I have a gun that has fixed sights. On the side of the barrel it says 38 s&w special ctg. The serial number is 350323.

If that is the serial number from the bottom of the grip (butt), and there is no letter prefix in front of the numbers, like a V, C, or D, your gun would be an .38 Military & Police from around 1920.

No there is no letter, only the 6 digit number. I'll try to post a picture.

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Welcome to the forum I would agree it would have shipped around 1920. The grips that are now on it are from a much later S&W they are from late 40's or 50's I think.

I’m not very familiar with antique guns. Would this be a somewhat rare find? Would it be a good idea to fire it and if so would it use a .38 special or the .38 s&w? Any other information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Not rare unless it was in brand new condition. By the start of WW2 they had produced a million of them.
It is .38 Special. A .38 S&W cartridge won't fit. It is a larger diameter.
If it is in good mechanical shape, it should be a great shooter with standard (not +P) ammo.
It's probably worth close to $200 at a gun show if it's shootable.

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

It is not a rare gun, it's the most common S&W revolver. Be careful calling it an antique as that's a legal term for firearms made before 1899.

.38 S&W probably won't fit in your .38 Special gun as it's a slightly larger bullet. I personally wouldn't fire them even if they fit due to the chance of them getting stuck in what should be a tight barrel (squib).

Any standard pressure .38 Special ammo is fine, avoid +P. I have a very similar gun made in 1917 and I shoot 158gr exclusively.

The grips on your gun are not original, they look like post WWII diamond magnas. I believe they should be service grips with the gold (brass) large medallions which unfortunately can be tough to find for sale.

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Psalm 27:2

Spend enough time on these forums and you tend to have the same answers!

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Psalm 27:2

Here's a slightly earlier 6" one, serial 288430. Yours would be from after they started heat-treating the cylinders, though this one isn't, so I stick to light loads. This one also does not have the correct grips-- these would be from the thirties.

Collectors call this model the Model of 1905, Fourth Change, which is how it's listed in the Standard Catalogue. After some changes through the years, it eventually became the Model 10, which can still be bought new today.

Actually, by this serial number I would expect the 1920s non-medallion round-top style as more likely. They are a bit easier to find.

But I do not think (just my opinion, mind you!) that this revolver would warrant spending any money on making it appear more “original”. The finish seems to have degraded to a mottled brownish patina all over, which is a poor condition even for a gun of that vintage. If it affects only the surface, it can still be a fun shooter, but as others have mentioned, there are so many of these out there to be had in much better shape that I would only invest anything in this if it were some sort of cherished heirloom with special meaning.

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! I would leave the grips alone. They are much easier in the hand when shooting than the old service grips. I also recommend having a gunsmith check it out if you don't know what to look for WRT how the timing, lockup, and push off are checked. Being close to 100 years old, I imagine it has some wear. You might want to soak it for a few days in auto transmission fluid then flush out the action with aerosol carb/brake/parts cleaner or have your gunsmith clean it.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Yeah I was careful and said, "I believe...." As you point out, it's on the edge of when S&W stopped using those gold medallions. Most sources I find say 1920.

I agree it's really not worth finding period correct stocks, but if you stumble into some well-worn ones for cheap, why not? Those decent shape postwar magnas might bring $75 or more.

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Psalm 27:2

Would cleaning it or reblueing it be detrimental? Any recommendations

Clean it. Shoot it. Enjoy it. Don't spend any money on it except for ammo.

The blue extractor rod is a replacement.

If you want it clean, use Flitz polish, Semi-Chrome or Mother's mag wheel polish. No steel wool! If you have some stubborn rust spots, 0000 Brass wool with Kroil is as aggressive as you want to go. Or Naval Jelly rust remover is OK because there's no original bluing to worry about it taking off.

If you want to reblue it the last thing you want is an inexpensive job, that will devalue the gun if it's buffed and prepared poorly before bluing.

When you get a a proper reblue, skillful finish prep is what you pay for. The screw holes and lettering are not wallowed out and the flat surfaces and sharp corners are retained! You won't devalue the gun but you won't appreciate the value to the cost of the gun plus the reblue cost either.


The grips on it are the very early style known as "sharp shoulder" Magnas. They're easily worth more than the original Service grips your gun came with: whether they were those with genuine gold plating over brass recessed medallions or post 1920 with no medallion grips.

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Jim
S&WCA #819