Colt Official Police Vs Smith and Wesson M10

The set up

Not too long ago, you could find a revolver in the holster of most every police officer in the United States.  Chief among those revolvers for many years was the Smith and Wesson K frame (model 10) and the Colt Official Police, built on the I Frame.  These two powerhouses dominated the law enforcement market - and competed directly against one another.

What was the result of all that competition? Which gun excelled in what areas? Was one of them a clear winner? Well, I don't know how conclusively I can say which one is better- but I did spend a while comparing these fine revolvers, and I certainly have some opinions on which one performs more to my liking. What follows is a simple series of comparisons I conducted comparing how the guns shoot in single and double action, how they compare on target transitions, and finally, how they group with a variety of common weight 38 special ammo.

The Guns

First off, there are some significant limitations in this little adventure. The colt has aftermarket grips (the factory stocks were far too small for my hands) and the guns are really not of the same vintage. The colt was made in the mid 1950s, and the 10-5 smith in the 70s. Over 20 years separates these guns, and that time difference manifests in several ways.

With those restrictions in mind- I'll say right up front that this was a heck of a lot of fun to compile.

I started the day off by warming up with my Ruger mk II just to get a feel for some trigger time again. All shooting was done at 10 yards on the large Birchwood Casey shooting circles ( 3 inch diameter). Shooting was all unsupported and fairly quick. No more than a second or two between shots. All targets were shot with a 6 o'clock hold.

These are working guns that were meant to be in holsters protecting life and limb- though they may be capable of target accuracy, I am not. So I really just focused on what an average shooter can do with each gun in what I think are reasonable circumstances.

First up was the smith M 10-5. This gun feels good in the hand, and has a larger cylinder gap than my Colt OP. The Smith also has far more forgiving chambers- gleefully accepting rounds that the Colt simply would not let drop into the chambers.

Those factors right off the bat gave the smith a bit of a leg up in my mind. It has a lot of qualities that make it a far more forgiving and user friendly gun.

I started the test with 6 rounds of slow fire single action shooting at 10 yards. Ammunition was 200 gr LRN 38 special +P ammo, reloaded by yours truly. This load mimics some of the older 200 gr 38 special police ammo in power and function.

The smith did not disappoint. The group was 1 ragged hole 1.5 inches above POA and 1-1.5 inches to the right. I nearly called it a day right here- as I suspected that would be one of the better groups I fired during the entire outing.

The Colt did fairly well (shot in lower right off target was existing on target backer) grouping high with no discernible left or right favor. The group was not nearly as nice as the smith- but still very functional.

At this point, I tentatively will give the single action leg up to the smith. I found the break on both guns to be very good, but I did prefer the feel of the Smith and Wesson.

Next up, I tried the guns at the same distance on fresh targets double action. Interesting fact- I suck at shooting double action and desperately need more practice at it.

The colt put the rounds generally high and to the left for me, but I did manage to put 1 round low and right- just to completely destroy any insight I might have as to what I should work on, aside form just sucking less.

Not to be outdone- I sucked equally as much with the smith, but this time grouped consistently low and right.

How is that for useful target analysis? You either shoot high left, or low right. Maybe if I hold them both at the same time, I can hit something near where I placed the target, and I can cancel out whatever messed up habits I am developing.

Well the results were so bad, I decided to call a mulligan for myself and shoot the drill again.

On the second time around, the smith provided me with a slightly more respectable target, placing all 6 rounds either on or nicking the target circle.

Group 2 of double action fire went much better for the colt as well, which did group better for me in double action.

Overall, I give the feel of the double action pull to the colt. I found it to be more predictable and generally smoother than the smith.

Next up I tried some target transitions. I set two targets about 18 inches apart, and fired 1 round at each target alternating between them in double action.

First up was the Model 10. I have no idea where the third round on the right target went, but I was pretty pleased with the results of this little drill. Switching quickly between targets and firing double action actually yielded groups, and even scored  a solid hit on the right target.

 

 The colt did perform better, but we have already established I prefer the double action pull on the Official Police to that of the model 10. Grouping on the left target was all on the target circle, and

even though they were high on the right target circle, the grouping was quite tight.

At this point I was fairly undecided on the guns. The smith had a better single action pull, and grouped better for me. The colt consistently won the double action game, but never seemed to have the same grouping potential as the smith.

It seemed as though this was going to be an even match.

Next I tried each gun with a 148 gr LSWC load, fairly common in target shooting. The smith grouped low right and had a bit of vertical stringing. Shooting was done in single action for this drill with both guns.

The colt strung slightly horizontally, and was also a touch low. Grouping slightly favored the colt for this weight ammo.


The final test of the day was going to be the most common ammo available for the 38 special- 158 gr LSWC. This ammo, in varying forms (158 gr LSWCHP, +P, +P+, etc) was a go to police round for many years- and is still my preferred 38 special carry round (158 gr LSWCHP +P)

The smith continued to group slightly right for me, and POI was right on for POA. The grouping was fairly tight, and was probably right at 2 inches.

The colt shot just above POA with a 158gr load, and had no discernible left or right favor. The group was slightly smaller than the model 10, but not by a large amount.

If I had to pick only one- it would be the smith and wesson. I mainly shoot single action with my revolvers (as is evident from my marginal groupings) and I preferred the less finicky nature of the m10 to the OP. The larger sights were also easier on my eyes, though I am not convinced that one sight picture over the other helps with accuracy.

The guns will generally fit in the same holsters, and any difference in weight between them is completely unnoticed by me. I do prefer how the smith has a captured guide rod, and I also prefer smith and wesson's design to push the cylinder release toward the muzzle instead of colt's method of pulling the release toward the rear.

Prices on the guns are fairly comparable, with the total cost of both of them coming in at well under 400 bucks.  A shooter would do well to own either, and I would say that every handgunner needs at least 1 four inch 38 special gun in their collection.

If you can only buy one, I would say go get a smith. If however, you had a bit of extra cash- owning both is a pretty sweet deal too.