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06-26-2020, 10:44 PM
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What year was my revolver made?
I have an old S&W .38 with Serial Number 138XXX
(see photo attached)
Can anyone please help me ID when it was made?
S&W can't help me....
Thanks in advance!
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06-26-2020, 10:50 PM
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Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! Your gun is a .38 Combat Masterpiece from 1952. The K in front of the numbers is part of the serial number.
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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629
Last edited by Wiregrassguy; 06-26-2020 at 10:54 PM.
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06-26-2020, 11:55 PM
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Wow. Thanks very much!!!
Funny, I don't recall the SN having a "K" in front of it. So I'll have to check with my relative, as its a family heirloom.
And if there is NO "K" and just the number, could it be part of a series made in much earlier?
Thanks so much for your help!
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06-27-2020, 01:18 AM
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No, it will have a K prefix. Without the K it would date from about 1908 or thereabouts. Yours was probably shipped in mid-1952.
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06-27-2020, 02:33 AM
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Bradleybgood
As DWalt stated, there is no chance this gun's serial number lacks the K. It might be separated from the digits by a space - the width of a swivel hole that isn't there. 
There is no mistaking this revolver for a prewar gun. None of those had the barrel rib. Moreover, a K frame revolver from the first decade of the 20th Century would not have had a Baughman front sight like yours does. That sight had not yet been invented.
Another "tell" is the hammer. It is an early postwar High Speed hammer, sometimes called a "fishhook" hammer. These were standard on the early .38 Combat Masterpiece revolvers.
The stocks on your gun are period correct and are probably original. That style disappeared in early 1953. Look on the inside of the right panel and you will find the serial number of the gun the Magna stocks first shipped on (minus the letter prefix). I'll bet it matches your revolver.
One more point. When you take the stocks off, you should find a horizontal hole drilled through the bottom of the grip frame, next to the stock positioning pins. That's called a jig hole, and was common on K frame guns from the late 1940s until the mid-1950s.
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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318
Last edited by JP@AK; 06-27-2020 at 06:07 PM.
Reason: fixed typo
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06-27-2020, 02:37 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bradleybgood
I have an old S&W .38
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I just can't resist writing this:
Please don't call this revolver "old." It is younger than I am . . .
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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318
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06-27-2020, 09:49 AM
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Was this the model that was to be named Model 15 after 1958?
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06-27-2020, 09:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffrefrig
Was this the model that was to be named Model 15 after 1958?
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You are correct.
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PTLAPTA!
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06-27-2020, 02:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DWalt
No, it will have a K prefix. Without the K it would date from about 1908 or thereabouts. Yours was probably shipped in mid-1952.
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Thanks very much!!
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06-27-2020, 04:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JP@AK
I just can't resist writing this:
Please don't call this revolver "old." It is younger than I am . . .
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That's because you're older than dirt!
If it shipped in 1952, it is 2 years older than me. I guess that means I'm hitting that "old dirt" category myself. 
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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!
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06-27-2020, 07:09 PM
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Younger than dirt
Quote:
Originally Posted by Muley Gil
That's because you're older than dirt!
If it shipped in 1952, it is 2 years older than me. I guess that means I'm hitting that "old dirt" category myself. |
I'm a 1957 model, which, being younger than dirt, makes me mud...still wet behind the ears! I'm almost a model number!
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