.38 snub born-on date

[Springfield52]

Hi All,
I'm trying to find the year of manufacture for a .38 Special snub that is for sale at a LGS. It has a 2 1/2 inch barrel with no info on either side, a long unprotected extractor rod, and no model number or assembly number on the crane. The Smith and Wesson logo and " Made In U.S.A. " are on the right side plate.
The serial number is on the butt of the grip and the rear face of the cylinder. It is a six shot K frame, with a SN of 6565xx.

Any help dating this revolver would be appreciated very much.

 

[smith17]

Does it have a locking lug at the end of the extractor rod when the cylinder is closed?

 

[Springfield52]

No it does not have a locking lug.

 

[Absalom]

Cut former British Service revolver, most likely. The serial puts it early for that, though, pre-1940. Are you sure there is no V prefix?

 

[cgt4570]

Run, don't walk away from that atrocity. Most consider those to be unsafe modifications.

 

[k22fan]

I'll be the first one to put a number on it. $225 would be top dollar in a retail store and at that it would sit on the shelf for a long time then probably sell for about $175. At $175 you would be better off to buy one of the police surplus Model 10s that can usually be found for $299 delivered from stores that that advertised nationally. This week a member posted that AIM has them. Of course you'd still have to pay local FFL fees and maybe tax. Since guns either last for your life time or you can resell them it does not make sense to buy the junkiest gun.

 

[Springfield52]

There is no letter prefix or suffix with the SN. Some additional info about the gun...the barrel has a ramp front sight, and on the rear face of the cylinder, in addition to the serial number, are the letters P and V.
The LGS has a price of $429 on this revolver, btw.

 

[Absalom]

There is no letter prefix or suffix with the SN. Some additional info about the gun...the barrel has a ramp front sight, and on the rear face of the cylinder, in addition to the serial number, are the letters P and V.
The LGS has a price of $429 on this revolver, btw.

Aha. There is your V prefix. It is stamped separate from the numbers, so it does not appear as part of the serial, but it is. The additional P proof confirms the WW II vintage. In other places markings have likely suffered, possibly from refinishing.

V 656xxx would be from summer 1944. All original, it could be worth 429, but cut and modified, no more than what k22fan says.

 

[Springfield52]

Aha. There is your V prefix. It is stamped separate from the numbers, so it does not appear as part of the serial, but it is. The additional P proof confirms the WW II vintage. In other places markings have likely suffered, possibly from refinishing.

V 656xxx would be from summer 1944. All original, it could be worth 429, but cut and modified, no more than what k22fan says.

Thanks very much for the information. I'm curious as to how it's known the barrel has been cut and modified. Is it due to the length of the extractor rod and the lack of a locking lug on the barrel?
Again, thanks very much for all the replies and precise information.

 

[Absalom]

Is it due to the length of the extractor rod and the lack of a locking lug on the barrel?
...

Yes, that’s the give-away. Only the earliest K-frame, the Model of 1899, had no lug, and this couldn’t be one due to the number.

Also, no K-frame revolvers were made with “a 2 1/2 inch barrel with no info on either side” as you initially described it.

Finally, this particular treatment was given to tens of thousands of this wartime type, and we see these here a lot. That’s why the first response to you post immediately asked about the lug.

 

[Springfield52]

Many, many thanks for all the information. It sounds like I should probably keep looking for a more reasonably priced K frame snub nose...