Quote:
Originally Posted by Wiregrassguy
All S&W N frame revolvers of that era have serial numbers under the barrel, on the rear face of the cylinder and on the bottom of the butt frame as well as in a couple other places. Look through the cylinder chambers to the back of the yoke arm and see if the serial number there matches the cylinder. After WWI, S&W used frames produced for the military to assemble commercial guns. Your frame could have been for a commercial 1917 or for a 2nd Model .44 Hand Ejector. All we can say is that it was likely originally assembled in the 1920 decade. It is unfortunate that someone removed the butt serial since it makes the gun illegal under current BATFE regs. That topic has been beaten like a dead horse so I won't belabor it.
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Thanks, Wiregrassguy - great info! Yes, the serial number on the rear of the yoke matches the serial number on the rear of cylinder (18834), and the assembly number on the yoke (83269) matches the assembly number on frame under the yoke, so this would establish a frame number to be the 18834 from the above via the reference above.
Are there any other areas on the frame where the SN may be stamped so I can look at those and see if I can find an actual SN stamped on the frame?
Based on the eagle with S2 stamp under it, I think it is more likely a 1917 frame that was later sold as a Hand Ejector with the 44 SPL cartridge. BTW the cylinder took the 44 SPL but did not take the 45 ACP, so unless there were 44 SPL 1917s, this is most likely the case I described above, right?
Thanks again, man - you have been so helpful in researching this old gun!