I believe this to be a 2nd Mod. HE in .455 caliber, can anyone supply any more info such as date of mfg. meanings of markings etc.
1. No caliber markings
2.No import markings
3. Large 'astrick' marking on left side near trigger guard and left top where bbl. screws in
4. Last pat. date Feb. 6.06
5. Left side to rear of latch..small broad arrow, circled II and V5F with small mark above
6. small crossed banners on rear cylinder face and left side where bbl. screws in
7. No other markings
8. Checkered walnut grips with S&W logo

Attached Images

IMAG0005 (4).jpg (66.8 KB, 91 views)

If it is in the SN range from 5462 to 74755, those shipped to the British in the 1915-17 period. Many are found modified to .45 Colt, also to .45 ACP, but yours does not appear to be a .45 ACP.

If you haven't been following this .455 research thread you might be interested in reading it:

.455 Mk II revolver research thread

Nice gun you have.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

It is definitely a 2nd Model HE. It was originally .455 caliber and still is unless someone modified it. The barrel on these is 6-1/2 inches. Yours looks like a very nice one. That means it could be worth $1,000 or more.

If you supply the serial number (it's on the bottom of the butt frame), someone here can give a close estimate of its ship date. You can xx the last couple of digits in the s/n if you care to.

It doesn't have caliber markings because it was understood it fired the British Service Cartridge, which at that time was the .455 Webley. S&W did put "455" on some, but not on others. Who knows why.

The Broad Arrow shows it was accepted into service by the British, and is therefore government property. The large asterisk (actually two Broad Arrows, tip to tip) is a sale mark, meaning they sold it out of service and thus it is no longer government property.

The Crossed Pennants are a British military proof mark.

That leaves this one:
"5. Left side to rear of latch..small broad arrow, circled II and V5F with small mark above"

I am going to assume these markings are in a column.
The Broad Arrow has been addressed.
The II means it is the S&W 2nd Model.
The small mark should be a crown.
V5 would have been the inspector's identification number.
Are you sure the "F" is not an "E"?
(E for Enfield, the location of the Royal Small Arms Factory where this revolver was inspected and accepted into service).

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You're shy a few manners.

serial # is 846x (sorry, I thought I had included that). The letter in question is definately an F, it is stamped clear and sharp and yes these marks are in a column and the thing on top is indeed a crown. Barrel length is correct and it is still in the original .455 caliber. Great info, thanks. These bullets are so big and slow one would almost think you could fire it, run down to the target and whack the incoming bullet with a baseball bat...ALMOST...

It was considered a "man-stopper" round, heavy and slow moving with a big diameter.

I can't find anything about the "F". I know that there was a Royal Ordnance Factory at Fazakerley, but I believe that wasn't in use until WWII.

S/N 846x is also a bit puzzling. It looks like it is in the range of the First Model (TripleLock) serial numbers (1 - 5000), shipped 1914 - 1915. But clearly it is a Second Model. May need some help from someone who has lettered one of these ... Unless of course you left out a digit and it is 846xx, then it is well within the range for Second Models. In any event, it's probably a good guess that it shipped in 1915.

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You're shy a few manners.

Double checked. Serial # is indeed 4 digits . 846x . Geeze, looks like I got me an enigma here?!

From the SCSW, 4th Ed. referring to the .455 MkII HE 2nd Model:

• Approx 666 were manufactured in .455 caliber in the 1908 serial range and are duplicates in the serial range 1104 to 10417.

(Page 196).

Also, the 2nd Model began at SN's between 5000 and 6000 then up to 74755.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Thank you, Guy. That clears up that mystery. In fact, the SCSW, 2nd Ed. has that same information. I keep forgetting about the duplicate serial numbers thus I did not notice that.

So it is almost certain that the revolver in the original post was shipped in 1915(?)

Also, there must be a First Model out there with the same serial number, if I am reading the book correctly. If so, some collector would pay a fortune to put those two together!

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You're shy a few manners.

Hondo44 is putting together some data on the .455's in this thread. I suspect the info you are asking about is in there.

And, yes, some collectors we all know would put some $$$ to collect the duplicates.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629