Hi,

I own a .38S&W S&W revolver and I was wondering if anyone could help with id-ing and dating it.

Welcome! It is likely a .38/200 (.38 S & W chambering, as noted on the right barrel - not .38 Special) British Service Revolver from 1941. Most of these had 5" barrels (muzzle to cylinder face) but a few 4" were produced at about this time for South Africa; many of these were diverted back to British use. A close-up photo of the muzzle and front sight would help, as many of these were altered after the war.

After April 1942 a similar gun was named the Victory Model, so many call this a pre-Victory. The 38/380 stamp on the right barrel indicates it was sold commercially after the war, and the stocks are likely original to the gun.

A history letter will tell you its exact ship date and original configuration:

Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation - Letter Process - Insuring that the rich history of Smith & Wesson will continue for generations to come

Hope this is helpful.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I second Alan's identification. This is what we call a "pre-Victory", a military-destined M&P made prior to the Victory model proper. Your gun's barrel has been shortened from 5 or 6 inches (in 1941 they were still shipping both lengths before standardizing on the 5" length for the British Service Model). The positioning of the front sight relative to the underbarrel lug is too far back for it to be an original 4" barrel. I can't get to my references right now, but I believe the circular marking on the left back frame is a Canadian military property mark.

Welcome to the Forum.

Have you checked to see if a .38 special cartridge will fit the chambers? Many of these .38 S&W revolvers had their chambers altered to .38 special.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Thanks for the welcome and for the info thusfar.
I haven't tried to see if a .38 special will fit yet as I don't have a casing in that calibre. Will try tonight at the range.

The barrel of the revolver is 3.5" and I remember my brother mentioning that the barrel was shortened somewhere in its history.

The revolver is definitely a former BSR from Canadian service; see picture below. Charles Pate documents a large contract to Canada (pre-lend lease) of ~27,000 guns with 5" barrels in June 1941; serial-wise, your gun would fit into the time-frame.

I also think it's been re-blued (although the blue was actually also its original finish). But there seems to be some pitting underneath the bluing in some places, a sure sign of a re-finish.

Attached Images

Canada pre-Vic.jpg (67.9 KB, 26 views)

I must have been asleep at the switch

Since when did dating require ID?

__________________
Buy American
Vote Responsibly

There is no doubt yours started as a Canadian military revolver because of the "Broad Arrow" stamping, indicating it is Crown property. The Capital "C" around the broad arrow indicates Canada. However, it could have passed through numerous hands in the British Commonwealth military during its service life. And that is impossible to document.