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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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  #1  
Old 10-01-2018, 12:05 AM
jw mathews jw mathews is offline
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vThe photos below show a rather worn 5" bbl M&P found at a gun show in April 2001. I like the looks & balance of 5" barrels which is the reason this gun caught my eye as it sat on a dealer's table. The finish had turned brown with light pitting so it wasn't much to look at. But the asking price was $100, so I asked to inspect it

As I handled the piece, I could tell it was an older example (s/n 746xx) but it didn't seem to work properly. As many in this forum know, if an S&W trigger is moved forward slowly after firing, it can reach a point just short of the full release position where a pull to the rear can rotate the cylinder but fail to cock the hammer..

This revolver was doing that constantly. The dealer tried it with the same result. I took a gamble, not knowing if there were worn parts which might be very difficult to replace, or if the gun was just crudded up inside. I offered the dealer $50 for it "as is" and he accepted my offer.

After I got home & cleaned it up, it worked fine. Bore is good but I have not yet fired it. I obtained a factory letter, which states a shipping date of Feb 16, 1906 to Hibbard, Spencer & Bartlett Co of Chicago, IL. The stocks have no pencil marks but I believe they are original to the gun, as the factory letter says the stocks were checkered walnut. All numbers match & it is an example of the first M&P to use the rebound slide to move the trigger forward. One interesting note is that the patent dates atop the barrel do not correlate with the N&J book for the .38 Specials. As I recall, they were closer to the patent dates on the .32s. Roy's letter says that patent dates can vary, depending on the workman who set up the machinery at the time any barrel was being marked.

All I have done to the gun was to wipe it down with cold blue to give it an even color & get rid of the brown appearance. No metal has been removed. Considering that the gun had no collector value as purchased, I don't think I've hurt it any. I just felt sorry for this neglected piece of classic American craftsmanship & wanted to give it a good home.

The most economical way to get a gun for people who are not thieves is by gift/inheritance, but if one is paying for a purchase, how many of us can say we've bought an S&W M&P in good working order during the 21st Century for just $50.00?
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File Type: jpg S&W K-1905 Ch 1 L.jpg (72.9 KB, 82 views)
File Type: jpg S&W K-1905 Ch1 R.jpg (70.2 KB, 79 views)

Last edited by jw mathews; 10-01-2018 at 09:23 PM. Reason: correct shipping date & add info
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Old 10-01-2018, 12:45 AM
Muley Gil Muley Gil is offline
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I'm also very fond of 5" revolvers. I have a 5" 1899 .32-20, a 5" .32-20 M&P, a 5" .38 special M&P from about 1947 and six 5" N frames.
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Old 10-01-2018, 01:35 AM
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Your grips are at least period-correct for that SN. No reason not to shoot it if you choose. It should have the dual-caliber barrel stamp.
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Old 10-01-2018, 08:55 AM
gmborkovic gmborkovic is offline
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Pls post a close up pic of the marking on the side plate.
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Old 10-01-2018, 09:08 PM
jw mathews jw mathews is offline
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The left side of the barrel has the two lines for the .38 Special & US Service Ctg. I am going to make a correction to my OP when I finish this reply as I misstated the shipping date.

Mike 2796--can you download the photo to your own pc? If so, you could try to zoom in on it. While I can click on the thumbnail images in this forum to enlarge them, I cannot zoom in on them further. I think the only way to do that is to download the photo to a "pictures" file in one's own computer, and then use the capabilities in one's own software to zoom in on part of a picture.

I use a small digital camera hand-held & don't have much luck with closeups as the focal distance is very critical. I take photos outside in the shade but can't try much this week due to wet weather. I'm not sure why you want a closeup of the trademark, but I can tell you that it is correct and there is pitting in that area of the sideplate.

If you are just curious to see the early trademark, you might look for my thread from five years ago titled "1902 Square Butt, How Rare?" as that gun is in much better condition & the trademark might show up better. If I can get a closeup of this one at a later time, I will try to add it to my OP and put in a reply to bring this thread to the top[ again--if that will help you. Also, there are probably other threads buried within this section of the forum with photos of pre-1915 K-frames that might have good images of the S&W trademarks, if you want to take some time to search.
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Old 10-01-2018, 10:14 PM
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My take is - you got a reasonable deal on the grips , with a free revolver thrown in.
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Old 10-01-2018, 10:25 PM
shouldazagged shouldazagged is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Waveski View Post
My take is - you got a reasonable deal on the grips , with a free revolver thrown in.
And a pretty damn nice revolver at that.

If I may ask, what cold blue did you use?
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Old 10-04-2018, 09:14 PM
jw mathews jw mathews is offline
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Responding tp DWaly & Shouldazagged:

I have no doubt the gun is safe to shoot, but those old-style service sights require 20-20 vision to shoot bullseye targets. With my vision, I have other guns with better sights for target shooting. This old-timer would be good for point-shooting/plinking, but there are very few ranges that allow that, and from where I reside I'd have to drive at least 50 miles to get out in the woods where I could plink.

As to the cold blue, I used Brownell's Dircopan T-4 which is close to black but what I had near to hand. Brownell's Oxpho Blue or 44/40 I think would work equally well. All I did was wet a patch (soak is probably more correct) and just wipe down the gun all over. About the only places showing the original kevel of polish are the backs of the recoil shields, part of the outside of the yoke and a few spots in the frame. One thing I like about the workmanship in that era is the fitting of the sideplate. The seam is barely visible.

If I had wanted to spend a lot of time, I could have removed the remnants of the original color and got the gun back to bare steel, & then rubbed it down with something like a green Scotchbrite kitchen pad or very fine emery paper. But to do the left side of the frame properly, one ought to remove the studs that extend through holes in that side of the frame. That requires special tools & skills that I don't have, so I left it alone.

As I wrote in my OP, the gun had been neglected; there are a couple of nicks on the cylinder & light pitting on most of the frame & bbl Also, there are little nicks on the frame at the tops pf the stocks on both sides. And there are some gouges on the bottom of the stocks, notably on the right side. The checkering on the right seems more worn than on the left, which indicates either some level of shooting or handling. There is no end shake of the cylinder, & sideplay is normal, with tight lockup when trigger is pulled all the way back. For my fifty bucks I have no complaints or regrets!
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