Apparently this one was made in late 1950 or early 1951 but shipped to Oshman's Hardware Store in Houston, Texas in March of 1952 according to the S&W factory letter. The revolver's serial No. is 2018. It possesses all the early features: flat latch, half-moon front sight, 5 screws, small trigger guard, pre-war style hammer spur. The grip panels are a little shorter than the later J-Frame grips. Some call this frame size the modified I-Frame. I guess if it wasn't wearing its original grips then one would have to find a pair of grips off of a Terrier in order to obtain correct fit. It does have a coil main spring. It's no oil painting condition-wise but it's a good shooter and very accurate except when I toss the occasional flier. I got it at a Fort Worth Convention Center gun show in the early '80's. It was priced less than the later Chief's Specials at the show that had ramp sights and traditional latches. The seller considered it less desirable because of the half-moon front sight. I thought it was novel so snapped it right up.




I've seen a couple with lower four-digit serial numbers. At a recent Dallas Market Hall gun show I found one with a serial number of 983.

Does anyone out there know the approximate serial number range when the last of the Chief's Specials with the half-moon front sight were made?