All:
I carried this revolver during my time with the USAF SPs in the 1980s.  I recently handled one in a gun shop the other day.  It looked almost exactly like an old friend.  One thing that I noticed however, was the the hammer contained an exposed firing pin.  From my memory, I don't seem to remember our .38s with this type of firing pin.  The CATMs made it a point to remind us that our revolvers contained firing pin blocks that only moved out of the way once I pulled the trigger.  Is my memory flawed, or did some vaiants of the S&W Model 15 have hammer mounted firing pins?

I was an SP from 86-90, The Smiths we carried had a hammer mounted firing pin. Recent Smiths have a frame mounted firing pin. I became nostalgic for a Model 15 and ended up buying one from J&G sales. It was a Police dept trade in and DAO, but it was in pretty good shape with minor finish wear. I even managed to pick up some PGU-12 38 ammo just Like I carried on duty. They sure are good shooting revolvers. There are a bunch of former SP's on the S&W forum sight adn the Model 15's come up once in awhile.


Dan

No, you are not wrong with your memory.  The USAF issued Model 15-2 and 15-3's.  These had hammer mounted firing pins.

the AF issue (really all s&W revolvers execept recent production and 22's) had firing pin mounted on the hammer.

Just want to point out that even the older revolvers with hammer mounted firing pins have hammer block safeties.