I received this K-38 yesterday. I picked it up on Gunbroker as buy-it-now. I can feel my blood pressure going up when I'm in a bidding war so I decided not to go through that. I found the target model in a LGS and got it for $475 about a month ago.

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	M14.1.jpg (174.0 KB, 278 views)
	M14.2.jpg (168.5 KB, 241 views)
	Pair.jpg (181.6 KB, 247 views)

Those non-relieved target grips are noteworthy and hard to find: worth good money. The standard trigger was a normal thing back then. You did extremely well not letting me find that one. Excellent choice to buy it now.
Be cautious with those grips when reloasing, or place them somewhere with the gun and serial number written and use some with the cutout or whatever else you like. I paid $150 for a set of grips like that many years ago.

Be Still speaks the truth. Those grips without a cut out on the left side were only used 4 or 5 yrs and sparingly at that. If someone has a nice K frame from 1950-55 and wants target grips, this is the only correct answer. And they do get beat up during use. those would bring $200 today.

Charlie

A very nice pair! You did very well on the price for the K-38. Good thing I don't monitor GB much these days or you would never have even seen it!

I really like your M&P target model from the 1920s also. I'm still lacking one from that decade myself.

And I'll second Charlie's motion on the stocks.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

The stocks were what made me decide to buy it now instead of trying to win it bidding. I was sure the price would be somewhere around $600, or more.

Very nice K38 , really nice grips.

If I may digress slightly - Are there any differences between a model 14 and a model 15 other than the front sight?

Generally speaking, barrel length as well as the style of front sight. The Combat Masterpiece had 4" barrels (later, also a 2" barrel) and the K-38 Masterpiece had a 6" barrel. There were exceptions, of course, but they were relatively uncommon.

Also, from the early 1950s until the 1980s, there was a very small difference in how the front of the frame was contoured. This change resulted from the decision to go with the heavy barrel in the K-38 Masterpiece and retain the tapered barrel on the Combat Masterpiece. To see the difference you need to know what you are looking at. A casual glance usually won't reveal it.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Thank you. The K38 revolvers are great shooters , and I am sure that the OP will get his money's worth - and then some!

Very nice pair !
The first version of the post war 6" K38 Masterpiece had a narrow rib barrel which basicly has the same frame style and barrel rib as the 4" Combat Masterpiece barrel.

Your K-38 was introduced in 1950 as the K-38 "Heavy" Masterpiece and supplemented the older version until around 1955 when the narrow rib 6" version was discontinued, The reason S&W went to the wider rib on the K-38 was so it would be closer in weight to the 6" K-22 and K-32 Masterpiece revolvers.
(they were heavier because of their smaller bore holes).

Both versions were standard in satin blue (like yours) with bright blue available on special order for a small up charge.
By late 1954 early 1955 the bright blue became standard.
Your target hammer could have shipped on the gun as it was an upgrade available also for a small upcharge with the standard style at the time being the "High Speed" or Fishhook hammer.

On a side note when the narrow rib 6" Masterpiece was discontinued around 1955 the "Heavy" moniker was dropped as it was no longer needed to distinguish between the two versions.
The "Non relieved" checkered K diamond target stocks appear around late 1949 and are a regular catalog item by 1950,
by around 1955 they appear with a small football shaped relief cut to aid in extraction as the non relieved style tended to get dinged by firmly ejected casings, even more so with the longer .357 casings in the K frame Combat Magnum introduced in late 1955.

On a side note although most post war target stocks were not serial numbered if you remove the right panel it could have a serial stamped there, if so and it matches your serial they were fit at the factory and originally shipped on the gun.

Your pre war gun is the predecessor to the K38 Masterpiece and was advertised as the .38 M&P target , These were basically the same as a .38 M&P revolver with the addition of an adjustable rear site and pinned patridge front site blade .
Notice your ejector rod is the earlier "Mushroom" style, this changed to a barrel style by 1931 IIRC with the separate rod end disappearing completely by around 1948.

If you post their serials we can narrow down the approximate ages but I agree the stocks on the M&P target are usually found in the early 1920's , if original to the gun they should have the serial pencil written inside the right panel.

I bought a K38 at a gunshow a few years ago, as a shooter, but I decided I had to return it to it's original form. The front sight had been filed into a smooth ramp, the rear sight was missing and a Red Dot was mounted, but the front screw of the rear sight (which was used to mount the weaver rail to mount the red dot) was sheared off. So I was faced with 1. locating a patridge front sight, 2. locating a period correct rear sight. 3. replacing the incorrect stocks. 4. having the sheared off screw drilled out and re-tapped.

I was able to locate both a front and rear sight via a acquaintance in Wash. state who worked on S&W's and attended a lot of gunshows. Kind of pricey for that vintage stuff.

A shooting friend was a pretty accomplished gunsmith/machinist and drilled out a d tapped the screw hole.

Another acquaintance on the forum supplied the correct non-relieved target stocks, and our DWFan did his magic to make them over.

The result:


This is before:



Bringing a nice 1951 K38 back to original isn't cheap. But the process was fun.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

From features, I think your M&P target would have shipped between 1923 and 1927.

I get a seriously early vibe from your K-38; that target hammer and those target stocks are not known on guns that shipped before 1950. I suspect there may be undiscovered guns in that configuration that shipped in very late 1949, but I haven't found one yet or -- equally likely -- found one once and then forgot about it. If the gun angel sitting on my shoulder is telling me true , I would guess your serial number there is in the K77000-K81000 range and that the revolver dates to the first months of 1950. But the gun angel has been known to horse me around, so I could be low.

The serial number on your M&P Target is likely to start with a 4 or a 5.

If you don't want to disclose serial numbers precisely, please consider using XX in place of the last two digits. That's enough to help us narrow their date range.

Nice guns both. And welcome to the forum.

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David Wilson

No problem, the s/n is K100785, shipped Jan. 1951

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

The SN for the K-38 is K218765, and for the M&P 542462. All numbers match on each one.

The stocks on the M&P have some kind of spacer between the stock and the frame, about 3/16th of an inch thick. There was also a t-grip.

I took the grips off the K-38 and there was no SN, only a "K" in sharpie on each side.

I'm going to get each lettered.

Thanks for the information.

They are great shooters and mine was made in 1952 and is in near excellent condition.

Now that I have one, I really like these K38 threads!

Interesting info on the satin blue vs. bright. I wondered why this gun is so much more subdued than my older K22.

I don't think I'm in the market for those target stocks. I don't want to have to baby $200 stocks when ejecting cases. I am considering a T-Grip and one of their trigger shoes, probably black/black but may go satin aluminum.

Looks like the gun angel definitely gave me bad intel; the serial number points to 1955 for your K-38. That's a little late for the use of non-relieved target stocks, but almost anything is possible in the land of S&W. The letter will be informative.

The serial number on your M&P Target points to late 1926/early 1927 based on known shipping dates for guns with nearby serial numbers.

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David Wilson

Thanks. I was thinking mid to late 30s for the M&P, but I don't have access to other data bases yet.

I have a pair of 1956 K38s that I had refinished at the factory this past year. They're a pleasure to shoot and now great to look at. I wouldn't have sent them in for refinishing but both had some rust problems and I just can't stand that.

Best of both worlds. Beautiful & accurate. I have a 14-3. Bob

"The SN for the K-38 is K218765, and for the M&P 542462."
Shipping around 1954 for the K-38, and 1927 for the M&P target.

I thought S&W didn't do older guns. How did you manage that??

DW

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"NUTS"

Congrats nice find.

I found a S&W k38 pre 14 masterpiece target w/6" barrel at my online honey hole. It had freckling as the seller said. But for a decent price. The reddish freckling turned out to be dried gun oil. He had a k22 & a k38 combat master piece pre 15. I couldn't pass them up. These are old school S&W with the actions fitted by the old world s&w craftsman. They just don't come any better. Of course if we use the newer stuff they will break in over time.

DW, I just called customer service and they took the serial numbers and sent me shipping documents. They replaced the hand on one and nothing on the other. Anyway, they do beautiful work.