I just found this among items of my recently deceased mother. Just wondering what I have and what to do with it.

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Welcome to the Forum. A serial number would help, but it is either a 32-20 or a 38 Military & Police revolver made on or before 1927 with the wrong stocks. Give us a picture of the other side of the gun and at least a partial serial number if you want an estimate on actual ship date?

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! I'm afraid that you need to read the sticky post at the top of the form that tells you what kind of information you have to give us in order for us to identify your gun. We need to know the caliber and the serial number. The calibers printed on the right side of the barrel and the serial number is on the butt of the gun. All that being said it looks like you have a 38 military and police revolver. It was made before 1948. That's about all I can tell you right now.

Guy

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Welcome!
You have one of the most common (because it was arguably the best!) Smith & Wesson produced.
You have a 'Model of 1905, .38 Military & Police'. Your gun was made sometime between 1905 and about 1930. (that model eventually evolved into the Model 10 around 1958)
Without a serial number, that's as close as I can get.
FYI: the grips it is wearing are from a much later gun. That style wasn't available until just after WW2.

As stated by others, I'm just assuming it's a .38 Special and not a .32-20 based on odds (.38's are many times more common).

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Chris
SWCA #2243 SWHF #292

If the stocks are original I think it's a post war "transitional" M&P, Does the serial start with a letter S?

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No life story has happy end.

It looks to have a mushroom head ejector rod, so no later than 1930 or a little bit earlier ?

The Old piece looks right nice.

Would a post war still have the big knob on the end of the ejector rod?

One of the first items everyone looks at is the style of extractor rod knob. The mushroom shaped knob on your M&P was not used after 1927. The grips on it are the type used from about 1946 to 1952, and therefore cannot be original to the gun. The serial number stamped on the butt would allow fairly precise dating of when it was shipped. It is also important to provide the caliber. That should be stamped on the right side of the barrel.

Mushroom rod tip and small logo under the thumb piece narrows it down to a couple of decades. Does it have MADE IN USA on the right side?

There is no serial number, just the number on the bottom. Belonged to my grandfather who was a game warden in KY after WW II

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That's definitely the serial #...early 1910s range methinks?

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Psalm 27:2

That number on the butt is the serial number, it should match the number under the barrel, on the rear of the cylinder, and on the rear of the yoke. Unless parts were replaced.

That is the serial number. The star indicates it had some work done on it at the factory, possibly a barrel change. Look on the bottom of the barrel to see if the same serial number is there and if it also has the star. The serial number on the butt indicates that it probably shipped from S&W around 1909-10 if it is a .38 S&W Special, and probably in the late 1920s if it is in .32-20. What is the caliber stamp on the barrel?

I will let someone with else help with the production date, but the star next to the serial number indicates the revolver has been back to the factory for some type of rework, refinish or both. Under the left grip, you should find a date code series of numbers which will tell us the date of this factory rework.

Sry, thought it had to have an S. The barrel number doesn’t match. Was hoping it would have some value but looks like to many changes have occurred. Thanks for the help

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What number is on the back of the cylinder?

The number between the butt and barrel are very close, could it be a misstamp ?

Hold one, unless I am seeing things the number on the barrel does match the butt. I mistook a 3 for a 5.

The "S" did not start until after WWII. As I stated above and was repeated many times, the gun cannot be made after 1927 since it had a mushroom ejector rod knob. As it turns out, the gun was shipped before WWI as DeWalt stated. Also, the stocks are not original as I stated above - does anyone read these posts?? (Sorry but I have had a long day)

Lastly, the revolver is formally called a 38 Hand Ejector Military & Police, 3rd Change. They were made from 1909 to 1915 in serial number range 146,900 to 241,703.

The diamond on the barrel indicates it was a part that was replaced.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Value.....that' a nice gun I'd be proud to own.. there were about a million M&P .38s made over about 59 years ........I've got my Dad's from 1946............ as a family heirloom it's "priceless"

It now seems certain that at some time the revolver went back to S&W for a barrel replacement. If you will remove the grips there will probably be a date stamp on the left side of the grip frame, for example, 11.33 means it was returned to the factory in November 1933. You still have not stated the caliber but it is more than likely .38 S&W Special. It is correctly called the Model of 1905.

Does it look to anyone else like the barrel serial was overstamped on top of the remnants of another one?

Welcome to the Forum.

The serial number on the butt is 143373. The serial number under the barrel is also 143373, but it was hand stamped at the factory. The diamond mark denotes the factory work.

Even with the rework and the wrong grips, this revolver is still worth at least $200.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

[QUOTE=Muley Gil;140150921...Even with the rework and the wrong grips, this revolver is still worth at least $200.[/QUOTE]

And probably a very fine shooting revolver. Suggest using lead bullet ammunition.

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Very nice revolver. You are free to do with it whatever you want -- sell it, keep it, give it to a friend or family member -- but as it is a family heirloom I would encourage you to keep it. In an age of discards and temporary ownership, items with family connections have a particular significance to some of us. If you decide to shoot it, refrain from using hotter loads. I restrict myself to low-pressure .38 wadcutter target loads in my older .38s from the '30s or before. If you keep it but don't plan to use it, give it an occasional wipedown with some gun oil and maybe get a bore swab to oil the charge holes and bore.

The photo of the barrel includes part of a charge hole, and the thickness of the cylinder wall says .38 to me. You should see the rollmark "38 S&W SPECIAL CTG" on the right side of the barrel. CTG is the company abbreviation for cartridge.

As noted, the stocks are postwar. Stocks of that design are called magna stocks; that profile became available in the mid-1930s. Please note the sharp shoulder at the uppermost part of the wooden cheek pieces (the technical term). That feature indicates early postwar shaping, say 1946-1948. After this period the sharp crease was eased, eventually becoming more like a quarter-round profile.

No promises, but if you were to remove the stocks and look for a date stamp of the left side of the grip frame, I suspect you would see a repair date from the late '40s. Seems likely that the stocks and maybe the barrel were replaced by the factory at that time. If this was a longtime service revolver, it could have looked worn after 35 or so years of use, and a factory refresh might have been thought wise before it was issued to a new game warden. Or if it was already your grandfather's personal revolver, he might have thought it better to have the firearm tuned up before it went into service in a professional capacity.

Lamarw is correct about a possible refinish. The small left-side logo looks a little soft to me, which can happen with a surface polish before a re-blue.

Even as a reworked gun with the wrong (but still desireable) stocks, I think the value might be in the vicinity of $300.

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David Wilson

It has a lot of value....It belonged to and was carried by your grandfather in his profession....kind of priceless in my book .
Nice revolver , take it shooting and think of your grandfather ,
He'll like that .
Gary

The number DOES match.





That is possible. If they had a perfect take-off barrel, they might have used it.


What it looks like to me, especially with the crooked row of numbers on the barrel, is hammer bounce. The ghost images are also closer to the edge of the flat than original numbers usually are. Some people let hammers bounce when striking punches. While the hammer is bouncing upwards off of the punch, the punch has also bounced after being struck. The hammer falls back lightly onto the punch, and a ghost image of the digit is created. All the marks I see match the digits they are attached to- that is, they look like a part of the same digit.
The lady that normally numbered barrels and cylinders did so ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, and would be highly skilled at it. A guy in the service department might not be numbering even one part some days.


See Pic 42-
Raw Steel to Smith & Wesson (Pic HEAVY)

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

In Western MT the asking price would be North of $450 and the seller would scream if you talked him down to $375.

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Front sight and squeeze

I think I have about 20 K frames...and should take a trip up to Western Montana and make me some money!

The stocks would bring more than 50 bucks, in my opinion.

I am guessing that the gun returned to the factory fairly early in life. Barrels made to fit the mushroom knobs were probably used up fairly soon after the new barrel shaped knob was introduced. Any serviceable barrel could have been used to replace the original and re-stamped, since the company was very frugal and may have been running out of early barrels by the time the gun was returned. I have two guns made around WWI that now have barrel shaped knobs and matching barrels. One was returned in 1945 and the other went back to the factory in the late 1930s.

The gun cannot be a 32-20 because the ejector rod knob was changed out to the barrel shape in 1927. That serial number in a 32 Winchester would have shipped sometime after 1930.

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Gary
SWCA 2515