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S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 All 5-Screw & Vintage 4-Screw SWING-OUT Cylinder REVOLVERS, and the 35 Autos and 32 Autos


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  #1  
Old 09-30-2016, 02:26 PM
cutthroattroutco cutthroattroutco is offline
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My friend has a S&W revolver that we can't identify. Anyone out there have an idea? A .44 mag round is a bit loose, and the .45 Colt is too long. No model number in the usual place. Instead it looks like 8620, or maybe 9620, or maybe 6620. Grips are replacements. He sent all the info to S&W and they replied back that it was a 22LR. Not exactly! Thanks all.

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Old 09-30-2016, 02:49 PM
Texas Star Texas Star is offline
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Tried a .455 Eley/Webley cartridge? The sights are aftermarket. You ruled out .44 Special as too loose (same diameter as .44 Magnum) and .45 Colt is too long.

Probably a S&W made for the British in WWI. Is there evidence that it once had a lanyard ring, hole maybe now plugged?

Are you in Canada? Australia? Might increase the odds that someone would spend that money to get a target revolver for that cartridge.
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Old 09-30-2016, 02:50 PM
paplinker paplinker is offline
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Not sure of what you have yet but from the ejector rod what i see its older than 1961. Might ask the mods to send it to the older section.

Also has a aftermarket set of Micro sights.
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Old 09-30-2016, 02:54 PM
Texas Star Texas Star is offline
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Model numbers weren't used until 1957. That no. in the frame isn't the serial number. It's on the butt. Try S&W with that number.

Your gun was probably made between 1915-1917. Try to re-post in the appropriate age forum. But I think I nailed it, based on your ammo info.

Could be a .38/40 or .44/40. But the .455 was a lot more common. Most of those guns were eventually sold back in the USA as war surplus.

Last edited by Texas Star; 09-30-2016 at 02:58 PM.
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Old 09-30-2016, 02:54 PM
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Refinished, re-barreled Mod 1917 with after market target sights? The real serial number will be found on the butt of the frame (remove the grips to view). That will be a HUGE clue.
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Old 09-30-2016, 03:18 PM
k22fan k22fan is offline
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Both front and rear sights were made by Micro. The stocks are Herrett's Shooting Stars. The barrel looks longer than 5 1/2" and the gap between the rear of the cylinder and breach face looks to small for moon clips both of which do not match a U.S. 1917 .45 ACP. I presume that is why Texas Star suggested it might be a .455. I do not see any military stamps but it appears to have been reblued which could have made British WW I stamps harder to spot. It might have started out as a commercial, meaning not military, .455.

The number that you got off the yoke is the assembly or fitting number, not the serial number. Before a frame gets a serial number a yoke and side plate are fitted to it. The assembly number is stamped on the back of the side plate, yoke and frame so that those parts get back together after each time they are separated during manufacture. The serial number should be in 5 places: the bottom of the grip frame, the rear of the cylinder, the barrel flat, the rear of the yoke visible through a chamber and on the back side of the extractor.
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Old 10-01-2016, 01:52 AM
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Well, it has a 6.5-inch barrel and is a second model N-frame hand ejector. Only so many possibilities.

Someone may have converted it to a different cartridge. But if the caliber isn't marked on the barrel, a .455 seems likely. Some .455's meant for British military delivery weren't caliber-marked. Others were. But I think all commercial calibers/guns were marked.

Last edited by Texas Star; 10-01-2016 at 01:55 AM.
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Old 10-01-2016, 09:25 AM
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What is the SN stamped on the rear face of the cylinder? I can't quite make it out from your picture. It should be the same as the SN stamped on the butt.
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Old 10-01-2016, 10:04 AM
Muley Gil Muley Gil is offline
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Welcome to the Forum.

You have a 2nd model .455, built for the British Commonwealth during WWI. It has been reblued, had target sights added and has had the grips replaced with Herrett Shooting Star target grips.

It should a good shooter.
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Old 10-01-2016, 01:18 PM
cutthroattroutco cutthroattroutco is offline
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Thanks to all of you. I think you have it nailed.

We did take off the grips before I posted, and looked all around for the serial number. It was in a couple of places (most prominent on the cylinder). It was 12075. In one place it was preceded by a "B", with a large space between the letter and the number. Could the "B" indicate "British"? Maybe.

Again, thanks all.

Last edited by cutthroattroutco; 10-01-2016 at 01:20 PM.
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Old 10-01-2016, 02:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cutthroattroutco View Post
In one place it was preceded by a "B", with a large space between the letter and the number. Could the "B" indicate "British"?
That would be on the barrel flat, and the B indicates it left the factory with a blue finish.
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Old 10-02-2016, 05:59 PM
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Serial Number Placement
If not there.. Hmmmmmmmmm

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Old 10-02-2016, 07:00 PM
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Under the barrel flat, the "B" indicates Blued.
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Old 10-02-2016, 08:01 PM
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Welcome to this forum.

This is the correct section to post it.

You have " .455 Mk II Hand Ejector - 2nd Model" British service revolver made under contract with S&W.

You didn't answer the question about a hole in the butt for a lanyard swivel, does it have a hole?

To be legal, it should have a serial # stamped on the butt of the grip frame to one side of the hole.

There are three basic categories of .455 (Webley) Mk II chambered Hand Ejector revolvers made by S&W under contract to the British for WW I. Yours is the 3rd category:

3. “.455 Mk II HE 2nd Model”
The 2nd Model continued in the .455 1st Model TL Brit serial range beginning #5462 to #74755, shipped 1915-17. The Canadian military also bought 14,500* .455 2nd Models. And 1105 2nd Models were released for commercial sales in the US, shipped Dec 1917 to Shapleigh Hardware in St. Louis [S&W, N&J pg. 216].

*Canadian military shipments of 14,500:

-1500 Shipped after Aug. 1915
-850 Shipped thru December 24th, 1915
-150 Shipped thru March 31st, 1916
-6,000 Shipped thru July 22nd, 1916 (at least 1 shipped July 29th, 1916 .455 Hand Ejector 45 Colt see post #10)
-6000 Shipped February 10, 1917
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Last edited by Hondo44; 10-02-2016 at 08:20 PM.
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Old 10-02-2016, 08:12 PM
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This .455/second model conversion to .45 Colt had some of the same experiences yours did, including installation of the Micro sights. The serial number here is 73778, and markings reveal that the revolver was in Canadian service before it was reconfigured to the target model it is today.

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Old 10-02-2016, 08:15 PM
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cutthroattroutco,
Yep, that was a MKII alright.
Could you ask your friend if he would like to sell it at a reasonable price. I have been looking for one that I could, in good conscious, make a snub out of. This one is it. I'm not joshing - PM me if he's interested.
P.S., welcome aboard.
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Last edited by jebstuart; 10-02-2016 at 08:17 PM.
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