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Pizza Bob

A Little Game - Name That Gun

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All right, this has gotten tedious – not fun anymore. I really doubted that anyone would get this, unless they stumbled upon it, not because of superior S&W knowledge but due to lack of it – but no one has.

 

S&W makes runs of what they call “Special Ordinance Orders” on contract for foreign or domestic police, military or security agencies. I am surmising that what I have is the result of one of these SOO’s.

 

The gun is a model 586-4, but it is chambered in .38 Special – not .357 mag. The 4” barrel is rollmarked .38 S&W Special Ctg.

If you look in the S&W Bible (Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson) the only .38 Spl 586’s mentioned are from, what is known as, the Brazilian Contract. According to the book there were only 23 4” guns released to dealers in the US. This is NOT one of them. All of the Brazilian Contract guns were 586-5’s and had a unique serial number prefix.

 

That begs the question, “What do I have?” Frankly, I don’t know. It is a shooter – there is no box or papers and it has been shot (not a lot – but shot). I’m really curious, just not $50 curious, as that is what it costs for the S&W historian (Roy Jinks) to “letter” the gun – giving you the manufacturing and shipping history. I’m assuming it was part of a SOO and that it was for export, or we’d see a lot more of these. I would also think that it was a fairly large production run as the serial number prefix is specific to one month and year (Nov 1997).

 

Some European police agencies would not allow .357 magnums. The most popular police cartridge in Europe throughout the 70’s and 80’s (maybe before and after that, too) was the 9 mm Kurz – or the .380 ACP as we know it here. A .357 magnum would have been a huge leap in power, and I’m sure that in populous Europe they were afraid of over-penetration, so the .38 Special gained a lot of favor as a logical step up from .380. I’m just playing detective here.

 

So a 586 chambered in .38 Special is a pretty rare bird, but not necessarily any more valuable. Some may actually look at the chambering as a detriment to value. As I said, I like oddball, not run-of-the-mill things, and this certainly fills the bill. I was actually able to purchase it for less than what a “normal” 586 would sell for, so I’m ahead of the game.

 

It will make an ideal IDPA gun in SSR. While I like stainless, there is nothing like a nice blued revolver. This one is also desirable because it pre-dates the Clinton lock and has no MIM content. It was the first engineering change that includes the frame pre-tapped for an optic mount and has the new style rear sight.

 

It will be, most likely 6 – 8 weeks before I will take possession, but when I do, I’ll post some pictures. The Smiths I have, for the large part, tend toward N-frames. This is only the second L-frame I’ll have and they are both pretty unique – the first being chambered for .40 S&W (model 646 – only 300 made).

 

Sorry for torturing everyone – just thought it was unique and this game might grab your attention. Thanks for participating.

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

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Is that a good WOW, Ray, or a bad one? With the face palm it could go either way. Figured this gun would be right up your alley.

 

Sorry Robert. I like my 686 with a magnum chamber. And a 40 S&W revolver makes no sense to me. 10mm can do a whole lot more, and still cover the 40S&W ammo route.

 

BUT, it's a cool gun none the less. Just not for me.

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I did a little Internet research and found a short comment about a small lot of Brazil made 586 in 4 1/4" #106498. Maybe helpful??

 

Thanks, but I know about those - below is from my post #64 in this thread...

 

If you look in the S&W Bible (Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson) the only .38 Spl 586’s mentioned are from, what is known as, the Brazilian Contract. According to the book there were only 23 4” guns released to dealers in the US. This is NOT one of them. All of the Brazilian Contract guns were 586-5’s and had a unique serial number prefix.

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Hey Bob....almost like my 4" 586 that I used the last time we shot IDPA together. Wonderful balance, manageable recoil. Interesting that it's chambered in .38 spl.!

 

Good luck with it!

 

Dave

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