My dad has this pearl handle 38. On the top of the barrel the reissue date was July 25 71, may11 80, January 5 82. The serial number on the bottom butt is 282xxx. Can anyone help me date this pistol?

Welcome to the forum. You serial number dates the .38 DA to about 1892 +/- a year. Since is was manufactured before 1898, it does qualify as an antique.

Hope this helps,

Gary

Thanks for your reply. Here are some pictures. Would you happen to know the value of this pistol?

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Looks like a blued gun with little original finish left. These revolvers are everywhere for sale, but most collectors want high condition guns. The .38 double action was made from 1880 to 1911, with over 500,000 made. Yours is what is called a 3rd Model, made from 1884 to 1895 and production totaled over 200,000 for this model alone.

As said before, condition is everything and I would consider this one worth under $200 if it functioned and had standard grips. Most if not all these originally were made with black rubber grips, but many distributors and private owners changed out the grips to pearl. The pearl grips, to the right person, could be worth almost as much as the revolver if in perfect condition without chips or cracks.

Thanks for the info. It still works and fires like new. I was thinking it was nickel finish instead of blued.

I was looking at your last picture - check the side of the top strap and the barrel above the pivot point. Looks blue, but may be the lighting.