Originally offered with a 4″ taper barrelled square butt or a 2″ round butt, a 4″ heavy barelled version followed in 1974 and became a favorite with many police agencies.īut they were strongly favored by the NYPD, and Smith & Wesson made five variants for the brave boys in blue. It was the first stainless steel revolver approved for NYPD, and the last authorized service revolver as the department transitioned to semiautomatic pistols in the 1990s.īuilt on the K-Frame, Model 64s can safely handle +P ammunition and are marked to reflect this (since at least the 64-4). The Model 64 hit the market in 1970 as a no-frills stainless steel double-action revolver chambered in. 38 caliber police revolver.īasically, the Model 64 is a stainless steel Model 10, a design with roots at the turn of the 20th century and fourteen or fifteen versions produced until 2012 or so. However, the Model 64 by Smith & Wesson may be the greatest incarnation of the. In this modern era of polymer-framed, striker fired semiautomatic pistols, revolvers seem a bit dated.

38 Special was the “go-to” cartridge for law enforcement officers.

If you were born before 1975 and served as a police officer, it is highly likely that it was your first handgun out of the academy. If you were born before 1990, chances are that you remember seeing police officers wearing a holstered revolver.

Smith and wesson model 64 review