I inherited an old S&W .38 S&W Special CTG.
The marking are:
1. On barrel top,
Springfield Mass USA
Patented Feb,6,06 Sept,14,09 Dec,29,14

2. On butt of frame - 474062

3. Under cylinder yoke (on frame) 262 21

4. On back of cylinder - 474062

5. On cylinder yoke - 26221

Any help you can provide in identifying model and/or age is greatly appreciated.

Are there any links to sites where the disassembly of internals is demonstrated?

We need a few pictures and post on the old revolver forum.........See ya there

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'I know nothing'.. Sgt. Shultz

Like CatboatWilly said.

And a warm from “wild and wonderful “ West Virginia at least that’s what they tell us.

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Psalm 23:4

Welcome to the Forum.

My guess is that your revolver shipped from S&W around 1917.

Please post pictures. We love pictures!

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Shootersales,

Your revolver is a Model 1905, 4th change, .38 Hand Ejector, known as the Military and Police or M&P. By SN it would have probably shipped early 1924. I have documented numbers on both sides (by several thousand) that shipped Dec. 1923 (461,xxx) and June 1925 (510,xxx). It was made with a heat-treated cylinder.

If you intend to shoot it much I would recommend only Lead bullet ammunition as the barrel steel used until the 1950s was softer and more susceptible to wear from jacketed bullets than the later guns.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

"... the barrel steel used until the 1950s was softer and more susceptible to wear from jacketed bullets than the later guns."

You keep saying this and I'd like to know the source of this info. The 357 Magnum was made before the 1950s and I am not aware of any problems with jacketed bullets in them. The 1917 was intended to use FMJ military ammo. The 32-20 ammo was often loaded with jacketed bullets but I have heard no mention of this being a problem in those revolvers. How have I missed this fact for so long?

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No life story has happy end.

I'll agree with the 1924 date, as I show several close-by SNs as shipping in 1924. S&W had stopped using the "Model of 1905" designation in their advertising catalogs around the time of WWI, and they called it simply the "Military and Police" (M&P) Model thereafter.

I don't know about softer alloys for barrels being used back in those days, but there is certainly no need to use anything other than lead bullets. I do know that factory records indicate that in early 1942, the steel alloy used for M&P barrels was changed from 1025 to 1045. I do not know why, but it may well have had something to do with the fact that all (or most all) M&Ps made at that time were being used by the military, and the military used only FMJ bullets. The 1045 alloy may have provided better wear resistance when military FMJ bullets were used. I don't know that, only guessing.

"The 357 Magnum was made before the 1950s and I am not aware of any problems with jacketed bullets in them."

I believe that the earlier .357 cartridges did not use FMJ bullets. Rather, they used either lead bullets or what were called metal capped (or metal pointed) bullets, i.e., they looked like FMJs when loaded, but the cylindrical body of the bullet that contacted the bore was lead. Only the bullet nose was covered with metal.

Never said the 357 used FMJ. But I know there were JSPs and JHPs available back then. Elmer Keith wrote of loading them for handgun use although he eventually settled on the lead SWC as his favorite.

I think you have it backwards. A JHP has lead at the tip and the jacket contacts the rifling.

If this "lead only" warning has merit (and frankly I have my doubts) should we also caution against hard cast lead?

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No life story has happy end.

You need to do some more research about the metal point type bullets. Those, and lead bullets, were all that were available in the .357 Mag back in the early days. JHP and jacketed exposed lead handgun bullets were virtually unheard of until the 1960s-1970s when Super Vel came on the scene. Look it up in the old ammo catalogs if you don't believe that.
A box from 1940:

Fine. They once made metal tipped bullets. I believe you. But that wasn't what I was asking. I was asking about modern jacketed bullets which Alk8944 keeps saying are unsafe in pre-1950 revolvers. I'd like to know where he got that.

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No life story has happy end.

The pointed FMJ cartridges were preferred by police since they were looking for penetration against moving vehicles. It was not uncommon for an officer to have 6 of these and 12 regular rounds in his 18 round bullet slide.

I will find mine and post a pic in the thread. But yes you are correct and they were pointed

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Gun Control= Using Both Hands

The pointed FMJ cartridges were preferred by police since they were looking for penetration against moving vehicles. It was not uncommon for an officer to have 6 of these and 12 regular rounds in his 18 round bullet slide that was on his gunbelt

I will find mine and post a pic in the thread. But yes you are correct and they were pointed.

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Gun Control= Using Both Hands

The .357 Magnum was also loaded back then with "Metal Penetrating" bullets (as were other calibers). They were constructed essentially the same as the metal point bullets, but the metal nose cap was considerably thicker and heavier and would not deform as easily, thereby presumably being more effective at penetrating car bodies, etc. In the postwar era, metal penetrating bullets made of "Zamak," a zinc alloy, were also used for the same purpose. At least by Remington, they were called the "Hi-Way Master". They were quite hard and did not deform. The bullets were also lighter than lead and could be fired at a higher velocity. A listing for some of these is here: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=411794046