C series Military & Police

[383 magnum]

Hello, new member here. I bought this M&P today for $300 OTD. It is a C series prefix serial No. 48XXX. I think it was made in 48 or 49, but can anyone nail down a date?

[DWalt]

Originally Posted by 383 magnum

Hello, new member here. I bought this M&P today for $300 OTD. It is a C series prefix serial No. 48XXX. I think it was made in 48 or 49, but can anyone nail down a date?

It would have shipped sometime in mid-1949. It's called a "pre-Model 10 M&P" by collectors. That's a very good price for one in that condition. These are great guns.

[383 magnum]

Originally Posted by DWalt

It would have shipped sometime in mid-1949. It's called a "pre-Model 10 M&P" by collectors. That's a very good price for one in that condition. These are great guns.

Thanks, and I thought I did well. It does have some light rust "freckling" in a few spots but is otherwise excellent. The dealer had this revolver for several months, first marked $399, then $359, and he offered it to me today for $300. I didn't know it was a semi-vintage piece until he let me look it up in his Smith & Wesson book. I have some other vintage M&Ps that I will post. I'm a longtime fan of this no-frills revolver.

[JP@AK]

Originally Posted by 383 magnum

I have some other vintage M&Ps that I will post.

Hi
If any of those have S or SV serial numbers, it would really help me if you answered a short survey regarding them, for a research project that I'm engaged in. Let me know, and if you do have any of those revolvers, I'll send you the questionnaire via PM.
Thanks!

[linde]

Originally Posted by 383 magnum

. . . I bought this M&P today for $300 OTD. It is a C series prefix serial No. 48XXX. I think it was made in 48 or 49, but can anyone nail down a date?

Originally Posted by DWalt

It would have shipped sometime in mid-1949. It's called a "pre-Model 10 M&P" by collectors . . .

Welcome to the forum . . . glad to have you join.

I would estimate C48XXX shipped in early-1949 . . . but estimating is all any of us can do by using known ship dates of nearby serial numbers because the factory did not ship in s/n sequence. Examples two serial numbers apart have been known to have shipped two years apart

An exact ship date and destination can be obtained by requesting a factory letter from Roy Jinks, the S&W Historian.

Russ

[Retired W4]

Great gun at a very nice price, Magnum. There is a soft spot in my heart for Pre-10's.

[DWalt]

You cannot know for certain about the actual shipping date, as S&W did not ship in serial number order. Only a factory letter will give an exact shipping date. My records show one C-series with a slightly lower SN that shipped in October 1949, and another with a slightly higher SN that shipped in April 1949. My guess of mid-1949 (i.e., May through August) is sort of an average of those two, and it's certainly possible.