some photos when I get it.
I'm not certain about the LAPD requirements. I remember he had shot expert for a while and if I remember correctly it took 6 months of shooting expert to get the distinguished expert designation. Which he did get, and gave me his expert medal for Christmas. I was so excited. It's entirely possible he trained with this gun and did his qualifying with an entirely different gun. He had many many Smiths back then. He was a great man and a great cop. Lieutenant Homicide Detective Van Nuys division LAPD.

 

[jjfitch]

Yup, department/shooting team medals are different from NRA, PPC awards and classifications. The LAPD Pistol Team awarded PPC shooters a couple of different pins/medals at their matches. I'll have to check my stash of awards since they gave out several different kinds.

Smiles,