38 special
Five screw
Fixed sights
SN C156xxx

Would like to know more about it. Are the grips correct? They don't quite match the frame. I bought the gun, not the story.

Thanks much.
Jeff

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	IMG_0565.jpg (123.4 KB, 175 views)
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Good find. The grips are too early for the gun. They are what was on revolvers from the 1920's.The C serial prefix started in 1948. As I posted today in another thread I rarely seen them with 2 inch barrels for sale online and for some reason recently I have been seeing more of them for sale in the $500 to $700 range. That is what most are asking but what they are actually selling for I do not know. Any S&W revolver made in the 40's or 50's are well made pieces of old world craftsmanship. Works of art in my book! Enjoy

Well, that old girl sure has been around the block a few times

The serial puts it most likely into 1951. The stocks are indeed 1920s non-medallion stocks or reproductions of such. The finish shows tendencies of easing into brown patina, unusual on guns this recent, but I don’t see any obvious corrosion, so it must have just had an unpampered life.

What Absalom said . . .

I have one with a serial number just a couple thousand lower and it shipped in February, 1951.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Here is my C1552xx. It shipped 5/50.





and here is why you need to be careful with using just the s/n to determine shipping date. This one is s/n C1130xx and it shipped 9/50. Four months after the first one I showed you.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Nice gun. Maybe it was a LE gun.
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Here's a Detroit PD gun with a C44xxx which shipped in Feb. 1948 as part of a large order for the department. Most C serial numbers didn't ship unit some motnes later.

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Detroit1.jpg (110.2 KB, 111 views)

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Randy
Provenance nerd

Randy
That is very strange. All the records indicate that revolver numbered C1 wasn't assembled until March 22, 1948. And one with a number 44,000 higher shipped a month earlier?

Did this information emerge from a letter by Roy? Or from some other source? This information will have a bearing on my own research, so the question is not unimportant.

Thanks.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

quinn

I just saw a point of information from Mr. Jinks that is relevant to this discussion. It concerns a 2" M&P, serial number C44104. It shipped in January, 1949, which is what one would expect. I wonder if yours actually shipped a year later than your previous information indicated - February, 1949, instead of 1948. Is this possible?

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

The 4 line address says to me that's likely the case....

Jack: That date was provided by Roy and then verified when I asked for a recheck. He indicates that the C serial actually began in late 1947. If you will check the SWCA side, ship date request, and check my request from 1/12/17, you can see his write up. I would copy and paste but I'm not sure that is allowed from the SWCA section.

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Randy
Provenance nerd

That, and there’s also the hammer to consider.

My understanding was that the hammers were kind of a toss up in '48. This is c6445, one line address, badly refinished and re barreled. Hammer is original.

The “official” date for the change acc. to the SCSW is April 7, 1948. That puts it in the low S 990-thousand serial range; Jack knows the details. The catalog also puts the change order for the four-line in April, though without a specific date.

Fascinating. I am developing a list of questions for Roy as I prepare my Journal article on the S prefix guns. This just got added to that list!

Thanks for the feedback.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

The first use of the short action ("high speed hammer") on a regular production revolver was on S990184, and it was assembled on April 7, 1948. Most, but not all, regular production guns with serial numbers above that one had the high speed hammer. Exceptions are scattered about, but include all or virtually all of the .32 Long variants. The highest number I have found with the old long action is S996765. That gun shipped in June, 1948. I believe it is current owned by a Forum member.

The caveat above about "regular production" is necessary because Hellstrom's notes indicate there was a much earlier M&P with the new short action. It was serial number S924878 and it was assembled on October 21, 1947. I've always assumed (with no actual evidence) that this was a prototype, since the M&P continued to have the long action for several months afterward. Hellstrom indicates that this installation was somehow linked to the short action being implemented on the target guns (specifically the K-38). Therefore, I tend to think it was a prototype for the same use on the M&P, which was implemented 6 months later.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318