Hi I have a revolver caliber .38 s&w. It has several numbers through the gun the but of the gun has 856983. The bottom of the barrel has 856983 S. The hanger has 95288. Inside the grips has 196147. Ill post some pictures. Its also stainless

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Welcome! It appears to be a .38/200 British Service Revolver, likely from 1941. If the barrel is original it is in an uncommon length, 4". Photos of the muzzle and front sight would help to tell this.

S & W did not make stainless steel handguns until the mid-1960s, so this one appears to be nickel plated. Its original finish was blued. The stocks are from a post-war gun with the same frame size.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! It is a British Service Revolver from WWII chambered for .38 S&W but probably reamed out for .38 Special. It has been refinished in either nickel or chrome and the grips are not correct for the era of the gun.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

If u need more pictures of the front sight let me know. If u had to put a value to this gun what could it be? And if they ruined the collector value by doing what they did to it? Thanks for the help

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No collector value, however if it's in good mechanical condition, it would be a $350-$400 gun as a shooter in my area. Ed

The vast majority of these had 5" barrels, with 6 and 4" much less common. A true 4" would be very close to that length (+/- 1/8") and would have had patent date information on the top, so it appears this one was shortened and the rollmarks polished off with the refinish.

If it chambers a .38 Special fully the cylinder has also been altered; this round is longer but thinner than the .38 S & W, so fired brass will bulge and may split.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

The trigger and hammer were originally case hardened , they were nickle plated along with the rest of the rest of the gun somewhere along the line.

I am surprised that I cannot see evidence of the lanyard ring hole in the grip frame butt. I thought it was there , but when I zoomed I was looking at a swirly scratch.

I would call that a $300 - $350 shooter , given the extensive modifications , but in today's whacked out market who knows?

emvievao2, I see you joined in September 2018. You don't post much, do you?

Can you post a picture of the left side grip frame, without the grips? It is odd that a .38 S&W revolver in that serial number range doesn't have a lanyard loop hole, as Waveski noted.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Ill remove the grips in the morning i have all this pics today. I bought this at my local pawn shop for $611 dollars out the door i think i got burn. I don't know if i can return it. I feel i bought a frankingun. If i can't return it its going to be a life lesson.

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Well, the barrel has been shortened, the front sight soldered on and the cylinder has been re-chambered from .38 S&W to .38 special. My feeling is that you over paid by about $300.

Did the dealer tell you it was stainless?

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I think this is an early post-WW2 gun, if the 'S' on the barrel is part of the serial number. Maybe the factory built this during a parts clean-up phase.

Mike Priwer

Mike

There is no S on the butt, and the one on the barrel flat seems to be in the wrong location to be part of the serial number. I'm thinking that S is a mark indicating a Service Department replacement of the barrel before it first shipped from the factory.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Hi Jack

I don't know what's going on with this gun, but I do know that the pictures are not very good. We need a clear picture of the rear face of the cylinder, and clear pictures of each side of the grip frame, with the grips removed.

Regards, Mike

Just uploaded the drip frame pictures

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The 'S' under the barrel suggests that the gun is a pre-WW2 gun that was shipped post-WW2. I don't see a 'S' on the grip frame, which probably means that the serial number is a pre-WW2 serial number, and not a post-WW2 number. The gun is not a 'S' series gun.

And the stocks, though they are postwar panels, are not numbered to the gun, so they are no help at all.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Well, it seems there was a lanyard loop there once upon a time.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Yes. I noticed that in the first set of pictures. That is another argument against it being an S prefix gun. By S856983, swivel holes were extremely rare, showing up only on special order. They peter out at about S819xxx, although I do show a lonely one at S829xxx.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

How did you determine that?

Look at the second photo in Post #1. You can see the plugged hole.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

That’s what I thought at first, but upon zooming way in a looking in detail I see an irregular roundish scratch with a swirl in the right side. Not circular , not centered.

I do not see a plugged lanyard ring hole.

In post # 14, you can see the hole for the crosspin that holds the loop in place.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I guess the crosspin hole is pretty good evidence.

Addendum : "I bought this at my local pawn shop for $611 dollars out the door..." --- Ouch.