I have a 45 cal. Model 1955 as stated on the barrel.
The Model is 25-2 with sn N6887xx. It has a 4" barrel & is in beautiful condition. I cannot find any reference to a 4" barrel; only 6"- 61/2"barrels.
What year was this revolver made & did it come with a 4" barrel from the factory?

"Model 25-2" tells us it was made after S&W instituted the model numbering sequence, about 1968, with the -2 indicating the second engineering change within that model series. As I recall the Model 25 was brought to market about 1979-1980, first in .45 Colt caliber and later in .45ACP caliber, and if the second engineering change had been made for N-frame revolvers by that time the frame would be marked as described.

A stainless series version was offered as the Model 625. The Model 25 would be either blued or nickel-plated. Barrel lengths of 4" and 6" are common in both the Model 25 and Model 625, and later versions can be found with 3" and other barrel lengths.

The "Model 1955" refers to the older target model large-frame revolver in .45ACP. All of that series that I have seen had 6.5" barrels, although I'm sure some special order pieces were done with other barrel lengths, as was common during the 1950's and 1960's.

Overall, I'm thinking that you probably have a limited production piece offered as a reproduction of the older Model 1955 Target .45ACP.

It’s possible your 4-inch 25-2 is factory original. Without a letter, you’ll never know. It was never a standard production item, either before or after model numbers, so it’s either a special order gun or field-modified. If you could show us some good, detailed pics of the revolver, some of our experts here could give you a “good guess” as to whether it is factory work or not. If you post pics, please remove the stocks so we can see any marks (stampings) on the grip-frame, particularly the left side.

Thanks for the info. Guess a call to S&W is in order.

I STRONGLY AGREE THAT A LETTER IS WARRANTED, AS THE DEFINING DOCUMENTATION OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS REVOLVER......

WHILE OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OF OUR FORUM EXPERTS OR PUNDITS ARE CERTAIN TO BE INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE--ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS THOUGT TO HAVE BEEN MODIFIED BY A NOTEWORTHY 'SMITH OF THE ERA--THE LETTER WILL REMAIN THE GOLD STANDARD......

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'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Welcome to the Forum.

Is your M25-2 still a .45 ACP? Most likely, it was cut to 4". What type of front sight does it have?

As stated above, pictures will help a bunch. It was probably built around 1979-80.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

The model 25 was on the market way before 79 or 80 and was first
available in .45 acp with a 6.5" barrel. The .45 Colt models came after
the .45 acp guns and were available with 4" or 6" barrels. At some point
the 6.5" barrel of the acp guns were discontinued in favor of the 6" length. I have two 25-2s in .45 acp, both came with 6.5" barrels. The
first one was purchased new in 1970 and I had the barrel cut down to
4". The other one was purchased for a good price at a gun show
because it has a ring in the bore right in front of the ejector rod
housing. It shoots fine as is with cast bullet handloads but I'm thinking
about cutting it to 3.5" length as that would remove the ring. Haven't
decided yet. I have never seen or heard of a 25-2 .45 acp model in
anything other than 6 or 6.5" factory barrel length.

Are the barrel stampings centered?

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Free advice is worth the price

Here are some pics. Hope I did it right. More to comeS&W 1.jpg

S&W 2.jpg

S&W 3.jpg

S&W 4.jpg

S&W 5.jpg

More pics:S&W 6.jpg

S&W 7.jpg

S&W 8.jpg

That looks to be a cut down 6 or 6 1/2" barrel to me. See how the lettering on both sides of the barrel isn't centered? Still, a nice looking gun you got there. Also, in that first pic you posted, notice the R-B? I think that denotes that the gun went back to the factory for a reblue job.

I'll go with a cut barrel due to the fact the roll marks on the barrel are not centered. Still a nice looking revolver just didn't ship from the factory that way.

Thanks for all the help. I have a S&W .357 mag. 27-2 with a 6.5" barrel I bought new in the 60's and was considering cutting it down or installing a 4" barrel. Don't have to now.
Does the fact that my Model 1955 has probably been altered decrease it's value?

Model 1950s and Model 1955s .45acp Revolvers in the past I had cut to 4 5/8" for service revolvers.


Jimmy (yet another "Sin" I will have to answer for)

A collector wouldn't want a M25 with a cut barrel. A shooter would be on one like white on rice!

Re the M27; swap barrels, don't cut your factory installed barrel. 6 1/2" M27s are not as common as the 6" M27s. Does your M27 have a ramp front sight?

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Yes, it has a ramp front sight,.

6 1/2 inch 27-2s are pretty hard to find, maybe even rare! I would not cut that barrel, or replace it. If you want a different barrel length, buy one or trade yours. Personally, I just buy different barrel lengths! More fun that way.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Yeah, I prefer the balance of the shorter barrels. So it may hurt the value to some people, but to others it may help it.....

If you have one with a 6 1/2" barrel, sell it and buy a 4" barrel gun. Like others have said, the 6 1/2" barrel guns are kind of rare; I've been kind of looking for a -2 or earlier model 27 with 6 1/2" barrel to complete my model 27 collection myself. And seeing that I am also wanting it to be in factory nickel, it's making the hunt pretty hard too.