Hello all,
I collect a very few winchesters and S&W model 1s. My neighbor has this nice HE/M&P (?) that I wanted to get some help with.

Serial (matching) is "S 9396xx". 38 special caliber. I won't ask anything about value, not being able to post a photo or two, but could someone please offer us a notion on when this gun was manufactured?

My best indication from perusing earlier posts in this section of the S&W forum is that his gun is an M&P manufactured some time shortly after WWII, but I could be entirely wrong. Serial # logic, letter prefixes, and model designations of HE model variants have me stymied! Please help. Many thanks!
John

Hello all,
I collect a very few winchesters and S&W model 1s. My neighbor has this nice HE/M&P (?) that I wanted to get some help with.

Serial (matching) is "S 9396xx". 38 special caliber. I won't ask anything about value, not being able to post a photo or two, but could someone please offer us a notion on when this gun was manufactured?

My best indication from perusing earlier posts in this section of the S&W forum is that his gun is an M&P manufactured some time shortly after WWII, but I could be entirely wrong. Serial # logic, letter prefixes, and model designations of HE model variants have me stymied! Please help. Many thanks!
John

John,
Probably 1947 or 1948. Early post WWII at any rate. I have a nickel 6" 989000 range and it is late 1947. The C prefix began in mid 1948 memoryi serving.
Gary

John , Welcome to the Forum. Ser. # S939435 was shipped in Sept. 1947, so the gun should be close to that date.

Thank you kindly, friends. Sounds like about October 1947 close enough. What does the "S" designation tell us, if anything? And are all these still referred to as "M&P" models by this time?
Many thanks!
John

John, Yes, the correct nomenclature would be the Military & Police Model, 4th change. The use of an alpha code ( letter prefix) as part of the serial number started in WW2 with the V prefix for the Victory Model and a letter prefix continued on after the war for the K frame and N frame models. The S was dropped about 1950 and a K or C was used for K frames, and an N for the N frames.

If memory serves, the "S" stood for safety as these guns were fitted with the transfer bar safety after a sailor was accidently killed by an M&P that was dropped.

__________________
Cheers!

Thank you very much, friends, for the informative boost on this subject. I'm copying the juicy bits into my notes! Regards,
John

Have to give Ed some help here. The S wasn't dropped (for N-frames) until much much later - late 1960's
or so.

That S is a bit peculiar. For the K-frames, its appears in early 1945 on the Victories, generating serials
numbers like SV729803, etc. After the War, once the supply of those frames is exhausted, the V is dropped,
leaving serial numbers like S834956 all the way out to S999999. Then the new K and C series start for the
K-frames.

But for the N frames, which were serial-numbered up to about 62345 ( or something like that ), none were
made during WW2. That serial number series is continued after WW2, but with an S prefix. The numbers look
like S68432, etc. There is another thread currently running, that has the first .44 Magnum. Its serial
number is S121836 , about 1955. I think this S prefix lasts until about S290xxx, or something like that.
Then it changes to N.

Regards, Mike Priwer

Although the S prefix stands for safety, it was a hammer block safety, not a transfer bar. A transfer bar would not be compatible with the hammer mounted firing pin on these revolvers.

Also, the S prefix continued in use on the N-frame revolvers until 1969, when S333454 transitioned to N1.