New to me, S&W Model 14 today

[Graybeard]

I'm gonna stick this one here even tho it prolly fits better in the S&W Forum and I may later move it there.

Today I had a follow up with my surgeon at 2.5 months since my carpal tunnel surgery on Dec. 15, 2020.

When I left there I stopped at a gun shop along the way back home. I was specifically looking for a S&W Shield EZ 9mm without the thumb safety and a Remington 700 Varmint in .223 but also asked about a Marlin bolt action .22 magnum with tube magazine.

They had no Remington or Marlin guns in the shop even tho he stocks around 1000 guns or more at a time. He was out of Shield EZ also but said he had what I was looking for coming in on Thursday. He suggested I look around and see if they had something else of interest to me, so I did.

I found an almost pristine condition S&W Model 14 with 8-3/8" barrel, target trigger and hammer and pinned barrel. I need to look this old gun up but it's a 14-3. The pinned barrel makes it old.

There is a faint drag line on the cylinder and a wee bit of missing blue on the left side of barrel perhaps from holster wear. It has been used but for sure NOT abused. It's tight and the action is just unreal smooth.

I know S&W made them right in those long ago days but this one has had to have some action work done by someone who knew what they were doing. The single action pull has zero creep or take up. It just breaks like a glass rod. I need to check the pull weight but if it's more than 3 pounds it will truly surprise me.

The double action has to be smoother than any Python I've owned and that's several. I didn't check the DA pull weight either but it is so silky smooth it seemed really light, lighter than the pull gage will say I'm sure.

It had some HUGE and obnoxious target grips with thumbrest that I took off as soon as I got it home. I put on my favorite grips which are Pachmayr Presentation. I just happened to have an extra set laying around. I took them off my S&W M66 6" when I put on CTC laser grips.

I've owned 3 or maybe 4 of these like this in the past and let them all go. I've been on the look out for another and also another 8-3/8" Model 17 for several years. Well  I now have half of that set.

I'll try to get some photos up tomorrow. Will also check the trigger pulls on my RCBS trigger gage.

[Graybeard]

Only 6 views and no posts since I posted. I guess no one really is interested in guns here. Oh well.

I'm still gonna up day on the action aka trigger pull cuz it really is that outstanding.

I used my RCBS Trigger Pull gage last night and 3 times I got 28 ounces for the SA trigger pull. That's a 1.75 pound trigger pull.

DA pull for 3 tries was 7, 7 and 7.5 pounds. Yeah it basically has a 7 pound DA trigger pull on this gun.

I dunno who did the action on it but it has to be the smoothest and lightest I've ever seen on a S&W revolver and I've prolly owned 200 or more of them.

[BUGEYE]

What a coincidence , you bought that revolver at the same time I thought of my brother with his matched set.
My brother was very good with a pistol or revolver so I'm sure he bought what he thought was the best.
I'll be reading up on that model today to see what others thought of it.

[DDZ]

Congrats on the nice model 14 find. Yes post some pics when you get a chance.  S&W did make some quality hand guns back in the day.  To obtain a 1.75 lb trigger pull on that gun. Someone knew what they were doing.

[BUGEYE]

I read Wiki for a little background, then went to youtube and watched some videos with folks shooting the model 14.
One fellow suggested that if you wanted one, to try and find a vintage gun with that barrel pin.
There were zero bad reviews.

[Graybeard]

I've never heard a bad word about the S&W Model 14. I've owned them in the past with both the shorter 6" and the 8-3/8" barrels. I much prefer the 8-3/8" myself but overall the 6" is far more popular.

I even owned a 6" once that has come from the factory as a single action only. You had to cock the hammer to shoot it. You couldn't pull the trigger and make it fire. I sold it to one of the guns I shot with and got me an 8-3/8" and I'd bet he still has that gun to this day.

The quality of the action job on this gun is just unbelievable. It was definitely done by someone who really knows their S&W actions. While they had the trigger and hammer out they fully polished both to a high shine finish. That is for sure not from the factory.

We're having a cold wet day again today so I've not gotten any photos of it yet.

[Graybeard]

Once upon a long time ago when I was younger, had steady hands and good eyes I was an excellent shot. I could shoot 1" full cylinder groups at 25 yards offhand. These days my hands shake like a leaf and my tired old eyes don't see those sights like they used to. Those groups were shot using Lyman 358156 GC bullets I had cast.

These days I'm pleased as punch to see a 3" group at 25 yards when I set up as solid as I can get from the bench over sandbags. The old body just can't do it anymore. And since the surgery on my left hand I have yet fired a shot so am not sure I can do even those larger 3" groups.

I'm not that concerned about group size tho. I will sight this gun in when the weather improves and hopefully so will my left hand. I have some 8" falling plates tho that I bet will be shot at more with it than paper targets once I have it sighted in and find a load it likes.

I just happen to have bought a huge supply of Speer 125 grain JHPs and and even larger supply of Hornady 158 grain swaged lead HPs a few months ago when I found both available at normal prices. The folks I got the lead HPs from for some reason double shipped the order which was already a large one and asked me to either return them or pay for them. I decided to pay and keep them. So I have huge quantities of ammo loaded and perhaps a life time supply of good bullets to load for it and still not have to break out my bullet casting equipment.

[BUGEYE]

Once upon a long time ago when I was younger, had steady hands and good eyes I was an excellent shot. I could shoot 1" full cylinder groups at 25 yards offhand. These days my hands shake like a leaf and my tired old eyes don't see those sights like they used to. Those groups were shot using Lyman 358156 GC bullets I had cast.

These days I'm pleased as punch to see a 3" group at 25 yards when I set up as solid as I can get from the bench over sandbags. The old body just can't do it anymore. And since the surgery on my left hand I have yet fired a shot so am not sure I can do even those larger 3" groups.

I'm not that concerned about group size tho. I will sight this gun in when the weather improves and hopefully so will my left hand. I have some 8" falling plates tho that I bet will be shot at more with it than paper targets once I have it sighted in and find a load it likes.

I just happen to have bought a huge supply of Speer 125 grain JHPs and and even larger supply of Hornady 158 grain swaged lead HPs a few months ago when I found both available at normal prices. The folks I got the lead HPs from for some reason double shipped the order which was already a large one and asked me to either return them or pay for them. I decided to pay and keep them. So I have huge quantities of ammo loaded and perhaps a life time supply of good bullets to load for it and still not have to break out my bullet casting equipment.

For whatever reason I was never much as a pistol shooter.  But I did try.  And then, I gave my brother my Ruger Mark II 6 7/8" barrell and my Ruger single six, and, because I am Left handed I threw in my Browning light 20 gauge.
Since I shake so bad I can barely feed myself, it would be dangerous for bystanders if I had to shoot at a bad guy.

It's too bad they didn't have youtube back when you were shooting.  You could have been a star.

[Graybeard]

I have trophies sitting all over the place where I have shelf space to fit them and a large box or two more of them in the attic.

I shot competitively with handgun, rifle and shotgun. With shotgun we used to shoot money matches, winner take all. Took home more money than I brought pretty much every time.

One year over in B'ham at one range they held an iron sighted handgun silhouette match monthly along with the standard matches where scopes were used. I won every single one of them that year using my S&W Model 29 with 10-5/8" barrel.

[DDZ]

I always loved shooting hand guns more than rifles. Its why i maybe have three times the handguns than I do rifles.  My number one reason I cant shoot as well as I once did is my eyes. 
I can still hold steady.  its just so much harder for me to focus on the rear sight, front sight, and the target. I wear glasses with a bifocal, but its just so much harder to hit accurately now. Ill just have to set bigger targets out, 

[oldandslow]

I'll add my two cents. I owned a long barreled model 14 a lot of years ago and it was a really, really nice revolver. Then I bought a Dan Wesson 15-2VH8 and it was more accurate than my 14. I opted to keep the DW whichI still have but the 14 turned into a tricked out model 19. The DW is more accurate than it is also.

[Graybeard]

I've owned 2 Dan Wesson, Model 15 I think, and neither would come close to matching the accuracy of my S&W revolvers. That's just two examples however, both were 6" barrel guns.

S&W replied to my inquiry on when this revolver was made. It was made in 1977.

Last night Matt and his youngest son Wyatt came over. They shot some on the range with Matt's Springfield XDm 5.25 .45acp and then came in.

I showed them the new to me Model 14 and had Matt first fire it DA and then after a big of that he tried the SA pull. He was amazed as was Wyatt.

If it's as pretty tomorrow as it was today and it is supposed to be, I hope to shoot it. Today I did some work on my driveway and refilled the hole Matt made fixing my water like some time back.

[Dee]

I've owned 2 Dan Wesson, Model 15 I think, and neither would come close to matching the accuracy of my S&W revolvers. That's just two examples however, both were 6" barrel guns.

S&W replied to my inquiry on when this revolver was made. It was made in 1977.

Last night Matt and his youngest son Wyatt came over. They shot some on the range with Matt's Springfield XDm 5.25 .45acp and then came in.

I showed them the new to me Model 14 and had Matt first fire it DA and then after a big of that he tried the SA pull. He was amazed as was Wyatt.

If it's as pretty tomorrow as it was today and it is supposed to be, I hope to shoot it. Today I did some work on my driveway and refilled the hole Matt made fixing my water like some time back.

Well I didn't miss it far on mfg date.

[oldandslow]

I bought mine in the mid 70's although I've forgotten the exact year. My 19 is somewhere around a year, year and a half younger. Both came out of the box with the absolute best single action triggers I have ever pulled. The DW is very good but not quite up to snuff with the Smiths in the single action trigger department but I still shoot more accurately with it. It's a heavier gun and that might be part of the reason.

[Dee]

I carry a 686 I polished out, and smoothed the action,  but carry a little Airweight I tuned also.
I prefer the 686, and since I took up wearing suspenders 5 or 6 years ago, the weight is a non issue.
While I love the way a properly honed double action Smith feels, not many others can match their single action pull either.

[Graybeard]

The action on this Model 14 is unlike any other I've ever owned or fired that belonged to someone else.

The DA pull is so silky smooth from start to finish you fell nothing but smooth. No stacking, no grittiness and it breaks at an honest 7 pounds.

The SA pull is like a glass rod breaking. There is nothing felt, just a hammer fall at 1.75 pounds. Both SA and DA pulls are consistent time after time.

I've not yet fired it but hope to tomorrow. I have seen pulls so light, especially DA pulls that the gun didn't fire every time, I sure hope that isn't the case on this one cuz this is the best action I've ever seen on any gun I've own or shot including those costing around $2000 or more.

Yeah Dan you were close. I was pretty sure it was late 70s since pinned barrels ended around '80 or so. I just didn't know what year but S&W provided that for me.

[billy_56081]

I've owned 2 Dan Wesson, Model 15 I think, and neither would come close to matching the accuracy of my S&W revolvers. That's just two examples however, both were 6" barrel guns.

S&W replied to my inquiry on when this revolver was made. It was made in 1977.

Last night Matt and his youngest son Wyatt came over. They shot some on the range with Matt's Springfield XDm 5.25 .45acp and then came in.

I showed them the new to me Model 14 and had Matt first fire it DA and then after a big of that he tried the SA pull. He was amazed as was Wyatt.

If it's as pretty tomorrow as it was today and it is supposed to be, I hope to shoot it. Today I did some work on my driveway and refilled the hole Matt made fixing my water like some time back.

I have a 686 no dash that has about a two pound trigger pull, almost magic.

[billy_56081]

I carry a 686 I polished out, and smoothed the action,  but carry a little Airweight I tuned also.
I prefer the 686, and since I took up wearing suspenders 5 or 6 years ago, the weight is a non issue.
While I love the way a properly honed double action Smith feels, not many others can match their single action pull either.

In double action I have a Colt police positive special from the 1960s I bought on my C&R license that is unreal. The gunsmith that did the action job was an artist.

[BUGEYE]

Since Colts were mentioned, I have a Colt Cobra 38 special that looks and feels like it was made out of aluminum.
You can hold it by the grip and shake it and it sounds like rocks in a tin can.
Needless to say I retired it 35 years ago.

[oldandslow]

I hope you post an update on how it shoots, GB.

[northwoodneil]

I think S&W's have the best trigger of all the pistols I've owned. Colts are good but I like Smiths better. Let us know if it shoots as good as it feels.

[Graybeard]

I was hoping to get it shot by now but the weather has cooled again so it might be early next week before I get around to it. It's supposed to be spring here next week.

[30calflash]

 I've a model 14 and a K38, both 6". I started shooting some 25 yd slowfire with WC's last year but let up on that when the weather turned cold.
 Enjoyed simply firing one handed bullseye at a slow pace, nice way to spend time on the range.

 Graybeard, have you tried using an aperture on your shooting glasses? It can clear up your sight picture quite a bit and help a lot with shooting accurately both outdoors and indoors. I started using one when I fired in indoor winter leagues with a 22. It helped alot then when my vision started to diminish and it helps a lot now when attempting some precision shooting outdoors.

 If you can't find one you can fudge it with a 1/16'' to 3/32" hole in some black electrical tape and center the hole where you look thru your lense.

[Graybeard]

Yeah I have tried various aperture devices and they do help some. Still don't help with my shakes I've developed tho.

I have a pair of glasses like device with cardboard or maybe some kinda plastic that has holes cut all over rather than a single aperture. They work quite well but don't do much to serve as protective lens.