Greetings, the attached is a pic of a 2" snub smith & wesson model 10 - the cylinder. Please notice the wear. At first I thought it might be reblued; but, the owner says original. This gun is from the mid 1950s. What would an expert say of the condition of this cylinder? Thanks in advance!
smith-mp-38-cyclinder.jpg

A visual inspection is always the first thing to do when checking out a purchase..to me the wear indicates that there may be other problems as the cylinder appears to be rubbing the recoil shield..not an uncommon problem and it can be fixed rather easily..I would check for cylinder end shake and ejector rod run-out..should give you an indication of what might be wrong..look for wear on the recoil shield to confirm that it is rubbing in the areas the wear is showing..if not then there may not be a problem at all but indications of someone taking it apart and doing something wrong..all5x

Does the serial number on the cylinder match the s/n on the gun?

I compared your cylinder with that of my late 1960s M12 and a WWII Victory model. The ratchet teeth are definitely different, as is the hand.

From the cuts on the ratchet, it appears that someone attempted to fit a Victory model cylinder to your revolver. The scratches and cuts across the tips of the ratchet teeth are from the mismatched hand dragging across the ratchet.

the serial numbers are the same

That ejector looks like it came from another old gun, which put all the wear and tear on it.

Any numbers on the ejector? They should be on the underside.

The serial number in the photo matches the serial number on the bottom of the grip handle. Still, I believe you might be correct; the ejector could have been replaced. I don't have access to the gun. Only photos online. Can't check for any numbers on the ejector.