2025 is proving to be a year of wonders. The folks at Smith & Wesson have answered my prayers with the release of a trio of new classic revolvers with no lock! I get that we live in a litigious society, but I was never a fan of a lock on a revolver. Especially not on the side plate where it’s obvious. I have a fair number of Smith revolvers, but they’re all older pre-lock models. Well now I can look at a few new options that go back to the good old days.

The Classic Series No-Lock revolvers

Smith & Wesson just announced the release of three Classic Series No-Lock revolvers that include a Model 36, a Model 10 and a Model 19. I’d love to see this spread across the whole S&W revolver line but I’ll take these three for now.

The new revolvers all feature blued carbon steel frames and Walnut wood grips, as well as other classic design features. The Model 36 Classic, is a J-Frame chambered in 38 Special +P with a five-shot capacity. It has a 1.88-inch barrel with a fixed-blade front sight, an integral slot-in-frame rear sight and a classic checkered wood grip. The barrel is a tapered barrel profile with a rounded front sight, much like the original Chief’s Special. MSRP is $849.

Next up is the S&W Model 10 Classic chambered in 38 Special +P. The new Model 10 looks like an old Model 10, or probably more correctly a pre-Model 10 M&P revolver, which happens to be my favorite style Smith. It has a 4-inch pencil barrel with a rounded fixed-blade front sight and an integral slot-in-frame rear sight. It comes with a set of Tyler Gun Works smooth walnut grips. The styling on the Model 10 Classic is very reminiscent of the WW II era Victory Model revolvers. MSRP is 979.

Finally we have the Model 19 Classic chambered in .357 magnum. It uses a 4.25-inch barrel with a red-ramp insert front sight and an adjustable black-blade rear sight. It’s fitted with a checkered wood target grip. MSRP on the Model 19 is $1,099.

If you like blued steel and walnut revolvers with a strong nod to history and tradition, these Classic Series No-Lock models may be the nicest pieces to come out of the Smith & Wesson shop in decades. Take a look at the video S&W put out for a closer look:

For more information on the new Smith & Wesson Classic Series revolvers, visit www.smith-wesson.com.

38 COMMENTS

  1. Before I would spend $1000 on a Smith and Wesson Model 19 revolver, I would pony up an extra $200 and get a new Colt Python or better yet a new Colt Anaconda.

    • My used Ruger Security Six was only $300 seven or eight years ago. It meets my medium frame .357 needs.

      These new/old Smiths are beautiful!

  2. oh my god that model 10. tapered barrel smiths rock and forcing cone issues aside are one of the finest revolvers ever mass produced. My personal favorite is my 66-5. yeah it has mim parts but whatever I have put a lot of rounds through it over the years.

  3. The fact that they are so explicitly promoting these as “no-lock” guns tells us that even THEY know how stupid the locks are…

    Good grief.

    • I’ve had many offers to buy my 4″ 686 – no dash for up to three times what I paid for it. Usually after I tell them it’s not for sale, they comment that they wish Smith would make them like it again, I spoil their dream by telling them it’d be full of MIM parts and a two piece barrel if they ever did. I still carry it when working my Black Hills cabin property due to the occasional Cougar sighting.

      • Problems with MIM parts were blown out of proportion by the really shitty stuff put out by Kimber. Same for sleeved barrels, which a few S&Ws experienced, mainly their TRR-8. I have fired nearly a thousand VERY hot loads out of an 8″ 44Taurus raging hunter without any problems.

      • You don’t want a gun to deal with Cougars.

        A bottle of wine and some Barry Manilow are far superior tools for this job.

      • Yeah, I can dig it. I have several friends sharking on my 6″ bbl model. One of my favorite guns, and probably the only gun whose (single-action) trigger pull exceeds the quality of any of the many 1911’s I have. Never carried it, great to shoot, especially with tailored handloads. Have carried 1911’s for CCW for at least 30 years.

    • 24, I bought one not long ago. Looks new. Acquired a couple of 2nd and 3rd model hand ejectors in .44 SPL around the same time. I like old S&W revolvers. I hate trigger locks. That’s what I have gun safes for.

      • Where the hell do you find .44 spc?
        overpriced and under powered.
        I used to cut back my 44mag cases.
        Made up some nice hand loads.
        .44 special, good cartridge, now obsolete.
        No use ruining .44mag brass to shoot nostalgia.

        • No use cutting 44mag cases when Starline sells them new for $135 for 500 of them, and nearly always in stock….wish 45super also was at the moment.

        • Xdduly elected official,

          I have at least one revolver chambered in .44 Magnum. I load Magnum cartridges for dangerous animal protection while I am in the wilds. And I like the option to load .44 Special rounds for dangerous humans when I am in concrete jungles.

          Why do I gravitate toward .44 Special when my chief concern is dangerous humans? Because .44 Magnum loads are overkill for human defense and the right bullet selection in .44 Special cartridges are a fine choice for human defense. (Hint: my favorite human defense cartridge is .44 Special loaded with 200 grain hardcast full wadcutters with a muzzle velocity around 1,000 feet-per-second.)

    • I believe it was called “the old coal chipper.” I’ve only seen one used daily. Solid, functional and not pretty. Sort of the Glock of revolvers. It weighed about as much as the officer carrying it.

  4. it’s the end of an era with no more S&W Hillary Hole. To be clear though, her other theee holes are still available to be enjoyed.

    • I do wonder how many old timers will still refuse to forgive on that topic.

      Wasn’t so long ago that people were saying S&W was dead to them over it.

      • People still hate on Ruger and he’s been dead for decades. S&W has changed ownership since the hillary hole but let’s blame the new guys for that crap.

        • It took me a long, long time to forgive Ruger. Living in an AWB state made it hurt extra bad how he fucked us but the company has since redeemed itself. I still hate the Mini though.

          I’ll forgive Smith when the lock becomes the “special” edition and the norm is no lock.

  5. The end of the “Hillary Hole”. That what my LGS called them.

    I have absolutely no idea why those things were ever put on the gun. Who ever used them?

  6. Over the past 60 years I have had so many S&W revolvers. Mod 10, 12, 19, 29, 65, 66 and others that have been fogotten.
    They are all gone now, but my 1981 Dan Wesson 44V with the barrel changes are still with me – what a great, well made accurate gun that is. It’s heavy and slow compared to my Wilson Combat 1911’s but it’s the only gun I’ve ever owned that can actually match, and at longer ranges especially, can actually beat the Wilson’s for accuracy.
    If S&W could equal the old DW, I’d buy one in a fast minute.

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