I know there are alot of posts from people wanting information on old smith and Wesson revolvers and I have gained some knowledge from reading them, but I wanted to post the information on my specific revolver.

I would like to answer the following questions:

When was it made?
Around how many of this particular model was made?
Is it at all valuable?
Should I have it refinished or leave it original?
What is the grip made out of?

The serial number on the butt is 484529 (it is also listed on the cylinder). There are no letters anywhere on the serial number. The number inside where the cylinder comes out is 14671. There are three patent dates as follows: Feb.6.06, Sept.14.09, Dec.29.14. On the barrel it is labeled as a 38. s. S&W Special CTG. It appears to be a 6 inch barrel, and has fixed sights.

The gun is in great shape, the action fills firm and works well and the ejector doesn't stick or have any problems at all. The nickel is coming off in spots which you can see from the pictures.

Any help or information that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

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Welcome to the Forum. You have a .38 Military & Police from the mid-1920s. I would not recommend a refinish, as it would be worth more in worn/unaltered condition. The stocks appear to be stag. Enjoy!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Nice old gun. I would vote not to refinish it. Refinishing removes value as well as history.

That probably shipped around 1925-26. It is a .38 Military & Police, Model of 1905/Fourth change. This basic .38 Special design has been made with minor engineering changes since 1899. Millions have been shipped; the .38 M&P is S&W's most popular model by far. Your serial number alone shows that the company had made nearly half a million of these by the mid-1920s. By the end of WWII, they had made two million more. Successors of this design are still manufactured today. This design eventually became known as the Model 10 when the company went to numerical model designations in 1957.

The grips look to be natural rather than synthetic because of the grain you can see in the flat butt and the dished round tops to the separate panels. The textured surface says horn or antler to me; but I think there have been cases of bone grips that were carved to look like antler. Somebody else will have to give you the definitive answer on that one.

Very nice gun. Safe to shoot, too, but don't use modern +P loads. Standard loads or target loads will do just fine.

Value is going to depend in part on how many people show up to bid the day you take it to auction. I think it is at least a $300 gun, and a really interested buyer might take it to $400 or 425. If it is a family heirloom, it is accordingly priceless. In a stress-free world you should value it only for insurance purposes.

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David Wilson

Your revolver has already been refinished so refinishing again shouldn't affect value any. If anything I'd get the hammer and trigger re-casehardened purely for looks if you really love the gun.

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Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas

Thank you so much! That is alot of really good information that I didn't know, thank you for your time.

Can you tell me why you think it has already been refinished? That is something I didn't know. It belonged to my great grandfather and and my grandmother remembers it when she was little, so I don't know when it would have been refinished. I really don't know anything about refinishing a gun or the casehardening that you are talking about. Would you be able to give me a little more information on that?

S&W never plated the hammer and trigger. Yours are, meaning it's been refinished (and poorly). The original finish on these parts is called case hardening, a swirling blue-dark blue look (see photo for example).

It would cost more than the gun is worth to refinish it again. Shoot it or sell it.

Welcome to the Forum.

Actually, that isn't that bad of a renickel job. The barrel pin still has rounded ends and the lettering isn't buffed off.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I had to go back and look at the pictures again. I missed the plating on the trigger and hammer, which indicate the refinish but as Muley says, it isn't that bad of a job. The rebound slide pin appears to be barely flattened and the rollmarks seem fairly sharp. Also, the edges don't appear as if softened in your pictures. A shot of the side plate would give us a much better read on the refinish I think.

The grips might be Stag or they might be jigged bone. Either way, they are a natural material and a period correct upgrade/modification.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

I sure would not make any judgements on a refinish based on those pics. The trigger, for example, looks refinished in pic 1 and then case-hardened in pic 3. I think a little too much lighting stuff going on there to be too sure about anything.

The stocks are jigged bone, that is pretty clear regardless. The tell is the small but visible pores seen on the face surfaces. That would only be in the end grain with antler or stag.

Bob

Excellent information. I had not known that about jigged bone.

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David Wilson

If memory serve, original S&W 'Factory' Nickle would have a Blue Ejector Knob, and, Blue Ejector Star, in addition to Case-Hardened Color Hammer and Trigger.

Dishing on the edges of the side plate aperature where the Pin on which the Hammer pivots protrudes, is also a sign of heavy Buffing which has occurred sometime after the Revolver was originally made and finished.

Love those old Antler Stocks..!