I just received a S&W 38 special revolver from my wife's cousin (moving out of state, didn't want the revolver). He's owned it for over 30 years and has forgotten what Model it is. I have looked it over and can not find a model number the serial number is 631XXX. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

Is the serial number composed of numerals only, or is there a litter like V, C or K in front of it? The letter may be separated by several spaces. (There probably won't be a C or K, because those numbers would go on model-marked guns, and you say you don't see a model number.)

Look at the side of the barrel. Does it say ".38 S&W CTG" or ".38 S&W SPECIAL CTG" ?

If you could post a photo, that would help a great deal.

I'm thinking you probably have a .38 Military & Police from the mid-1930s, but the extra info will help exclude other possibilities.

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David Wilson

If it is a 6 shot revolver with a swing out cylinder that does not have adjustable sights and says 38 S&W Special on the barrel and there is no letter prefix to the serial you posted then it's a Military & Police Model from around 1930.

If the number you posted is not the correct serial or the gun varies from what is described above then I don't know.

If you could post some pictures hat would be ideal. If not, please describe every marking you can find, what the grips look like, and measure the distance in inches from the face of the cylinder to the end of the barrel. This will give us something to work with.

Does it look anything like this??

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Vaya con Dios

Thanks for the help so far. I've attached pictures and hope this will help answer your questions.

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Looks to be a fairly nice M&P in .38 special from around 1930.
I'll give you $100 plus cost of shipping for it.

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Forum consigliere

Thank you for the offer and the information but it was given to me from a family member and I will be keeping it.

Good to see you wish to keep a family piece. Nice gun to lightly clean up and shoot. Kyle

Howdy

Nice, typical four inch M&P. The most common revolver carried by policemen for much of the 20th Century. Also nice that it has the original grips on it. Lots of these older Smiths lose their original grips when unscrupulous dealers realize they are worth money. Notice that the SN on the underside of the barrel matches the number on the butt. You should also see the same number on the rear of the cylinder and the underside of the extractor star.

"(There probably won't be a C or K, because those numbers would go on model-marked guns, and you say you don't see a model number.)"

DC, my K22 has a K111xx serial number, it shipped in December 1947, and it isn't model marked.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

All parts match....how much do you think it's worth?

Oops, I was too compressed in my comments and ended up saying something more general than I intended. I meant that a C or K in front of the 631xxx numeral block that the OP had already reported would have to be on a model-marked gun.

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David Wilson

Prices can vary with geography. In parts of the country where old M&Ps are plentiful, it might not bring more than $200 or so. In oher places I could see a hundred more. In Southern California, I would expect to see that in a gun store with a $375-400 price on it in order to leave negotiation room down to $300-325.

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David Wilson