I recall a very pleasant day at my gun club, shooting a handsome old Smith & Wesson revolver that had somehow turned out to be a commercial dud. This was sometime in the early 1980s and the gun in question—called the Model 53—had been officially discontinued in 1974. In fact, it was dead long before that, with leftover specimens languishing on dealer's shelves at pricetags that had to make you wonder. The gun was also called the .22 Centerfire Magnum, a model intended for the handgunning outdoorsman who wanted to engage small-game animals and varmints at ranges well beyond those normally associated with pistols and revolvers. It was, in short, a varminting revolver, useful at distances out to 100 yards or a little more. The thing that made this happen was a hot cartridge called the .22 Remington Jet.
March 07, 2011
