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[Pook]

Hi all,

My aunt, who is in her 90s, had a .38 special S&W revolver that my uncle bought decades ago. She didn't want it anymore, and asked me if I wanted it. YES! was my answer! It is a pre-model 15, and the serial number indicates it was made in 1953. It has a four-inch tapered, ribbed barrel, its original diamond grips, and a plain ramp front sight and an adjustable rear sight. It has a little bluing wear on the muzzle and front of the cylinder (it sat in a drawer all those years) and it does not appear to have been fired (my aunt said that she never fired it and doesn't remember my uncle having fired it). Someone told me the target hammer is not original, but Supica and Nahas indicate that these guns had .375 or .500 target hammers (this one has .500). The barrel/cylinder gap is .0025.

The only thing I can't figure out is the "aftermarket" stamp on the bottom of the frame by the serial number. It is "S141" and was stamped between the "K" prefix and the serial number. Does anyone know what this "S141" means?

Thanks for your help,

Pook

P.S. My aunt also gave me an old box of .38 spl cartridges in a red and green Remington box marked "Kleanbore .38 Special Hi-Speed." The price tag is $4.06.

[DCWilson]

Sounds like a nice piece. Congratulations on your good fortune, or perhaps on your choice of aunts. Any chance you can post photos?

The target hammer is interesting. I also would guess that it is a replacement, but I would be happy to learn it is not. That way I would learn something.

Can't help you with the S141. Was your uncle employed by any agency that might have purchased pistols by the lot and placed their own inventory numbers on them?

[HAWKEYE10]

Thats a great find. You will enjoy the model 15
for years to come. Don

[Pook]

I will start posting photos as soon as I get a replacement camera. This probably seems dumm, but how do I upload them to the thread? From what I have seen, all the photos on this forum look top-notch and professional, especially the close-up shots. Do you have any hints for achieving such high quality? I'm not a photo person, so I don't know.

As far as I know, my uncle did not belong to any agencies that would have purchased firearms.

Thanks,

Pook

I also seem to have posted this thread to the wrong revolver category

[kennyb]

congrats on your acquisition....you willhave fun!

[fyimo]

Great gun and it has family history so it's special

[gjamison]

great story. i know around here older people take gun's to the police dept, god only knows what happens to them after that. i'm glad another old smith ended up in good hands!!!

[Vulcan Bob]

Sounds like a nice K-38 Combat Masterpiece you have there! It's always good to keep em in the family.

[Homie]

Congratulations on fine acquisition with special provenance!

Only a letter will tell for sure, but the Target Hammer was legit in '53.

BTW, be aware that the ammo is "warm", and you might want to shoot it with more current standard loads first.

Good shooting!

[charlie sherrill]

gjamison, I know what happens to them if they bring them to my department.

[WILDPIG]

I, too, would guess the S141 is an agency number or badge number.

WILDPIG

[JSR III]

Very nice pick up. Thank you Auntie. Post a picture of the added numbers so we can see what it looks like in relation to the serial number placement.

[Gunhacker]

It's always great to hear a story like that... congrats and enjoy!!

[Marshal tom]

I have one from 1950 with a target hammer and know that it is one of several that have appeared on the forum in that configuration. I have not lettered mine but I do believe that it is original to the gun. Hope this helps you out.

Tom

[H P Bushrod]

Congrats on your new addition. I love those old pre model Smiths. Enjoy!

[OLDFED]

When I worked (60's) for a NJ PD, a woman walked in one day with a pillow case full of stuff. She wanted to get rid if it. I opened the bag and found a S&W, two Lugers, a P-38, a Colt OP, a Colt .25 and several boxes of ammo. We talked and she told me that she had already dropped one similar load into the river (saltwater), but a friend told her that might be illegal so she brought the second bag to the PD. I offered her $$$ for the stuff and she just said that they were mine and walked out. Those were the good old days!

[DCWilson]

Originally Posted by Pook

I will start posting photos as soon as I get a replacement camera. This probably seems dumm, but how do I upload them to the thread? From what I have seen, all the photos on this forum look top-notch and professional, especially the close-up shots. Do you have any hints for achieving such high quality? I'm not a photo person, so I don't know.

As far as I know, my uncle did not belong to any agencies that would have purchased firearms.

Thanks,

Pook

I also seem to have posted this thread to the wrong revolver category

It's easiest to get good photos with a good digital camera. Quality is best if you use a high resolution setting like 3 to 5 megapixels per image as a minimum. The close up shots were usually made with the camera's built-in macro (or close-up) function.

It's better to photograph guns under evenly distributed light. Flash photos of nearby objects don't usually turn out well. A tripod may help, but if you have a camera with image stabilization ability, you can often get away with quarter-second exposures handheld.

When you have digital photos on your computer, you can attach them to your posts from the page in which you compose your message to the forum: look down below the composition box and you will see a button that says "Manage Attachments." That's where you do it. This produces thumbnail images in your post, and viewers click on them to see the full size image.

An alternative is to use a Photobucket account (free web-based image hosting) and just copy and paste a link to the image into your message. You can read about doing that here:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-w...ew-format.html

The Photobucket approach means the image is big to start with, and viewers don't have to mouse over it to make it larger

Good luck with the process!

[Pook]

Thank you David.