Could I get some you experts information regarding this 5-screw S&W 38 revolver my father. He said he bought it from a retired Postman approx. '60s. I did send off the form to the S&W Historian for detailed info a month ago.

Here is some pictures. Thanks Gary

It's definitely a WWII-era .38/200 S&W M&P revolver made for the British Commonwealth, originally chambered in .38 S&W, the standard British service revolver cartridge (aka the .380 Mk II). A couple of strange things - 1. the serial number at the base of the handle is missing. That is definitely not good, and is in fact illegal. 2. I can't make out the engraving on the left side of the frame. That is obviously not original. It has also been refinished.

Check to see if there are serial numbers inside the right grip panel, on the bottom of the barrel, and on the rear face of the cylinder.

You have what appears to be a WWII British .38/200. It also appears that the SN has been removed from the butt and the butt swivel plugged. The gun has been refinished. You should remove the grips and see if a SN has been stamped on the frame. It should match the SN under the barrel and on the face of the cylinder. If there is no SN on the frame, the gun is illegal and BATFE should be contacted to obtain a SN.

__________________
Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

DWalt beat me to it. But, wait. I can't make out clearly what is on those left side plates. I think the top one says S&W. Perhaps the bottom one is the SN? If so, a 5 digit SN would put it early in the S&W war production.

__________________
Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

The number engraved on the frame repeats the five-digit number seen on the concealed frame surface and on the open face of the yoke. The actual serial number, as noted above, has been erased from the butt. You may still be able to see it on the flat underside of the barrel, the rear face of the cylinder, and the underside of the ejector star (hard to read, but that's the place least likely to have been erased). The proper serial number may also be found in the face of the yoke arm that is parallel to the face of the cylinder. You will need to use a sidelight and peer through a charge hole if you are going to read this one.

__________________
David Wilson

There are widely differing opinions on what to do about the missing frame serial number. Going to BATFE involves a certain amount of risk of confiscation and some hassle. Some advocate simply stamping the SN obtained from the barrel, cylinder, and other locations (if they all match) somewhere on the frame behind the grips. Some feel that there is little risk in not doing anything (unless you are caught with it during an arrest for some illegal activity), and that is probably true. I cannot say which is best for you. I will say that if you attempt to sell it to a dealer, he likely will not touch it.

This gun was one of the WW2 Lend Lease guns sent to our allies and the turned over to the post war German police units in the Allied occupied areas of Germany. It was then stamped on the left side of the frame with the German Police unit markings, such as " Bavarian Railway Police" Later on these guns were sold as surplus to gun dealers for resale to the public in the US. At that time, some of them had the German unit markings removed from the frames by milling, leaving a depressed area where the former markings were seen. Some subsequent owner has added their own markings to the milling depressions. The missing serial number on the butt can be restamped with the number seen on the other serialized parts to make the gun kosher in the eyes of the BATF. The number on the frame & crane in the photo is not the serial number. It's the assembly number, which has no relation to the serial number. The serial number will be on the back of the cylinder, under the barrel and on the back of the extractor star. If the grips are original to the gun, the serial number will be stamped on the back side of the right grip panel. Ed.

My $.02..
It appears that whomever removed the butt swiveland polished off the serial # attempted to remark the piece by putting the # on the frame, below the thumbpiece....BIG PROBLEM!!!!! The # that was assumed to be the serial # is actually the fitters # that appears on the frame & crane....(22857)
JIM...............

__________________
SWCA # L-1911

I respectfully disagree with opoefc as to re-stamping the serial number. The issue of removed serial numbers comes up often on internet forums. The simple answer is if the serial number has been defaced or removed, the gun is illegal to own. You can not simply re-stamp the original number on the frame and make the gun legal. Only BATFE can authorize the re-stamping of a serial number and it will be a unique number they assign. This will usually only happen with a gun that was stolen and recovered with the number removed. Owning an illegal gun is just not worth the risk in my opinion and I would turn it in to law enforcement.

Aside from that, technically, the barrel and cylinder *could be* donor parts from another Victory, which say had a cracked or destroyed frame. I too do NOT think it is worth assuming that those parts bear the original SN from the frame. Too many legal (or should I say illegal) possibilities here.

I have read that the ATF will order a serial be placed back on a gun, after the owner fills out the required paper work. I think they place a brand new serial number, simply to make it legal. It doesn't matter however, because even if they replicated a S&W style SN, the font would be different by whoever does the work. I think they do brand new SNs to avoid causing duplicates.

__________________
}-----Jim----->
~SWCA #2732~

As I said earlier, there are all sorts of opinions on what to do if you have a gun with a missing or defaced SN. The law is clear that possession is illegal. Yet I have never heard of anyone having been arrested for having one. First, the chance of being caught with it is very slim for most law-abiding gun owners. Second, the likely consequence of getting caught with it would likely be nothing more than confiscation, provided there was no other criminal activity on the owner's part involved. But you can never tell what some overly zealous BATFE agent might do in such a situation. I'd probably keep it and just not say anything about it or show it to all my friends.

I would like to send many thanks to all the knowledgeable S&W Gun owners for the insight, ideas and history regarding my heirloom revolver.

I am thinking of a shadow box to show off the gun. I have a couple of Remington ammo (50 for $4.89 sticker on it) and when I get my information back from the S&W historian it will be the backdrop.

It will be a conversation starter for sure.

Thanks so much
Gary

Gary, that's cool.

But if you decide to, be sure to lock in the safe when you leave home and hang it in a room or on a living room wall where every stranger that comes to the door can't see it.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

By the way - what serial number did you give to the historian, in requesting the
factory letter ? If you gave him the number stamped in the crane area, you'll
be wasting your time and money. You need to have found the serial number under
the barrel, or on the rear face of the cylinder.

Mike Priwer