need help on id on 38 hand enjector 5 screws

[deduke1907]

38 cal, 4inch barrel,butt has serial number on one end as 822xxx at other end of butt the letter P.

cylinder has a stamp of a crown with the letters BNP underneath the crown

on the left side plate in a stamp with GX2
B

right side of butt letters LF

[GF]

Can you post a pic? It would help.

GF

[deduke1907]

unable at this time

[murphydog]

If a .38 Special, likely a prewar US military contract gun. If a .38 S & W and a 5" barrel from cylinder face to muzzle, a British contract gun from WW II. Some of the latter were made in 4" for South Africa as I recall. Bright or dull blue, or Parkerized finish?

[Kelly Green]

Originally Posted by murphydog

If a .38 Special, likely a prewar US military contract gun. If a .38 S & W and a 5" barrel from cylinder face to muzzle, a British contract gun from WW II. Some of the latter were made in 4" for South Africa as I recall. Bright or dull blue, or Parkerized finish?

Murphydog, please correct me if I’m wrong. The Birminghan Nitro Proof stamp, the one with “BNP” stamped under a crown was not used until 1954. Prior to that there was a different stamp.

[murphydog]

That sounds right, either way the gun made it to England (much more likely as a .38 S & W) and was proofed/sold as surplus years later. I am not the expert on proof marks and such by a long shot, no pun intended .

[deduke1907]

i was told the the #822xxx on the butt would make the dob aound 1909

[OFT II]

Originally Posted by deduke1907

i was told the the #822xxx on the butt would make the dob aound 1909

I think more like 1941 or '42.

[DCWilson]

Can we nail down the original chambering? On one side of the barrel it should say either "38 S&W CTG" or "38 S&W SPECIAL CTG" If the former, it is a wartime lend-lease gun from the early 1940s; if the latter, something a little more interesting is going on.

And even if the barrel is stamped for the shorter round, there is the possibility that the charge holes were lengthened to take the .38 special round at some point. Sometimes when that happens the flat underside of the barrel is stamped with the new cartridge capability.

Certainly all the extra symbols and characters stamped on the gun make it sound like a wartime gun that was marked with different proofs at different times in its career. That would make it likelier the original chambering is .38 S&W, not .38 Special.

[Art Doc]

I suspect the gun is in 38 S&W (not "Special") caliber and has a 5" barrel when measured correctly. Also should have a lanyard ring on the butt or a hole where one was once located. The English proof marks suggest a wartime pistol supplied to the British military. The 1939-1941 period seems about right.

Or, it could indeed be a 4" gun and was used by Canadian police.