Age of .38 Special

S

Sea Goat

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2011
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Good afternoon,

I inherited the below .38 Special from my grandfather. He was a captain in the Navy during WWII. It may have been his side arm.

Does anyone here know what the date of manufacture may be? The serial number is 192907.

I have no desire to sell it, but anyone have a guess on how much it would be worth for insurance purposes?

Thanks, any direction would be appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0282.jpg
    IMG_0282.jpg
    14.1 KB · Views: 238
  • IMG_0283.jpg
    IMG_0283.jpg
    20.5 KB · Views: 212
Register to hide this ad
It's a Military&Police model of 1905 4th change.
It was already pretty old by WWII. It was already old by WWI. It was shipped probably somewhere around 1913.
 
Last edited:
That's a .38 M&P Model of 1905, Third change. It probably shipped about 1912 or 1913, so it's quite a bit older than WWII. You should also see that serial number on the rear face of the cylinder, the flat underside of the barrel and -- perhaps -- penciled on the inner surface of the right stock panel.

Has the gun been refinished? I can't tell from the photo but it looks really dark and little worn. On the other hand, there are some scratches and dents on the stock that are inconsistent with what appears to be good preservation on the rest of the gun.

The M&P is S&W's most-produced model, so there is no scarcity premium for these. Shooter grade guns of this age are probably in the $300-400 range, a little better if in high condition.

I wouldn't shoot +P ammo in this revolver, but I have some old M&Ps that I shoot 148 gr match wadcutter ammo in all the time. Similar low pressure handloads would be OK too.
 
Wow, that was quick. Thanks for the prompt responses.

Regarding ammo, I have 158 grain ballistic tip bullets. Is the 158 too much. There was some old ammo that my grandfather had bought years ago and that was the same as what I recently purchased. I was worried that it might have a dud or two in the box. The ammo has been in an underwear drawer for years. Do you think it is still fireable?
 
Last edited:
Standard 158 gr ammo is probably OK as long as you don't fire thousands of rounds a year through the gun. In the 'teens steels were softer and lots of shooting could stretch the frame and even the cylinder a little. You probably won't get a blow out, but why risk shooting hotter ammo in a classic revolver?

I'd think that ammo would be OK, but if it is as much as 50 years old it might be worth more to a collector than it is as expendable rounds.
 
Hi,

I'd recommend getting some .38 Special 148gn wadcutter target ammunition for your M&P.

This load is really soft shooting . . . easy on the shooter and the revolver . . . and you'll be stunned how well that revolver can shoot I imagine!
 
S Goat, I have a 1905 4th, change 2996xx from June of 1919. I shoot any standard 38 Special non + P ammo. Have had no problems. Who needs to shoot hot loads in these old classics though? Enjoy it! Bob
 
I checked the new box of ammo I bought and it was not+P. If I shoot the gun 50 times a year, it would be alot. All target practice...I hope.
 
So, I went out to the firing range and shot a few rounds out of the gun. It appears that there is some kind of misfire or backfire. These pictures are a screen grab from a video taken on my phone.

I don't think there should be this much flame shooting out of the cylinder.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1009.jpg
    IMG_1009.jpg
    64.9 KB · Views: 57
  • IMG_1010a.jpg
    IMG_1010a.jpg
    66 KB · Views: 56
Sea Goat said:
So, I went out to the firing range and shot a few rounds out of the gun. It appears that there is some kind of misfire or backfire. These pictures are a screen grab from a video taken on my phone.

I don't think there should be this much flame shooting out of the cylinder.
Click to expand...

Looks normal to me. You get that much flash when you fire any revolver, you just don't notice it most of the time because it's so instantaneous, but it's there.:D
 
Don't discard the story about your Grandfather carrying the revolver during WW2 just because of the revolvers age. Private sidearms were not that unusual, especially for Officers. Given that it would have fit nicely in an issue holster and fired issue ammo it's highly unlikely anyone would have cared that it was not a government issue revolver.
 
diamonback68 said:
Looks normal to me. You get that much flash when you fire any revolver, you just don't notice it most of the time because it's so instantaneous, but it's there.:D
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was hoping that was the case. The gun shop that cleaned it for me a few months ago supposedly test fired it and did not mention any problems test firing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Date my 38 Special
Replies
4
Views
610
Goony
Goony
R
Grandpas S&W .38
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
MelvinWalker
MelvinWalker
Dump1567
Heavy Clothing Stops .38 Wadcutter!
6 7 8
Replies
151
Views
8K
Oldsalt66
Oldsalt66
Fishjager
My first venture into loading the 38 special wadcutter
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
bph9
B
C
  • Locked
WTT Colt Special Lady
Replies
0
Views
754
Company Man
C

Latest posts

Back
Top