I found a 38 safety hammerless that has been cut to 1.5" the owner says there is a star on the grip frame and the barrel chop looks very professional. What is the chance that smith did this mod?
Thanks

The chances are slim & none, IMHO. If you sent a gun back to the factory to have the barrel cut, most likely they would install a new barrel of the length you wanted, assuming new barrels were in stock. Sometimes, they would cut the barel, but it depended on the circumstances - for example, I have a Reg. Magnum that was shipped originally with an 8 3/4" barrel. It was cut by the factory to 7 1/2". Cutting an original safety hammerless barrel to 1 3/4" would have messed up the barrel address stamp, and that should be obvious on the gun you are describing. If the barrel stamping is now on the side of the barrel, it's probably a replacement barrel, not a cut barrel.