A little dressed up, 1941

Plain old 1952 vintage M & P with 5" barrel. Not even any lead in the grooves when I got 'er. Just as tight as new, and probably less than 100 rounds through in her entire life. Good chance this .38 spent her entire life in a drawer or a car glovebox. Was very common years ago to buy a .38 and one box of shells and never shoot it. Or maybe shoot one cylinder full. Many hardware stores would sell .38s singly as mountain whites were so tight that they would buy a new pistol and 6 (!) cartridges, and if they had to shoot it they would go buy one shell to replace the one they shot. Example of mountain wisdom:

Outsider: Have you lived here your whole life, old timer?
Local: Hain't daid yet.

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2 Pre model M&P Airweights
The SB from 1956.
The RB has the Aluminum alloy cylinder.. 1953.

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John 1:17
NRA Life Benefactor

"Many hardware stores would sell .38s singly as mountain whites were so tight that they would buy a new pistol and 6 (!) cartridges.."

Back when I was a kid in rural Southern Ohio, most of the local general stores (I guess you would call them convenience stores now, and Wal-Mart was many years in the future) sold ammunition by the round. I think shotgun shells were about a dime each. In my area, no one had enough money to buy a full box of anything, except maybe .22, which was about 30 cents a box in those days.

I just bought a 1905/3rd from 1915, and I doubt it's had a full box through it. Very little evidence of use, and blue is shiny-bright.

I have a six inch M & P 5 screw ser number 390xxx I have estimated it to be from about 1923. Is this correct??

Adding another to the thread, bit older than the last, LOL, the tag said Pre-10

M&P Model of 1905 4Th Change 5411xx ~ 1927

S960xxx. Dec 1947. GREAT smooth long action. purchased from Forum member here.






Charlie

The .44 snuck in there.



Middle is an 1899 shipped Oct. 11th, '01
Bottom is either '02 square butt target or '05 4-screw (not lettered yet

Hope you like them,
Chris

Two 2"M&Ps w/ aluminum cylinder @ 1953


2" Nickel and 6" blue Pre-10s 1952.

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NRA Cert. Inst. RSO

My 1921 M&P with post-war stocks...thanks to all of the folks here who helped me figure out just what I had.

1941 pre Victory in .38 S&W issued to the RAF

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Jimmyjones,
I have a five screw 6" square butt M & P that belonged to my grandfather's foreman. I has serial number 390xxx and has been refurbished with a rust blue finish that was like the orginal. I have estimated the birthdate as about 1923.. is that close? I notice that yours is from 1927.
thanks

It's not much to look at, but it is in much better shape for it's age than I am.

Bob

1946 Tokyo police M&P. Purchased as a project to experiment with Belgian (rust) blueing. Very nice handling and shooting old-timer.

I have a 1905 snub just like the one posted by Thuer on 10/30/10. Everyone has told me that it was supposed to have a half moon front sight. Is this sight factory or has it been modified?

Hard to say, much earlier than mine, they made about a half million.
I was able to get an approximate date by posting a thread about the revolver. Some of the replies were from owners who had received factory letters for M&Ps with serial numbers that were closer to mine.

You may want to start a 'help date my M&P' thread and see if anyone has a closer SN to yours.

Here was my thread looking for a mfg date.

M&P Model of 1905 4Th Change Rescue

The factory offered these "ramped" round sights on some later changes of the Model 10, but when I see them on Pre-10s I think they are modifications. When ramped sights became popular, some gun owners filed down the rear surfaces of their half-round sights to create the style seen on what was then current production.

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David Wilson

JimmyJones

Thank you for your help.

Adding another.

Sn is S 8571xx.
It's been refinished and re-barreled, it'll make a great shooter.





Sorry about the grips.

I've got it's twin but I think mine is a 1946. Bought it at a yard sale about 8 or 10 years ago for $110.

forgot about this thread one from 47

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

[IMG][/IMG]

1949 I think. C 71xxx

C 71xxx would probably have been shipped in later 1949

S/N #C 204nnn 1948

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#C 204nnn would probably have been shipped in late 1952, not 1948.

Thanks, I was told 1948...Smith & Wesson Forum - View Single Post - Info for .38 Special

a few more...

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I believe it's a 1905 4th change. Incorrect grips and it's been refinished at some point in it's lifetime. I was told by it's previous owner that it came out of Cicero, IL.

A local gentleman called and asked if I would be interested in purchasing a Smith and Wesson revolver that had been in his family for sometime.
What he brought me is a late model long action .38 special M&P serial number S986811.
Not in the best shape cosmetically but barrel is bright.
The grips number to the gun.
One line address prewar style thumb piece.
Jim Supica's book states new short action started around 990,000.
I offered him $250 and he told me he would take $200 so I bought it.

I'd sure jump on it at $200 (or even $250). There's some doubt as to exactly what SN represents the transition from long action to short action. Yours is definitely the former, and likely from early in 1948.

Wow, I don't know if I've ever posted to this thread or not, but here are my two M&P's, one is a .32-20 and one a .38 Special.

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I have been looking for a birth year revolver for some time and now the search is over. my recently acquired 1945 .38 Military & Police (post war), 5 inch barrel. all matching numbers including the grips..............

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	S 823376 top strap.jpg (42.7 KB, 49 views)

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Does it have the SV serial number prefix? S&W made up a number of civilian M&P revolvers using SV military frames left in factory inventory from wartime production. Those were released to the market starting in early 1946.

I only have two to add to the party, not normally M&P fan but these spoke to me.

the serial number is S 823xxx. I used the information in SCSW............."September 1945 beginning at S811120" and with some estimated calculation concluded this revolver was manufactured about October/November 1945.

__________________
There's nowt so queer as folk

1923 38 special...just got back from my gunsmith for a little tuning.. shooting the **** out of it and enjoying..

Shipped in May 1931 to Leaside Hardware and Sporting Goods, Leaside, Ontario (a Toronto suburb). Awarded to a Toronto Police Officer, presented by the Chief of Police.

On a side note, this revolver was found in a shoe box, tucked onto a shelf in the bedroom closet. Found by the Daughter of the Officer who was cleaning out their house after her mother had passed away. The Officer passed away several years before. The Daughter had no idea that her father had this. I'm honoured to be the interim keeper of this, and will pass it to another Toronto Officer when the time comes.

I love this old .32/20 M&P:

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This is, no kidding, one of my favorite threads on this forum. I got a box of M&P's out of the safe to show a couple post war guns that are my favorites and found this snub nose -5 with the others that I really forgot I even had. The Pre-10's first, then the 10-5. One is C 8xxx and the other is C 33xxx. The 10-5 is C 763xxx. I have to start paying more attention to the boxes in my safe.

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The frame probably was manufactured in late 1945, but just as probably the revolver wasn't shipped from the factory until well into 1946. On my list I show one with a S 823xxx SN which shipped in May 1946. The earliest S-series M&P on my list shipped in March 1946 (but that doesn't mean some weren't shipped earlier than that).

A few more to add to the thread. These are addicting !

M&P Model of 1905 4th Change, refinished


M&P (Pre Model 10)


M&P (Pre Model 10) My Grail

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SWCA #2817

This is my newly acquired 38 M&P Model of 1905. I think it's a second change, but I'm not sure. Not sure of the date either. The grip medallions are recessed brass which I've never seen before. It's incredibly tight it just looks tired. Serial number is 3127xx. Would someone help me correctly identify and date this old beauty?

Likely to have shipped ca. 1919. It's a 4th Change, but it's perfectly correct to call it simply a Military and Police (M&P) model. Grips are correct style. Yours is not heat-treated, so stay with standard velocity ammunition.

That was fast and I appreciate you help. Thank you sir.

It will only be shooting 158gr. LSWC's or RN's.

I have the catalog, but sometimes it confuses me more than clarifying things.

Something I was curious about is that there's no S&W logo and no "Made in the U.S.A." on it.

"Something I was curious about is that there's no S&W logo and no "Made in the U.S.A." on it."

That is a characteristic of S&Ws made just after WWI. The "Made in USA" frame stamping did not appear until mid-1922. That is one way of approximately dating a S&W as pre- or post-1922.

Thank you very much. It's nice to have the info.

My newest .32-20. They won't let the police have them .32-20s. They'll shoot right through a man.

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this S&W revolver and I were made in the same month and year............September, 1945, .38 Military & Police Post War, 5 inch barrel, factory nickel finish, pre war grips, numbered to the revolver.....

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	S815238 hammer R jpg.jpg (54.1 KB, 27 views)

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My old collection of 1905 hand ejectors before The Great Divorce sell off!

Diamond magnas and diamond PC magnas, nice.

Are those 5" barrels, Doc??

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Ash