Handguns – October-November 2019

There’sa safetymechanismjust
above the cylinderlatch.Turningitwith
the providedkeyblocksthehammer,
preventingunauthorizeduse.
It’s a six-shotrevolver,andSmith&
Wesson includesthreemoonclipsto
accommodatetherimless 1 0mm.

Twenty-fiveyardaccuracywas

great,asindicatedintheaccompany-

ingchart.Thesedaysthereareplenty

of 1 0mmloadstochoosefrom,and

th e Model 610 likedall theonesI tried.

IgotthetightestgroupswithWin-

chester’s 1 75-grainSilvertips—anex-

cellenthuntingloadI’veusedinother

calibers—andtheaveragewould’ve

beenbetterexceptfora fewflyers.

Thosemayhavebeenme,ormaybe

theyweren’t,butunlessI definitelycall

a shotoutitstaysinthecalculationfor

theaverage.

Asyouwouldexpectfora large-

framerevolverwitha longbarrel,it’s

a heftypieceofhardwareandweighs

50 .1ounces.Betweentheoverall

weightandthefullunderlugthatputs

moremassoutfront,recoilofthe

10 mmistamedtowhatI thinkisthe

perfectlevel.Youknowyou’refiringa

seriouscartridge,butyou’renotbeing

punishedforit,andshootingthegun

doubleactionwasa tonoffun.

ACCURACYRESULTS|SMITH&WESSONMODEL 610

Bullet Muzzle Standard Avg.

10mmAuto Weight(gr.) Velocity(fps) Deviation(fps) Group(in.)

WinchesterSuper-XSilvertip 175 1,209 15 2.1

WinchesterUSAFMJ 180 1,035 21 2.3

HornadyXTP 180 1,229 24 2.4

SIGEliteFMJ 180 1,286 19 2.7

RemingtonUMCFMJFP 180 1,125 20 2.9

Notes:Accuracyresultsareaveragesoffourfive-shotgroupsat 25 yardsoffanMTMpistolrest.Velocitiesareaverages

of 10 shotsrecordedona ProChronochronographset 12 feetfromthemuzzle. Abbreviations:FMJ, fullmetaljacket;FP,

flatpoint

Buyit now.LogontoGalleryofGuns.com,select

thisfirearm,paya depositandit willbeatyour

localgunstorein twodays.Whenpurchasedfrom

GalleryofGuns.com, Davidson’sguaranteesto repair

orreplacethisfirearmforlife.

<Theflattopofthe610’sbarrelis

groovedtopreventglare. It’s an
accuraterevolver, althoughRupp
wishesthefrontbladewassomething
morevisiblethanplainblack.

| FIRING LINE REPORT

Winchester’s USA load in particular

was a real pussycat in the 610, and

that’s great because it’s relatively

inexpensive and makes for excel-

lent practice. I should note here the

gun can also handle the .40 S&W

cartridge—essentially a shortened ver-

sion of the 10mm Auto—which would

produce even less recoil. And .40 S&W

ammo can be had at lower prices.

The only thing I didn’t like about

the revolver was the plain black front

sight, which got lost on some targets.

Yes, it’s easily changed because it’s

pinned, but I think Smith & Wesson

should’ve gone with at least an orange

insert in the ramp or, better yet, a fiber

optic—especially if the gun was to be

used for hunting.

We don’t cover hunting per se in

Handguns, but this would indeed be

an excellent choice for medium-size

gamesuchasdeerandwildboar.

Withits 6 .5-inchbarrelyou’rego-

ingtowringouteverybitofvelocity

th e 10mmis capableof. Theafore-

mentionedWinchesterloadgener-

atesjustunder 570 ft.-lbs.ofenergy,

whichwhilenotonthelevelof,say,a

24 0-grain.44Magnumis stillserious

medicine.

Andalthoughyouwouldlosesome

ofthatvelocityandenergywiththe

Model 610 witha four-inchbarrel,

thatversionwouldbeideallysuited

asa defensivetoolforhomeortrail—

againsttwo-leggedandfour-legged

threatsalike.

It’sgreattoseeSmith& Wesson

offeringthenewlypopular 1 0mmAuto

ina wheelgun.Anddependingonyour

needs(or,behonest,wants),thefact

theModel 610 isavailableintwobarrel

lengthsmeansthere’ssomethingfor

everyone.

<

Thegripsonthe 610 areblack

synthetic,featuresubtlefingergrooves

andwrapfullyaroundtheframe.

They’reeasilychangedbyremovingan

Allenscrewontherightside.

< Chambered for the 10mm Auto, the

Model 610 is a serious revolver, but
it’s also a lot of fun to shoot. The gun
comes with three moon clips.

62 HANDGUNS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 WWW.HANDGUNS.COM