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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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Old 09-19-2014, 10:11 AM
defndr defndr is offline
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Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special  
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Default Age/value of 5 screw S&W .38 Special

Greetings,
My buddy found this S&W revolver in his grandfathers attic after his passing. He was a Buffalo NY policeman in his earlier years.
Its a 5 screw, single line address, fixed sights with matching serial #'s. No model #. Serial # V140xxx. So far, can not find the grips. Looks like alot of holster wear. Any help is appreciated!

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Old 09-19-2014, 10:50 AM
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The revolver started it's life as a WWII era Victory model manufactured in 1942 or 1943. It probably has been refinished.

The original stocks were plain walnut. Does it have a hole next to the serial number (on the butt) ? How about and stamps or markings on the top strap or butt?
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Last edited by samandglove1; 09-19-2014 at 10:51 AM.
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Old 09-19-2014, 10:55 AM
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It's a WWII Victory model which shipped from S&W in Oct-Nov 1942. With a 4" barrel, which it appears to have, it should be in .38 S&W Special, and that should be stamped on the barrel. Without any markings (typically including a "UNITED STATES PROPERTY" stamping on the topstrap), it was probably made for stateside service by law enforcement and defense plant guards, etc. These were obtained through Defense Supply Corporation (DSC) contracts. Original smooth grips often show up on eBay.

Last edited by DWalt; 09-19-2014 at 10:58 AM.
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Old 09-19-2014, 12:58 PM
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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! The original grips would look like these.



Am I stretching, but does the sight placement on the OP's barrel look right to y'all?
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Old 09-20-2014, 09:22 AM
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[QUOTE=Wiregrassguy

Am I stretching, but does the sight placement on the OP's barrel look right to y'all?[/QUOTE]
...........................................................
Hey wiregrassguy-
I guess I never paid much attention to front sight locations on these old warriors, but after reading your question about it's placement, I took a close look at a couple of mine that I know are factory original, and I see placement like the OP's, and like yours. Just .020" to .050" could create the illusion of different sight placement.
So, I believe that the machine operator @ the factory was given a big plus or minus tolerance dimension to get the barrel crown right.
And, who knows, the forging factory may have had several separate bbl forging operations again with large sight location dimension tolerances.
Good eyes, Guy.
-DP
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Old 09-20-2014, 09:24 AM
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Looks OK to me.
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Old 09-20-2014, 10:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samandglove1 View Post
The revolver started it's life as a WWII era Victory model manufactured in 1942 or 1943. It probably has been refinished.

The original stocks were plain walnut. Does it have a hole next to the serial number (on the butt) ? How about and stamps or markings on the top strap or butt?

Yes, there is a hole next to serial # along with stampings on the back strap and butt. The stampings seem to be a series of numbers that were "x'd" out. What were the reasons for these stampings?

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