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Old 04-22-2011, 05:04 AM
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DCWilson DCWilson is offline
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Welcome to the forum.

That's a Military & Police Model of 1902, First Change. This gun was in production until 1905. It seems to be in pretty good shape for its age, but i can't tell from the photos if it was ever refinished. I'd think it might be worth about $400 to the right purchaser if that's the original surface. That's what I paid for my 1902/First (which has a four inch barrel) about 18 months ago.

The Military & Police revolver line is S&W's most successful model. from 1899 through its modern descendants, several million have been produced. The design evolved from year to year, and there are variations involving grip shape, barrel length, and lockwork design, but it is basically the same gun all the way through. The consistent features are: swing-out cylinder, mostly .38 Special caliber (plus lesser production in a couple of smaller calibers and including wartime production in .38 S&W) and fixed sights.

The .38 U.S. SERVICE CTG mentioned in the stamping is the .38 Long Colt cartridge. It was the standard Army round until the .38 S&W Special (a slightly longer and more powerful cartridge) supplanted it. Colt just called it the .38 Special. These guys did NOT put the names of their competitors anywhere on their own products at this time.

Nice gun, safe to shoot with standard ammo. Do not shoot +P ammo in this revolver. It won't blow up in your hand, but the steel is softer and lots of high-pressure rounds will just enable wear and tear that the gun does not need.

You should find the serial number not only on the butt, but also on the rear face of the cylinder, the flat underside of the barrel, the underside of the ejector star and the rear-facing surface of the yoke -- though it will be hard to read without disassembling the cylinder group. You might be able to read the number through one of the charge holes.
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David Wilson

Last edited by DCWilson; 04-22-2011 at 05:07 AM.
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