I always thought I had a 1905 4th change, upon doing a bit of research the pictures don't jive. It's a .38 Specail with patent dates of Feb 6 06,Sep14 09, Dec29 14. Serial number range is 82XXXX S. Numbers on the Barrel, cylinder, yoke, and butt all match. Can anyone give me a good match as to the model - it is not on the yoke. Is it a 1905 ch4 M&P or a Mod 10 M&P?

So-called "Transitional Model" made 1946-48 using pre-war parts. Basically a pre-war M&P made post war.

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No life story has happy end.

Transition from what to what? S&W really did that? So what model would I call it?

It's a .38 Military & Police. A transitional (post-WW II) gun had some features of a pre-WW II model and some of the later version; some major stuff like the long vs. short action, and some minor features like the shape of the ejector rod tip and frame stampings. It wasn't named the model 10 until 1957, and this one is from the mid-late 1940s.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

S&W just called it a .38 Military & Police; that's what it said on the box that the gun came in. It is essentially identical to a 1905 Fourth Change except that it has the postwar hammer safety block. That was a big engineering change and probably deserves to be reflected in the nomenclature.

These transitional S-prefix guns are transitional between the wartime Victory models and the short-action M&P that was introduced in 1948. Your gun was probably shipped in 1946. It is a very low serial number for the isolated S-prefix. The SV prefix (still conceptually part of the Victory series, though military victory had been achieved several months earlier) was last seen on guns with serial numbers in the SV811xxx range.

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David Wilson

Transition from pre-war to post-war. I thought I made that clear.

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No life story has happy end.

Any idea as to the value? My book goes from the 1905 series to the model 10. There isn't any mention of just the .38 M&P in my book.

People who just want a reliable shooter would not pay over $200-250. Others who like guns of that particular era and with a 6-inch barrel (uncommon) would pay $375-400. That is your basic range. There are also regional differences around the country.

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David Wilson

Condition looks pretty good, in round numbers, I'd say $300 would be fair as a value. As stated above, the "S" in the serial number means it has a new hammer-blocking safety device, and that feature was introduced for the Victory K Model in late WWII.