I have wanted one for some time now, and at a small gun show, surprisingly, somebody had one. I paid a lot more for it than I would have five or ten years ago, but they ain't makin' 'em anymore, so I'm glad to have gotten this one today. I have wanted a stainless .38 since my sweat will rust up a blued one FAST.

This one has been used/carried/shot very little. No end shake, no push off, no real issues at all. And as usual, NOT A DROP of oil has EVER been applied to it anywhere. It is well lubricated now. The Great Book of Knowledge says it is ca. 1978-9

Went through it and did all the things I usually do when I get one. Polish the rebound slide mainly, and here and there elsewhere. It came with smooth walnut magna grips with medallions, but those do NOT work for my hands at all. Orange front ramp insert, which is pretty faded, I'll have to redo that, but for now, it's painted to brighten it up. Only thing that would make it better would be a white outline rear sight blade. I'll have to see if I can find and old one. The current production ones SUCK.

Now I need to go shoot it!

Nice.

Nice find, Stophel. Congrats.

The gun came with factory walnut smooth "presentation" magna grips, which I have discovered are exceedingly rare and can sell (if you can even find them) for $200 or more. Sweet!

That Smith will cover cover a whole lot of ground.

That’s about as good as you can get, a 4 inch, stainless, adjustable sights.

Yep. Original S&W wood grips of any type from back in the day are getting big prices now, but particularly the special ones. That's because folks used to be so fast to replace them with the latest and greatest aftermarket grips, and then basically discard the originals.

Congrats on the gun. The pre-82 S&Ws are generally excellent. I've got the same gun, but mine was made just after the 1982 changes.

Yes sir. That's a great gun!

Enjoy!

I remember when you could find regular magnas for $5 a set (targets were $10), in boxes full of them at the gun shows. Nobody wanted them because....well, they do pretty much suck.

These grips may not actually be original to this gun, as they are a bit oversize for the frame. They are not numbered, but I don't know if they were still numbering grip panels at this date.

The gun is missing its little trigger stop. Just a little piece of metal with a screw that you could adjust to stop your trigger from overtravel. These were on the Masterpieces. I know they were known to occasionally work themselves loose and slip forward and keep the trigger from pulling back all the way, which is definitely not a good thing, so a lot of individuals and police departments removed them. I'm not real big on overtravel stops anyway, so it don't bother me that it's gone.

Yes, overtravel stops have no place on a service gun. Strictly a sporting function. Too risky for serious applications.

My first group. Remington 158gr SWCHP +P. About 15 yards or so. Off a rest (the back of a bouncy steel lawn chair). Considering how my eyesight has declined over the past few years, I think this ain't that bad at all.

If you experimented with loads, you could tighten that up, but nothing wrong with that group.

I think the gun could easily put all six of those into that little black spot, my eyesight and shakiness are the only limiting factor to accuracy.

You may be able to tighten those groups with dummy rounds. So easy to do with a revolver.

That's a great addition. The first Combat Masterpiece I owned was a Model 67

Me too. Back in the early 1980s.

Very nice !!!

Stophel: Good for you on the gunshow find!
I never pass up a chance to "do" a gunshow.
Keep us posted on your interactions with that handsome pistol.
Also would YOU be interested in selling those grips that came on the Model 67?
Enjoy and thanks for sharing the news and the great photos.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Very nice find indeed. They're on the bucket list. If "good deal" N-frames would stop throwing themselves in front of me one would come home a lot sooner.

Very nice and congrats to that purchase. And speaking of eyesight, it's probably just the beginning of a cataract which can be repaired with the right tools and by a man or woman who knows the trade.

The eye doctor told me last year that I was starting to get that, but had a few more years before an operation to address it would be needed. Not looking forward to it.

My main problem is the damned floaters. I have to view the world through a floating screen of obstructions, and the worst part of them often settles on the front sight of whatever firearm I'm shooting. They tell me there's nothing they can do about that.

I had to google the floater stuff. People I know and myself have the same problem but not the way you have. Seems odd!

The operation to heal my cataract was nothing to be afraid of. O. k. I was quite a little bit nervous but at same time two of my co-workers had the same and a few years ago to others. Another, now almost 80 years old underwent the same treatment on both eyes within two weeks. His commentary: finally I was able to see rain again. Til the there was only a grey mass pouring down. No I can see the drops and strands again. I always wonder how he managed to drive a car and shoot a gun....

I've had the "floaters" all my life. Like little squiggly spots that look like wads of hair or something. My eyesight is not cloudy or anything, it's just sometimes a little harder to focus on things than it used to be. Some days are better than others.

My close up vision went to crap very suddenly about 7 years ago, when I had BAD sinus pressure for a very long time. It was so bad, it was making it hard to focus on anything. When the sinus crap finally went away, my long distance vision came back to me. My close up vision never did. I used to have probably 20-10 vision, and could see to file the notches on a tumbler holding it 6 or 8 inches from my face.... no longer. A few years ago I was down to 20-15, and now 20-20....

My floaters started out like that, i.e., just shapes here and there sometimes getting in front of my point of focus, but now (especially in my right eye) there are so many interconnected floaters that it's like a floating screen that's too big to ever float out of the way. It was a gradual accumulation over many years.

Someone at the Fire once told me, like seven or eight years ago, that he went to an eye doctor for his and he laser blasted them away. I mentioned that to my eye doctor, and he seemed completely unaware of this and uninterested in it. He's pretty useless.

Mine don't move (other than moving along with my eyes), and fortunately, none of them are dead center, so they don't mess with aiming! I did have a car battery blow up in my face once many years ago, and it left a spot on my right eye that was interfering with the peep sight on my Garand, and that irked me quite a bit! Fortunately, that finally went away!

These are the wood grips that came on the gun.





They're actually kinda nice, but there's no way magna grips will work with my hands, even with grip adapters.

I think I have a rear sight figured out. I would like a white outline, but the modern made white outline blades SUCK pretty badly. Old ones (if you can find one) that have the white line painted into a groove like they should be, are usually beat all to crap.... so... I found a Millett replacement blade with the "longhorn" white outline, which I like very much, that I can put on a Millett rear sight assembly that is currently on another gun (with a plain black blade), so I can swap them suckers out! Woo hoo!

Also working on a new crossdraw holster for it.

Stophel: Seeing those grips in your hand confirms my worry.
Good luck on gathering the accoutrements for your nifty new pistol.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I really like Model 67s. I got this no-dash first year production 67 a few years ago from a friend for a good deal ($350). Hardly carried or used. I took the numbered magnas off and put them away, and put these smooth targets on it. It is accurate and an easy shooter. Very nice revolvers.