MAC: S&W Model 19 Dirt Test
BY Herschel Smith
4 years ago
This is a different sort of video for Tim, who doesn’t do revolvers. I do, and while it technically failed his test, it did better than he thought it would. I have to confess that I hated to see a nice wheel gun done that way.
On November 19, 2020 at 10:16 am, RCW said:
In the video, at least he prefaces with the caveat that the piece wasn’t designed for a steady diet of .357s (Model 586/686 is a better choice) and used .38s in his abuse of a fine pistol. Otherwise, he first rinses it with water likely displacing most/all of the oil lubrication and carries on fouling it with sand, dirt & mud. Given the option, why would anyone chose to use a firearm in such dubious condition, risking possible dismemberment or death? Just because one can do something stupid/reckless doesn’t necessarily mean one should. Darwin award worthy?
On November 19, 2020 at 10:20 am, PaulB said:
Like he said. Had he thought it would blow up he would have had on more gear.
I thought it was interesting as it tells me what to do to get the gun back in the fight.
Real world is full of dirt and mr Murphy. Any thing that can help mitigate that is welcome.
I did think it would do a little better
On November 19, 2020 at 10:44 am, George 1 said:
It should also be said that the majority of the semi-autos that he puts through this test have to be persuaded to keep shooting as well. Most commonly they need to be smacked to move the slides into battery, at least a few times.
On November 20, 2020 at 9:53 am, revjen45 said:
I don’t think it’s any great revelation that revolvers can be more prone to stoppages from debris. If I dropped my fine old M19 in the sand/dirt/mud I would clean it as well as I could under the conditions before proceeding with it in ready mode. Yeah, I know – not practical when under fire, but in the real world how often does necessity dictate using a gun you have dropped into a potentially damaging medium without even wiping/blowing it out? Checking for clear bore would seem a necessary step in any case, and you wipe it off (at least) while you’re verifying that there’s no blockage. It might have been relevant in the trenches of WW1, but today – not so much.
All this video accomplished was to make a lot of folks who love old revolvers cringe, and corroborate what most of us already knew. Next time I find myself in mud of Stalingrad or the trenches of western France I’ll make sure I’m packing a milspec autoloader.
On November 23, 2020 at 10:04 am, Pat Hines said:
I had a model 19, 4 inch barrel, put hundreds of rounds through it. My Canadian friends used to travel down to Montana where I lived at the time, just to fire it because handguns are hard to own in Canada.
My brother owns it now.
My current revolver(s) are a Model 25 Mountain Gun in .45 Colt, and a Model 360PD in .357 Magnum. Neither is my personal self defense handgun.