The barrel has been cut and the front sight altered, whether by S&W or ??, only a factory historical letter will tell if it is a special order for a 1 3/4 inch barrel. There are no original 2 inch barreled guns in the 39,000 serial number range. There are 1 3/4 inch barrels S&Ws done by the factory as special orders, in that serial range area. The stampings on top of the barrel may not be "cut off" you may be reading it wrong. Factory stampings on these short barreled guns begin just back of the front sight and run up over the top strap and do not have the complete stamping as there is not enough room, so they seem cut off. The stamping is the same die as used on the standard 3 1/4 in. barrels. The gun originally left S&W in the early 1890s. Ed.