I found what I think is an 1899 shooter grade 38 special. Asking 315. My question. Does the end of the ejector rod unscrew? It looks too short and there’s no knurled end on it. I only seen a picture. My only reason for thinking it’s an 1899 is there’s no lock on the barrel. I might take a road trip to look at it this weekend. About 3 hours away from me.

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

It does unscrew and is frequently missing on less-than-perfect condition examples. For 315, I suppose this shooter is one of those. The absence of the front barrel lug for the ejector rod should be obvious. Five-digit or less serial number.

Awesome thanks. I’m going to try for cheaper. It’s in a pawn shop so...

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

I remember someone here was selling replacement knobs for the 1899 which had been made up in a machine shop for $100. Whether those are still available I have no idea. In any event, they were not original.

If that 1899 was in relatively good condition, I'd buy it for $315 and machine a (good enough) knob for it myself.

The bottom knob, blue one, in the photo at Post #9 in this thread, is the one for the 1899:
32 HE 1st Model Parts Source Post #9

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I’ll call them tomorrow and get more pictures

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

It was Mike Priwer that had some 1899 ejector rod knobs made, but he has not mentioned if he has any left lately.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

That’s the only pic I have so far.

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

Its appearance is much better than I would have expected. If you get better pictures and can verify that this is the original finish, and the gun has all-matching serial numbers, I would think that $315 is an excellent price.

If the rest of the gun looks this good even if they won't negotiate it is still a good buy.

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

Well I bought it just from the pictures. 315 plus tax. I took a chance but it looks pretty good to me. I’ll go pick it up Saturday and hopefully it’s nice as it looks in pictures. I figured it couldn’t burn that much.s. Serial number 17668

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby

The only thing I can tell from the pics is that the stocks are newer (ca. 1910-'20) than the gun itself, but that's not a deal killer if the gun is decent otherwise.

Mark

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S&W Forum Member #721

Black hard rubber K frame service stocks made from 1899 up to WWII are the same without change, so you would have no problem finding the correct pair for the gun.

Attached Images

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Gary
SWCA 2515

The early checkered wood stocks, while not quite period correct, by themselves should be more valuable than black rubber ones, so if you so desire, swapping them without loss should pose no problem.

Its definitely missing the knurled nob on the end of the extractor rod. In one of thelater pictures, with some magnification, I can see parts of the caliber roll marking.That's correct for serial number 17668. I may still have an extra extractor rod nob.

One thing to check, of course, is the condition of the bore. All too often, because of black powder usage, and perhaps not good cleaning, the bore may be pitted, sometimes badly.

In one of the pictures, the sides of the hammer and trigger looked to be somewhat polished. Could be the quality of the picture, or maybe someone rubbed them out with emery cloth.Can't tell for sure.

Regards, Mike Priwer

I’ll know more on condition in a few days. I’ll post some better pictures then too

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No gold. Only lead. Bobby