I do have an Militairy and Police revolver made in 1939.

The serial number on the butt is 231xx. That could not be the right serial number becouse it places teh revolver right out of range where he really belong.

The serial number on the barrel right under the ejectorrod is5015xx
That makes the revolver a model of 1905 4th change.

Right, Nice. But I tought that al serialnumbers where placed on the butt.

Can someone tell me why this is an exeption?

Thanks for helping out a confiused Thuer.

Sorry forgott to place a picture.

Attached Images

P1010924.jpg (31.4 KB, 46 views)

Thuer,

The first thing that comes to mind is that the barrel and frame left the factory on different guns. Perhaps the original barrel on your snub has been replaced?

Mike

The number is too small for a late 1930's M & P, it should be in the 800000 range. How do you otherwise know it was shipped in 1939?

The barrel is also in the wrong SN range for a pre-war 2"; there were a few made in the mid-600000 range before WW II. It is possible it is an early 1960s barrel if it came on a C prefix gun. The front sight with that type of lettering would usually be a half-moon instead of a ramp, so it may have been altered.

Have I raised more questions than you asked yet?

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

No. If the serial number on the butt was alright it was an model of 1902.
And that is not the case. The barrel and frame belong to each other.
Yes the revolver is reblued and the original frontsight is altred.

My question is why is the right number not on the butt? This number could by an inventory number or assembly number.

The right number is on the barrel. But why?

In the refinishing (or for other reasons), someone may have removed the correct SN from the butt and stamped another number. Can you post a photo (you can block out a few digits with a small piece of paper)? If the size or font of the numbers is different, it may have been altered.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

The size and form of the numbering on the butt is the normal type for Smith and Wesson. The conditions ar to bad to make a proper picture now. It is evening and the light is bad.

I came to this question becouse tomorrow I will bring this revolver, a model of 1902 1th change and an Military and Police made in december 1945 to a collector meeting.

It never occur to me that the serial number on the butt wasn't the right number to place him in the 1905 model 4th change.

What number do you see on the rear face of the cylinder? If you can read them, what numbers do you see on the underside of the ejector star and on the rear-facing surface of the yoke? (You will have to use side light and look through one of the charge holes to see this number, or even take the yoke and cylinder off the gun.)

The gun has the trigger rebound slide mechanism, which was not introduced until the Model of 1905 first change. Thus your frame cannot have been a 1902 when it shipped. It is a round butt long action Model of 1905.

Perhaps one of the numbers was polished off the base for some reason, or was accidentally omitted. You might want to remove the stocks and see if a correct serial number was stamped on the left side of the frame where the stocks would cover it.

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David Wilson

I'm a novice at ID'ing older Smiths, but does the front of the grip base look like a Square-butt frame, possibly rounded off at the rear to round-butt it?

I already stated that the revolver is an model of 1905 4th change.
I do have an model of 1902 this is internal completly different.

The number on the face of the cilinder and under the extractorstar is the 59015xx number.
I overlooked the 9 before.
So all the parts belong to each other.

It is original a round butt.

i have examend the butt of the revolver closely. If there where other numbers you could see a trace. Becouse the impact of the lettering is deep. Nothing of such kind. It remains strange. Thanks for your input all.