I'm new to this forum (hello!) and I have a very curious issue someone may know something about!

I have a 5-screw, 4" barrel, .38 Special Combat Masterpiece that my father purchased on August 29th, 1955 (nineteen fifty five). I have the ORIGINAL receipt, with the serial number on it. The serial number, M55348, is on both the revolver and the receipt.

Key info: my father passed away in 1968. This revolver has never left our family. I remember learning about handguns with it, between 1962 and 1966.

Now, on to the interesting part. I asked S&W for the manufacturing date. Here's the response I got:

My records show M30001-M60000 as being manufactured between 1971-1973. It also shows the M prefix as starting in 1969. This information comes from the standard catalog of Smith & Wesson.

What do you guys think?

Thanks.

Roger

I think the dealer who sold the gun originally wrote the assembly number on the receipt instead of the serial number.

The Assembly number should be visible in the crane area when you open the cylinder.

The serial number is on the bottom of the grip frame (you might have to remove the grips to see it) and should start with a K. When you remove the grips, this same number may be stamped on the right grip (minus the K), as well as several other places.

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Dave

Roger, it wouldn't have an M serial number, only .22s had that.
Get us the serial number off the butt of the gun and we can tell you a lot more about it.

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Dick

Ah! I'd be willing to bet that's it! When I get home this evening, I'll check it. I'm sure you guys are right.

Roger

This is where to find the serial number. Note that the prefix "K" is part of the serial number. This picture is of a Combat Masterpiece from 1951:

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John

I would expect if it shipped in 1955 for the number to be somewhere in the K200000 range. I have one K239004 shipped October of 55.

Having been purchased in 55 might mean it shipped in 54.

I wonder how often uninformed dealers/store clerks wrote down an assembly number for the serial in their books?

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No life story has happy end.

Maybe more then we know. I have had to correct a pawnshop I buy from frequently twice about making out my receipt with the wrong assemblers number for a serial number. Then they had to go back and correct their book too. It happens.

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Dick

I recently bought a model 57 at a pawn shop.

The clerk listed it as a Model 41 and used the assembly number for a serial number until I straightened him out.

Makes you wonder how many more he did that way.

I had it happen to me at Cabela's, no less. Bought the gun from the Library and it had the assembly number as the serial number and I couldn't convince the clerk at the gun sales register that the serial number was incorrect. That was just slightly less than 2 years ago!

You guys were 100% correct, as I figured! I pulled off the Hogue grips and checked... the serial number is K179585, so based on the info above, I suspect it's a '54 or '55 revolver. Hard to believe that I have the original receipt for it and the total price was $50.00 even! It's from a sports shop in Seattle that's no longer there.

For those interested, I posted 2 pictures of it and I'd be curious what you guys think of it. I've had it all my life - it's a wonderful shooter. It's never been in a holster. Any wear you see (VERY slight on muzzle) is from the sheepskin case. Now it's in a humidity-controlled safe.

Thanks, all!

Roger

2 pics:

http://www.hotelling.com/smith1.jpg
http://www.hotelling.com/smith2.jpg

Looks great! Do you have the original grips still too?

Now that is a beautiful CM. I had a Combat Masterpiece 22 in roughly the same serial number range. I am not a K frame person as a rule, but I have a soft place in my heart for CM's

Yes, I believe I do have the original grips for it. I also have a set of really cheap looking "Fitz" plastic target grips that my father bought in the 1960s. Big things with a thumb rest that he liked better than the smaller stock grips. I like the feel of the Hogues.

I rarely shoot this revolver and when I do, it's all wadcutter reloads. I've found it to be very accurate and the single action pull is very sweet indeed. I don't have a scale to check it, but it's quite light, with no perceptible movement at all. I think it's from the thousands upon thousands of dry firing exercises when I was a boy in the 60s. It went something like this:

"Hey, Rog, why don't you go get the revolver."
"Ok, dad"

Then I would take it out of the case, open the action and check it, then hand it to my dad with the action open.

Then began an evening of watching something like "Combat" and dry firing. Learning to let the revolver surprise you when the hammer would fall. Those were the days.

You guys with dads still around, enjoy him while he's here and remember those times.

R.

I think a better question is "How could whoever answered the phone at S&W make that kind of mistake?" After all this isn't some new issue. Clearly a 5 screw gun wasn't made in the '70s and that is something S&W should teach on day 1. Maybe the service rep should read the entire book instead of just the appendix.

I can forgive the store clerk, not so much the S&W customer service rep.

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Dave

After emailing S&W the real serial number, I got an answer back from them this morning. It was actually manufactured in 1953.

Thanks, everyone!

Roger