An older gentleman in our church has a SW 38 Special CTG with a 4" barrel and adjustable rear sight. It's been in and out of a holster a bunch of times and the bluing is worn in the places you'd expect. The wood needs cleaned up and some Tung oil. I'd say it's in no better than good condition, but likely hasn't been fired much. The numbers on the frame behind the cylinder are as follows: The top line is just the letter "D"; the middle line is "20629"; the bottom row looks like a "5". I'm trying to find out when it was made and what it might be worth. Any help from you experts would be much appreciated. Thanks, ~ Keith, US Army Retired.

Sounds like it might be a Combat Masterpiece.
The numbers you mention are no help at all - those were parts tracking numbers, used during assembly.
What we need are the numbers stamped on the butt. From your description I think there is a good chance the serial number will start with the letter K.
Pictures would also help a lot.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Keith,

If it's blued carbon steel it sounds like a Combat Masterpiece. The numbers you've provided are internal factory assembly numbers and are of no value once it leaves the factory.

What we need to identify and date the revolver is the number from the butt of the grip frame. It should start with the letter K.

Pictures would also be very helpful in determining originality and condition . . . and estimating a value.

Russ

edit to add: Welcome to the forum . . . you're in the right place with your questions . . . and Jack types faster than I do.

Russ and I are the victims of mind-meld . . .

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Thanks; you are exactly right. The number you're looking for is K199484.

Okay. It is a .38 Combat Masterpiece from 1953. Five years later, this model would be called the Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.

Post pics if you want the guys here to speculate on what its selling price would likely be.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Thanks for the info. I took some pictures (JPEG) but can't figure out how to upload them. I tried the paperclip (attachments) icon. Something else to do?

"Thanks; you are exactly right. The number you're looking for is K199484."

On my list I show a K-38 Combat Masterpiece with SN K1990xx which shipped in 11/53. That one is probably close to that date. It's difficult to be accurate about value without some good pictures to allow condition assessment. But a typical average condition used CM without mechanical problems might have a gun show asking price in the $400-$500 range. Take it into a gun shop to sell it, and he'd probably get offered maybe half that.

Try this to attach pictures:
1. go to the Additional Options section at the bottom of Post Reply
2. click on Manage Attachments
3. in the Upload File From Your Computer box, click on Browse
4. locate the picture on your computer and click on it
5. click Upload and wait until it is finished uploading
6. close the window and click on submit reply

Good luck . . . it's hard to do on the first try,

Russ

The Combat Masterpiece is a very, very nice revolver, worn or not.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Here are some pictures for you to use to determine the value. Thanks,

Russ, Here's another attempt at pictures. I think it's hard to do...even on the second try.

After you submit a post click on edit. Then click on manage attachments. On the new page(tab) click on browse. Double click on
the pic from your pictures and then hit upload. Wait until it stops loading and then close the new age by hitting the x on the tab. Click
on save changes and wail until it stops and your pic will be added to
your post. You can add up to five to a post.