Can someone help me identify the model and year of the following gun? It's a K frame, round butt,nickel plated,5 Screw, and has a five digit serial number 879##. The SN is on the cylinder and the bottom of the butt. The one on the bottom is preceeded by a star. (I'm told that means it was re-worked by S&W). There is no evidence of a lanyard ring ever being on the bottom. The number "9" is a different type of font than the other numbers. The top of the barrel says Smith and Wesson, Springfield Mass. USA and has 3 patent dates: Feb 6, 1906, Sept 14, 1909, and Dec 29, 1914. One side of the barrel says 38 S&W Special CTG and the other side says Smith & Wesson. The grips are wood and have no markings of any type on the insides. The barrel is 4" and approximately 9/16" O.D. With the cylinder out the number 8704 is stamped in two places. I'm new to gun collecting so excuse me if my terminology is bad.

Can someone help me identify the model and year of the following gun? It's a K frame, round butt,nickel plated,5 Screw, and has a five digit serial number 879##. The SN is on the cylinder and the bottom of the butt. The one on the bottom is preceeded by a star. (I'm told that means it was re-worked by S&W). There is no evidence of a lanyard ring ever being on the bottom. The number "9" is a different type of font than the other numbers. The top of the barrel says Smith and Wesson, Springfield Mass. USA and has 3 patent dates: Feb 6, 1906, Sept 14, 1909, and Dec 29, 1914. One side of the barrel says 38 S&W Special CTG and the other side says Smith & Wesson. The grips are wood and have no markings of any type on the insides. The barrel is 4" and approximately 9/16" O.D. With the cylinder out the number 8704 is stamped in two places. I'm new to gun collecting so excuse me if my terminology is bad.

First of all, welcome to the forum. Secondly, I'm no expert but I'll do my best to figure it out.

I tried finding your serial number in the book, but need to know if there is a letter preceding the serial number on the butt such as "k". If there is, I come up with the year of 1950 but your description of the roll marks on the top of the barrel indicate an older prewar model I believe. Are you sure the serial number is 5 digits? I'm not trying to be funny, but if it's 5 digits, then I get the year of 1906-1909. It could be that your gun had a different barrel put on it?

Anyway, I hope this helps and that somebody with more knowledge comes along to help you out.

__________________
Cheers!

From the five-number serial #, I'd say it was produced in 1906 or 1907 based on the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson.

Dan

I came up with 1906-1909 from the book as well, but if the barrel has Dec. 29, 1914 stamped on it, maybe the barrel was replaced at some point?

__________________
Cheers!

There are a couple of possibilities here. The most likely is that the
barrel has been replaced. Is it serial-numbered to the gun ? There is
a flat area on the bottom of the barrel - the serial number would be in
that flat area. If there is nothing there, then most likely it has
been replaced. For production reasons, the serial number was placed on
the butt, the rear face of the cylinder, and on the underside of the
barrel.

The other possibility, which is very very unlikely, is that the gun is
a late-shipped gun. Even if it were, the barrel should be serial-numbered
to the frame.

You might remove the grips, and see if there is anything stamped on the
front or rear grip strap area. Not on the butt , but on the grip straps
themselves. That might be a date, that might be a clue as to when it went
back to the factory.

Later, Mike Priwer

Thanks for all the replies. It's definately a 5 digit SN without a letter preceeding it. I hadn't looked at the bottom of the barrel before but it has the same 5 digit SN. With the left stock removed the number "94" is stamped on the front top of the frame. Also, the letter "P" with a circle around it is on the bottom back of the frame. Could the star preceeding the SN on the butt indicate that the factory placed a newer barrel on an older gun and late-shipped it?

Here's a picture of the gun (if I used PhotoBucket correctly)

G

The most likely possibility is that the gun was sent back to the factory sometime
after 1914 , and the barrel was replaced. It would not be uncommon for them to serial-
number the replacement barrel to the frame. This makes all the numbers agree with
each other, but creates the confusion of an obviously later barrel with an earlier
serial number. This explanation is the most likely, given the star on the butt.

Less likely is that the gun was late-completed, and then subsequently went back for
some work. At this serial number, this is not a period in time known for late-completed
guns. A late complete - and it this case it would be 8 or more years - is generally
caused by a serial-numbered uncompleted frame lying around the store-room for all that
period of time, and then being discovered and made into a gun at the later date. Had the
gun been made up for inventory at the time suggested by the serial number, it would not
have a 1914-dated barrel. Being late-completed is very unlikely.

If you want to know the answer, request a factory letter. My best guess is that it
was shipped about 1907.

Later, Mike Priwer