A colleague of mine has asked my help to identify a family heirloom passed down over generations. It is a S&W revolver with the following markings:

"Smith & Wesson Springfield MA"

"38 S&W CTG"

"No. 431296"

"Patented May 11,1880
Jan 3, 1882
April 9, 1889"

I have NOT seen it yet; he and I have not been able to align our schedules. But I will be checking it soon for safety, and perhaps even test-firing.

Thanks for your interest and help.
Kirk A

A colleague of mine has asked my help to identify a family heirloom passed down over generations. It is a S&W revolver with the following markings:

"Smith & Wesson Springfield MA"

"38 S&W CTG"

"No. 431296"

"Patented May 11,1880
Jan 3, 1882
April 9, 1889"

I have NOT seen it yet; he and I have not been able to align our schedules. But I will be checking it soon for safety, and perhaps even test-firing.

Thanks for your interest and help.
Kirk A

Sounds like it's probably a top-break. You'll probably have more luck posting your questions in the Antique section.

My first reading of the information you posted is that your friend probably has what is called the Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action, Fourth Model. This is one of S&W's top-break revolvers. The serial number you report is midway in the production range for this model, which should date it to about 1900-1905. This model's serial numbers ran from 322701 to 539000, and the years of production were 1895-1909.

Excuse me if I state something you are already aware of, but you need to know that the .38 S&W cartridge is NOT the .38 S&W Special cartridge. You can buy the proper ammo here and there, but I'd have the gun checked out before you try to fire it.

If you could get pictures and post them here, that would be a help. Posting pictures involves uploading them to a photo hosting site like photobucket, and then putting the link to that image in your message here surrounded by [IMG] and [/IMG] codes.

David Wilson

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David Wilson

Thanks for the info! Regarding the ammo, yes I suspected the difference. Fortunately, I have a small quantity of the non-Special ammo. (Last year, I purchased a box lot of .38 ammo at an auction where I also acquired a 14-7, and some of that ammo was this .38 S&W, loaded with LRN bullets.)

I will post pix as soon as possible, shortly after Easter.

Thank you!