My Grandfather was a an old-time Pasadena Motor Police officer, in the 40's and 50's. He actually used a 6.5" barrel as his duty weapon, while on the motorcycle. Dad gave me the old duty pistol, a S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman, the other day.

I am assuming the manufacture/ship date is pre-war, due to the lack of the "S" prefix. My mother thought he acquired it in 1941.

Can anyone tell me the exact year of this gun? (**edit** The yolk number is shown here. The serial appears to be 62041)

...that's not the serial number...it's on the butt under those target grips...

...it should also be on the rear face of the cylinder...

...also the right side view of the revolver will reveal more information than the left side does...

...nice revolver!...and with family history...can't beat that...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

My bad. Here is the number on the back of the cylinder...

#62041

...I'm sure someone will be along soon to give you info on that serial number...

...a motor officer carrying an Outdoorsman with a six and a half inch barrel and a Patridge front sight is REALLY COOL in my estimation...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

Here is the right side of the gun. The blurry area under the S&W logo was where I smeared out Gramp's engraved name, from the picture.

...unfortunately I don't have the serial number info...

...the first year for the 38/44 Outdoorsman was 1931 I believe...

...the one line "Made in USA" phased out and went to the four line in early to mid 1948...

...that narrows it down to...1931 to 1948...

...your Mom's 1941 recollection would be just about in the middle of that range...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

According to the S&W 4th edition your mother was most likely correct, I came up with 1941 as the production date.

I agree with Andy52, 1941 and near the end of production before WWII, the last # being 62350 when production stopped for the war.

These are very fine revolvers, and worth a reasonable amount in value as well as sentimental value, which cannot be replaced. That gun was made to shoot, enjoy it.

I envy you, as that would be a birth year gun for me.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the reinforcement of my mom's memory.

This will not be a shelf queen. I am looking forward to shooting it next week.

This guy seems to think I will enjoy it... Gun Digest Classic: Is This the Greatest .38 Ever? | Gun Digest

THAT is wa-ay too cool. A pre-war OD in the box with family history. Clean it, shoot it, love it. Do yourself a favor and collect every scrap of information, photos, and credentials related to his LE career. A photo of him in uniform with his motorcycle and the OD would be priceless. Get a historical letter from Roy Jinks. We might be able to scare up a set of pre-war Magna stocks for you, too! Congratulations, very nice!

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Tom in AZ
Respect the Dingbat

Quote: "We might be able to scare up a set of pre-war Magna stocks for you, too! Congratulations, very nice!"

A nice pre-war set sold on eBay yesterday for a mere $571.00.

Very nice gun.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

Check your serial number on the underside of the barrel and on the butt. The center number may not be a zero " 0 ".

The finest shooting S&W N frame next to the RM. It's the poor man' s Registered Magnum but just as sweet, I think.

Good luck with that one.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

Whoa! $571 for Magna stocks? Too rich my blood...or gun.

My pops has Gramp's original holster and belt. I should be getting it in a few days. Time to dig up old photos of Gramps in uniform, with his sidearm.

A wonderful acquisition. You'll love it!
One thing you might want to check is to see if Grandpa had it reamed out to .357. Simple enough to check, just drop a .357 cartridge in the chambers and see if it goes all the way in or not. Usually this would lessen the value. But since this is a family heirloom, I don't see where it would matter.
If you reload, whip up some old time .38/44 high velocity loads just to see what shooting these guns was really like. Its a hoot!

It is definitely a zero. Without removing the grips, I found the serial number on the inside of the ejector guard. So, it looks to have been about 309 units prior to the pause in production for WWII

Nice gun! Enjoy it!

It was a .38-44 that got me into this Forum and the SWCA when my LGS owner sold me the gun and told me about this campfire. The serial number is half that of yours, 3xxxx (I don't have it handy) and I think it is 1932 manufacture.

62075 shipped Aug 1940. Yours should be in the same vicinity. I hope this helps.

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38-44heavyduty.com

Super duper nice. And what a cool way to remember your Grandfather by.

Update: My dad gave me my Grandfather's duty holster and belt, last night. Here are the pictures, with Gramp's OD...



Gramps was a Pasadena, CA motor officer (at the time) so, it makes sense that he wore a belt from a local company...



To the best of my knowledge, my Grandfather loaded these rounds onto the belt, decades ago...



Nice for show but...



Dad seems to remember having a photo of my Grandfather, on his 1938 or 1939 Indian Motorcycle, with his belt on. The pic was from the left side so, we don't think the gun can be seen. I will share when I receive the photo.

Outstanding family treasure !

Those rounds look like the 200 grain Super Police. Iffn' I was you, I'd remove them and wipe them down. The leather causes verdigris, the green stuff on the ammo.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

That leather gear is in remarkably good condition, in my opinion! He obviously took very good care of it. That revolver with that gear is a treasure anyone would love to have, but for you, it's got to be priceless!

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So long ... Ken

Thank you for keeping and cherishing this awesome piece of family history!

So many times we read on this forum about guns leaving families due to the shortsightedness of decendants caused by hoplophobia or the desire for a quick buck.

FYI- The Buffalo Bore .38 Special 158 gr +P loadings are pretty close to the original .38-44 level.

Maybe I'm the odd man out here, but I wouldn't change the stocks to make it more original. The existing stocks, the engraved name. THAT was the way his Grandpa carried it.

Hand held history, it is . . . .

.455 Hunter, this OD will be handed down to one of my son's someday.

Do you mean the rounds in the belt? I believe those rounds date back to the 40's or 50's. I don't really know.

My Grandfather retired from the PPD, as Acting-Chief-of-Police in 1967. I don't think he ever pulled the guns out of the drawer after that.

...make sure you don't keep the revolver in the holster for the long term...

...leather holsters aren't a good way to store guns...

...you have about as good an example of revolver enthusiast family memorabilia there that I could ever imagine...

...enjoy!...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

What Muley said! I'm loathe to clean up brass that is containing live bullets and powder that I expect to use for serious business in future, but it can be done judiciously. I'm guessing you will likely never fire those original rounds anyway, right? I would suggest some Never Dull Magic Wadding Polish for all kinds of metal. Its a soft stuff that won't scratch unless dirty with grit. It's a yellowish wadding contained in a round can about four inches in diameter and about the same height. Measurements are my estimates! Pinch off a large enough piece of the wadding and polish each cassing with it. Doesn't take long, but it takes a minnit or so, and does not leave much if any liquid on the metal. Let it dry for about a couple minnits and then polish the metal with a clean dry soft cloth. Stuff works great on bullets and silver stuff too! A can will last you forever, and unless you just flat wear out the small wad you use, you can put it back in the can and reuse it till it's black and worn out. I see it in the cleaning product sections at grocery stores, etc, and I'd bet a hundred dollars you can find it on Amazon! Doesn't cost much either. Of course, my can that's years old is still half full of the stuff. I do think it may have dried out a bit in time, but it still works OK. Clean up that ammo and store it in a regular divided cartride box. You can also clean the green stuff (verdigris) off the leather too (NOT with the Never Dull!) and that old rig will be standing tall for the future. I say again, what a treasure!

BTW, that never dull will put a shine on that brass Sam Browne buckle and other brass parts on the rig! It may have to be repeated in time, but just wipe off your fingerprints when polishing and refrain from touching the brass with your fingers and the shine will last a long time!

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So long ... Ken

No. The rounds in belt are 200 gr Super Police loads, just featuring a heavy bullet at normal .38 pressure. The .38-44 loading was developed in conjunction with these guns (Outdoorsman & Heavy Duty) and featured the standard 158 gr bullet at I believe a nominal 1150 fps for almost .357 Mag performance.

Ken, I have a tin of Never Dull in the garage somewhere. I've used it on various metal parts for decades (mostly with one tin, too), so I concur.

Those rounds will never be used. Too cool to see those, with the belt, the holster and the revolver.

Excellent post, love the pic's. I would love to see a pic of your Grampa on his Motor. I was also a Motor Cop but retired 3 1/2 yrs ago. Love the history you have there. Great Safety Speed clamshell holster from a period when all a Copper needed was his Service Revolver-Handcuffs-Extra Ammo-Sap and common sense...

Keep that rig and gun the way they are. That's history right there.


Clean the gun, shoot it, and clean it again. I'm sure your Grand Dad would approve.

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Eccentric old coot

Cool deal! What make is the clamshell? Safety Speed?

AS you know, rocknroad, it's handy stuff. My wife uses it to clean her jewelry and other stuff in the house too!

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So long ... Ken

Here are some shots as I spent a few minutes cleaning up the rounds last night. I finally found my old tin of Never Dull and gently wiped them down.

Before and After: (actually, in process and after...I had already wiped off the black and green corrosion)


All the old soldiers, cleaned up.

I am not finding any markings on the holster that indicate the manufacturer.

Sounds to me like that gun and outfit is in very good hands. You will love shooting that gun, I sure like mine and it doesn't have the history yours does. I usually just shoot standard .38 loads and it is like shooting a k-frame .32 with those.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

A coat or two of Renaissance Wax will protect that shine and keep fingerprints off them. I have a large shell (3"), I made into a pencil/pen etc. holder for my desk that I polished and then put Renaissance wax on 12 years ago, and it is still clean and shiny.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Nice family heirloom........

I have my Dad's ( also a motorcycle/Indian rider before the war) 6" .357 Colt New Service with King Sights....... I think long barrels were more the norm back then......


I have several of my Dad's old Badges.... Patrolman (no rank), Lt and Capt...... missing a Sargent's badge....... might not have been one.

I admit I am a complete newb to the collector S&W knowledge and need your help here.

I finally took the stocks off of my Grandfather's OD to see what was under the, apparently, aftermarket/custom grips. I found a few markings that look like they are from the factory but, I am clueless. Does anyone know what these all mean?

The red circles are the locations of the first marks..






Then, these letters are on the opposite side of the frame...

tHOSE ARE JUST FITTER'S MARKS AND THE FACT IT SHIPPED AS BLUE

Do you have any pic's of your Grandfather on his motorcycle?

Those all appear to be fitter and inspector stamps, the HB would be for Heavy Barrel.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

My parents are digging through their basement, looking for the pictures. Also, we think my uncle has, at least, one of his badges. We are trying to get him to lend it to the collection.

Thanks for the post OP, excellent thread and a fine revolver with awesome family history. I think I'll ask my Uncle about his service revolver (he was a motorcycle cop in the 50's and 60's). If he still has it he probably gave it to his son, but you never know maybe he isn't a firearms kind of guy. Earl

You're putting together a terrific family archive, worthy of a permanent display when you get all the elements together. But I think the display should allow you easy access to shoot that big, beautiful revolver a lot.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Thanks. This will be fun, learning more about my Grandfather's LEO career.

After showing this thread to my dad, he got fired up to find more relics. He has now promised to get me Gramps' Detective Colt .38. I know nothing about this gun but, it will be another fun research project.

The OD will be used, probably most visits to the range.

Wow!

What a great revolver, and even better with the family history!

There wouldn't be enough money to pry that from my hands!

Best of luck with her!

So, after several delays (the youngest son got engaged, family in town, etc.)...I finally got to the range for a day with my Grandfather's 1941 Outdoorsman.

It was magnificent.

We took several guns to shoot (my daughter-in-law-to-be had never shot a handgun before) for a variety of experiences. It was unanimous: the Outdoorsman was the favorite gun to shoot.

We shot modern .38 special +P. The gun hardly flinched with each pull of the trigger. It was deadly accurate, even for our newly minted shooting enthusiast.

After about 100 rounds down the pipe, I brought it home and lovingly cleaned it up. I can't stop admiring it.

As most of you have already said, this is a priceless family heirloom. I look forward to many more range days with this beautiful piece of awesomeness.

Great family history. I have my Dad’s badges and 1958 vintage 38/44 although he used that revolver to shoot bullseye and carried a Model 10 on duty. I was a motor cop myself prior to a promotion. I have my badges as well as a ‘61 Harley-Davidson California Police Motorcycle.