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Old 02-01-2012, 12:38 AM
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DCWilson DCWilson is offline
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Originally Posted by PGJ3925 View Post
I am also looking to track down the history of my Grandfather's .38 Special CTG. The serial # seems to be 8457, located on the rear of the frame above the grips, with the letters NZ above this number. It has fixed sights, 4" barrel, 38 S&W CTG on the right side barrel, a S&W trademark on the right side of the frame, and Smith & Wesson on the left side of the barrel. I have been told he carried this when he worked as a security guard at some of the Texas City oil refineries. I appreciate any information.
If it chambers .38 Special but says .38 S&W CTG on the side of the barrel rather than .38 S&W SPECIAL CTG, then the gun has been modified to chamber the longer .38 Special round. The .38 S&W (or .38/200) was the specified chambering for revolvers provided to Britain and the Commonwealth countries in WWII. The NZ and four digit rack number probably indicate this was originally a gun issued to New Zealand civilian or military police forces in the course of WWII. After the war was over the gun probably came back to the US as a commercially available revolver. Your grandfather probably picked it up then. The four inch barrel is a little unusual. Most commonwealth production was fitted with five-inch barrels.

Collectors would consider your gun a "Pre-Victory." Mike is correct that it is probably of 1941 manufacture, but it might not have shipped until early 1942. In April of 1942 the M&P six-digit serialization sequence ran out of numbers and the serial numbers began again at 1 with a V prefix. These V-prefix revolvers are the ones called Victory models.
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