Hey there, i life in france and just bought a s&w K38 master piece 14-4 with a 5" barrel.

The serial number on the joke is: 90K 3833

Can anybody tell me in wich years this gun was manufactured ?

I'm very impressed by the precission of this gun, it's a great pleasure shooting with .

Thanks
Regards JZ

It looks like about 1980
Are you sure it a 5" it's some thing you don't see a lot of

Remember to measure from the tip of the barrel back to the beginning of the forcing cone.

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USAF AMMO

Yes i messured twice. I attached a picture.

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That appears to be a 6" barrel. Measure from the front of the cylinder to the end of the barrel (muzzle).

Nice gun by the way. You will enjoy shooting it.

I mesured again as you told me looks like a 5" ( picture attached. I wonder how this gun ended up in france.

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Bienvenu!

S & W has traditionally exported many guns to Europe; Germany received many through a major distributor (Wischo), so yours may have gone through there or a French company.

Bill is correct, revolver barrels are measured from the muzzle to cylinder face (the flat front of the cylinder, not where the barrel threads into the frame). See section 4 in this post:

To IDENTIFY your Gun >

Enjoy your model 14!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Definitely a 6-inch barrel.

Remeasure again, front of cylinder to tip of the barrel (the muzzle).

OK !!! Now i got it. I misunderstood the word cylinder. I thought it's the round part of the frame. I should have read carefully and do a little thinking...because it is quit logic. So it is a 6". Perfect.
Thank you guys!!!

That is an excellent revolver.

1st of all, Welcome to the FORUM, from Ohio! I bought my 14-3 last August on Gun Broker. They are fine guns, and a pleasure to shoot! They have the CLASSIC look! Enjoy your 14! Bob

Don't be too hard on yourself; you are doing far better in English than I would in French!

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NHI, 10-8.

Here is a 14-2 with a 5" barrel so you can see the difference.

The Model 14 is a great gun! Very accurate for target work.. That's not all its good for, though: the K-38/Model 14 with six inch barrel was, for a number of years, the standard issue revolver to the Los Angeles Police Department. In the very late '60s or early '70s, the LAPD switched to four inch barrels and eventually standardized on the very similar Model 15 (and later it's stainless version, the Model 67). The six inch remained popular however.

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Trust, but verify - R. Reagan

Should be an excellent shooter as they have a reputation of being very accurate.

Thanks for the LAPD infos. It's a great shooter, i feel very comfortable with it. I'm shooting with winchester 130 grains, seems to be very accurate too. When the shoot is not quit centered i know that i'm the one who messed up.That what i was looking for, a consistent and accurate gun.

Welcome!

I have a 14-3 and it's a great revolver, a classic. I shoot 148 grain wadcutters. These guns were competitors in target shooting competition that went up against the Colt Officers Model Match or OM Target for decades.


How difficult is it to buy a handgun in France?

You have to be active member of a shooting club. than the president has to give his green light so you can demand a official authorisation to buy a gun at the interior security department of thr goverment. They will check out if you have a criminal past or any other problems with law. If yes ...no autorisation. The gun has to be in safe and locked place in your house and you can leave the house with it only to go to your shooting club. If you do otherwise up to 5 years prison and over 100 000 fine. The police can come also anytime checking up if you respect the security rules at home. Gun must be taken apart or having a trigger lock on it and preserved in a safe security cupboard. So if you want to have a gun in europe you must really want it because there are a lot of restrictions.

Hi there, i have a question concerning my K38 14-4 (1980).
The sight front stands 0,08 inch up. It is fixed this way an doesn't move. I guess this is not the way it was originally. Is this a common thing to do on guns?
Thank you for help on this.

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You're measuring it wrong. As stated above, measure from the barrel forcing cone (front of the cylinder) forward...not from the end of the frame forward. You lose an inch when you do the latter. That's a six inch gun, and it appears to be a nice one. Congrats!

Yes i learned that with guys on the forum. It's a 6 inc. The question now is about the upstanding sight front as seen on the picture. Thank's anyway.

You are correct . . . it is not the way it was originally. The front sight blade and ramp should fit flush and pinned to the barrel rib.

This was likely done to correct POA/POI . . . but is not common nor the correct method. All point of impact adjustments should be made with the (adjustable) rear sight.

It is possible the rear sight blade is not the correct height and is relatively easy to replace.

Russ

I lifted the adjustable rear side guide around 0,1 inch up. The gun shoots fine, i get the apple at 50 yards. Seems logic, the rear guard is so much up to compense the funny front guard. But what a strange modivication. Did someone wanted to adjust the gun for a 2 yard distance?????

Maunzi, it looks to me as though the front sight is lifting up and away from the barrel, probably due to recoil from firing the gun. In the first pictures of your gun, the gap between the front sight ramp and the top of the barrel is not visible. Now it is, so something has moved the front sight up from its original position.

i think it should be easy to repair.

Hi there, you are wright. I thought that i did not pay enough attention to the gun when i bought it and did not see it. I had a look at the earlier posted picture ant thought the shadow was hiding the gap. But no. So this morning i tried first to remove carefully the locking bolt with a pin punch, but it did not seem to move. I did not insist, afraid to mess up the barrel. Than i protected the barrel and put it in my mechanical vice and surprise the sight front moved back in his original position.I presume that something is wrong there because the locking bolt shoot LOCK the front sight but it doesn't.Or do i misunderstand something here?

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Couldn't wait. I managed to take it out. Apparently it was fixed with epoxy? Now i' asking myself if i should insert a front sight with red dot like on the other picture. What do you think. Does anyone has experienced this?
Best regards.

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Very interesting . . . have not seen this before. Unless the front sight was replaced by a previous owner, the factory apparently drilled the locking pin hole too low. It's possible Smith & Wesson would correct the problem but it may be very difficult to return it to the factory from France.

Attempting to re-attach the current sight by relocating the locking pin hole will be difficult without a refinish of the barrel. Simply re-attaching it with epoxy may be the answer.

You may find it desirable to replace the front sight with one of your choosing. Aftermarket sights (such as the one you pictured) are readily available here in the U.S.. Custom gunsmiths such as Bowen Classic Arms also sell factory-style sight blanks that can be fitted and regulated to the gun.

Best wishes whichever option you choose,

Russ

Thank you very much for your evaluation Russ. It makes sense to me.
I'm not sure about putting on fiber front sight. I think i keep the old one and use epoxy to fix it.

Best wishes

Jürgen

Maunzi, the high-visibility fiber optic front sight would be easier to see, but on a classic revolver like this, I think you would eventually regret it, and want the original front sight on it.

If it were my decision to make, I would use a high quality epoxy to re-attach the original front sight.

You are right, that' exactly what i think too. With a little more focus and concentration i'll get the same result and the revolver keeps his old school look.

Hi there, so i cleaned the parts properly and fixed the front sight with JB Weld as some of you recommended.I shot 100 cartridges with it and the sight did not move at all.
Thank you guys!

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It looks like you did a perfect job!

My understanding at the time was that LAPD ordered all their M-14's with double action only lockwork. Makes sense for short range social work where single action accidental discharges could happen under stress. Wonder what happened to all those wonderful old M-14's.

We have a couple retired LAPD officers on the forum who could give the historical perspective on the DAO issue. The DAO, at least at some agencies, was a way to preclude allegations of negligence, whether meritorious or not, based on cocking the revolver while searching for an offender or holding them at gunpoint.

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NHI, 10-8.