I have a Hand Eject, Ser # C 103xxx, 38 Special, 6" Barrel, Fixed Sights, Strain Screw, 5 Screw, Blued. Don't have pics at the moment but if I can get an idea of the year it was made it would be helpful. If she is something special, I'll get pics posted up.

C1029xx shipped in 8/50. I list several other M&Ps not too far away as also shipping in 1950.

Thx for the year info Dwalt. She is not real old, but she is not worn. Tight lock up on all cylinders and new enough to handle standard loads. Good shooter!

By that time, the long barrels don't appear to have been that popular any more, so 4" and to a lesser degree 5" barrels are much more common than 6", but that does not make your gun "special" in any significant way, like from a collector perspective.

But it should indeed be a nice shooter and should serve you well; from a practical point of view 6 inches of barrel get about the most out of the .38 Special ballistically while still not being too unwieldy and too awkward to carry.

Is a 1950 mfg yr strong enough to handle 38 Sp +P loads?

Yes, no problem if it has to.

But as always with older guns, I wouldn't shoot +P unless there is a good reason. And there rarely is. Keep a load of modern +P loads in the gun for a real self-defense situation, and otherwise shoot standard loads. They're cheaper, too

IMHO any .38 Hand Ejector "C" prefix is special. I've got two from 1950 (shipping date)

__________________
Mike
S&WCA #3065

What is it about the "C" marking that makes my hand eject special? I also have the holster. Now I'm curious enough to post pic later today.

Probably the most common question asked here. But yes. However, there is not often a reason to do so.

"What is it about the "C" marking that makes my hand eject special?"

There is nothing special about the C-series M&Ps, and there were actually a million of them made between 1948 and 1968, so they are very far from being rare or unusual. But they are sort of notable because factory model numbering (Model 10) began almost midway in the C-series in 1958. Collectors would call yours a pre-Model 10 M&P.

Thanks to all for all the good info!

Mike is speaking more figuratively. He just likes them a lot. . We all do. But along the lines of what DWalt says, about as hard to find as a 9mm Glock

My new bore scope toy ame 2 days ago. Going to use it to ck barrel & chambers. This new one is small enough ID to go down the barrel of my 308. That may prove interesting as well.