Gun Review: Smith & Wesson Model 19 Classic Revolver

One of the most storied duty revolvers is the Smith & Wesson Model 19. A “K-Frame” midweight revolver chambered in .357 Magnum, it was originally dubbed the “Combat Magnum.” The Model 19 would be a mainstay of law enforcement agencies around the U.S. for decades, surviving in a duty role well into the age of automatics.

Smith & Wesson produced the Model 19 for 42 years and then discontinued it in 1999. In 2018 they re-released the beloved wheel gun as the Model 19 Classic. In 2025 they’ve gone a step further, offering the Model 19 either with or without the internal lock. In every way, these are the best Model 19 revolvers that Smith & Wesson has ever produced.

It’s impossible to separate the Model 19 from Colonel William Henry Jordan. Bill, as he was known to his friends and the world, served in the U.S. Border Patrol for three decades, as well as the Marine Corps during WWII and Korea. He became a legendary figure in law enforcement and around the nation prior to his retirement in 1965, and when it came to shooting, he walked it like he talked it.

Jordan’s fastest recorded accurate draw and fire time was .27 seconds with a double action revolver, from his duty holster. Numerous biographies of Jordan have been published, and he wrote many articles and two books. If you haven’t read “No Second Place Winner,” you’re wrong.

Jordan reinvented shooting for law enforcement and he invented the “Border Patrol style” holster, as well as several others, the use of larger “target stye” stocks on duty guns, and the very concept of the combat magnum. It was Jordan who approached Smith & Wesson’s president Carl Hellstrom in 1954 about a new pistol.

Jordan detailed exactly what he thought the gun should be. The barrel length would be four invhes, a good compromise in length and the right feel and balance with a heavy barrel. The frame itself would be smaller, easier to carry, and faster to draw than the current N-Frames of the time. He wanted a shrouded ejector rod to keep it from getting bent in case “somebody bumped his head on your gun.” And the chambering would be .357 Magnum.

Smith & Wesson obliged. The rest is history.

The Model 19 Classic is a good-looking gun. Smith & Wesson never really stopped making their satin polished black blued revolvers and their finishes are as good as they ever were. It’s hard to compare them side by side because of their age, but this recently manufactured Model 19’s finish seems much better than any of my S&W K frames of the last 100 years.

The barrel is just as Jordan wanted it, a “heavy barrel” of 4.25 inches. This would have been considered shorter than usual for most duty guns, but Jordan was right…not tapering the barrel and leaving its full mass results in a gun that’s fast to draw and quick to point with enough weight to keep the muzzle in place for fast follow-up shots.

The sights are good, with a bright red ramp front and a fully adjustable square notch rear. This is one place S&W could improve a bit, at least for a “combat” revolver. The sights are fine, but the rear notch is a bit too narrow, leaving little light on either side when the front sight fills the gap. I like to have a bit more space on each side to still see the target.  They are perfectly serviceable as they are with sure, solid adjustments move the rear blade when you want it to, and it doesn’t move when you don’t want it to.

Note the ejector rod shrouded under the barrel. The new ejector is not only more solid all around, but it also fixes the formerly common problem of the rod coming loose and backing out of the cylinder.

Yet another improvement, the hammer itself. The hammer spur is outstanding, a wide, heavily textured flattened spur you can’t miss even while wearing winter gloves. It’s what’s on the other side that’s different and better. The floating firing pin on the Model 19s came about just a year before they were discontinued in 1999, I’m sure much to the delight of armorers everywhere. These reintroduced Classic models have the floating pin design released in ’98.

As far as stocks, the Model 19 Classic is just that…classic. The old-school handgun features American walnut stocks that are checkered and include the Smith & Wesson medallion logo. These are the larger “target style” grips Jordan originally requested. They’re gorgeous and fit my size-large hands well. Note the factory speed loader cutout at the top edge. This is a gunfighter’s gun.

And finally, after so many years of begging, there’s now a “no lock” option again. This particular review model has the much-maligned lock. On a gun this size, I doubt it would ever be a problem. However, I have seen a .357 Magnum snubby Model 66 guns freeze up because the lock engaged, apparently from recoil. I should say, however, that of the many tens of thousands of rounds I’ve fired through S&W revolvers, I’ve only seen it happen that once. Even so, I’ve removed the lock on any S&W that I take into bear country or otherwise might bet my life on.

With the classic models, you can now order it either with or without the lock.

The double action trigger pull averaged to 9 lbs. 5.2 oz. over five pulls with my Lyman digital trigger scale. There was a 4 oz. extreme spread over those five pulls. The single action pull averaged 4 lbs. 1 oz. with an extreme spread of 5 oz. The trigger pull is fairly even, with more stacking at the start of the pull than the rear.

Once the cylinder starts to turn, it wants to keep turning. In single action, there’s a teeny bit of squish at the start, followed by a quick, crisp break. The trigger shoe itself is a bit unlike the original in that it’s slightly narrower, and smooth. The old ones were serrated.

Smith & Wesson changed how their revolver barrels were made some years ago, moving away from the one-piece design that was threaded and crush fit. There was much crying about this, for no good reason.

The modern S&W has a two-piece all steel barrel with an inner liner and an outer shroud. This design screws the liner into the frame at one end and the shroud at the other, leaving both ends supported and the barrel under tension. There are a lot of folks who claim this new method enhances the level of precision the gun is capable of achieving. The old Dan Wesson revolvers would be a solid piece of evidence supporting their point.

This Model 19 Classic is another mark in favor of the modern barrel system. Purely for plinking, my a lightly loaded home cast .38 SPL load puts five rounds of lead inside a 2 inches center-to-center spread at 25 yards. Federal Premium’s Hydra-Shok .38 Special +P 129 gran printed 2.4-inch five-round groups. That’s a fantastic round and I’d never feel under-gunned carrying it.

Stepping up quite a bit, Hornady’s Custom .357 Magnum 158gr XTP round, with at 1,250 fps muzzle velocity, printed 2.6-inch groups. That’s enough umph for any man or even black bears. All groups were five rounds averaged over four shot strings from a rest, untimed at 25 yards.

Wanting to match Elmer Keith’s preferred load for the .357 Magnum, I smeared some cast (Linotype 2) with plenty of lube on top of 14.8 grains of H110. At just over 1,230 fps, that heavy bullet would be ideal for taking black bears and deer. It printed 3.1-inch groups.

Much has been made over the years about the forcing cone cracking while shooting .357s on the older Model 19s. That was certainly known to happen when lots of the lighter 110 and 125 grain .357 Magnum loads were fired through these old guns. They almost always cracked at the flat of the forcing cone at the bottom where it was cut to provide clearance for the gas ring.

If you are looking for that flat in the photo above, you won’t see it because it’s not there. Smith & Wesson eliminated the design when they moved to the two-piece barrel. Although any revolver can experience a forcing cone failure with enough high pressure rounds through it, it’s highly unlikely a shooter would experience one with these new guns.

Bill Jordan called the Model 19 “the patrolman’s dream come true.” It’s been a long time since I was on patrol, but I have to agree. At 2 lbs. 5 oz., it’s not much to carry and even less to draw. And yet, it’s just the right amount of weight to keep the muzzle in place for fast double action follow-up shots.

It feels great in the hand, really. If you’ve never fired a Model 19, buy one or borrow one and you’ll understand. It just feels right. This is an exceptional “do it all” revolver and if there was just one revolver to have (and there are many, many to have) a Model 19 is probably it.

Oddly enough, the new ones are better than the old ones in every way. If Colonel Jordan picked up one of these guns today, you’d have a really hard time getting it from him.

Specifications: Smith & Wesson Model 19 Classic

Caliber: .357 Magnum
Capacity: 6 rounds
Barrel Length: 4.25 inches
Width: 1.45 in
Length: 9.87 in
Height: 5.85 in
Weight: 37.4 oz
Grip: Walnut
Sights: Adjustable rear, red ramp front
MSRP: $989