My father in law dug this out of his gun safe to show me today. It belonged to his father, who operated a watch/gun repair shop from the 30's thru the 70s. Based on my research this afternoon, it a appears to be a Schofield Model 1. Please excuse my lack of gun knowledge and terminology.

The barrel is 7 inches long. The cylinder has the marks of "L" and "P" and the serial number, 28XX.





Reading some of the other posts, it appears that there are other serial numbers that I should verify. Anything else that i need to check to be able to confirm what it is?

thanks,

Mark

Mark, Yes. Before you start, Make sure you have "the" correct screwdrivers. Don't go into your Craftsman box of auto tools looking for just any old screwdriver. If you don't have the exact fit, hollow ground, screwdrivers, send it to someone who is knowledgeable in Schofields to verify all numbers match.

1. Removed the grips, check inside of grips for number, likely these won't match as they do not appear to be original unless these have been replaced / upgraded or they are a civilian version that I'm not aware of.

On the butt should be the same serial number and a "U.S." Stamp.

2. You said you read the numbers from the "face" of the cylinder, so numbers on cylinder & butt should match.

3. with "the" correct screwdrivers, remove the rear screw on the barrel "Catch" (the part attached to the rear top of barrel with 2 screws).

WARNING: these screws can be extremely tough to remove or loosen especially if the gun has NOT been stored in the more ideal fashion which from a glance appear that no special precautions were taken when this was originally stored way back when. Also, if the screws are already partially "boogered", don't push your luck, rather, send it to a competent authority or gunsmith.

IF the screws move smoothly, then, loosen or remove the front screw (before you remove the front screw you should be able to tilt the catch up to reveal the barrel number. If so, read the numbers and don't continue to remove the 2nd screw. No need to look for extra trouble is ou've proved the point, thus far.

If it will not tilt or pivot upward, continue to remove the screw. There will be numbers on the barrel (under the catch) as well as the screw which has a "flat" stop in the center of it where the numbers should be.

There are more numbers in other places, however, if these number match You can presume they should all match.

As the condition seems pretty poor, be careful if you think you might want to use it as a "shooter" I strongly recommend you send it to a competent gunsmith to inspect, clean, repair and tune BEFORE you even think of placing a live round in the cylinder. Also, make sure you find and research the proper rounds (after the gun has been inspected and repaired).

Also,most well used M1 Schofields usually are found with a SHAKEY or loose barrel axis shaft. Should a lesser experienced person or gunsmith that is NOT specifically familiar with the M1 & M2 Schofields try to resolve this issue the consequences could be disastrous.

Tightening this barrel axis shaft alone will not rectify the issue as once tightened past the center point of the extractor gear / poll does not exactly lineup in the machined cut out space on the barrel axis shaft, all sorts of odd things will occur. This was one of issues corrected with the revisions in the M2 Schofield. The slightest looseness in the barrel axis shaft will cause the gun to malfunction in numerous ways.

When in doubt ... don't assume. Send it to someone competent and experience !

Best Regards, Sal Raimondi, SWCA #1300

Mark, Welcome to the Forum. Sal has given you an excellent explanation of what to look for and the correct way to do it. Yes, the gun is a 1st model Schofield. the "L" stamp is the initial of David Lyle, the sub inspector, at the S&W factory and the "P' is the Proof stamp. There should be a US stamp on the butt, if the gun is a military shipped gun. If there is no US stamp, and there is no evidence of it ever being there, then I would suggest you get a factory historical letter from Roy Jinks, factory historian at Smith & Wesson. A few of the 1st models were rejected by the inspectors and were shipped to distributors as civilian guns and do not have the US stamp on the butt. Ed.

Ed,

Schofields, if true civilian version, are they likely to still have the inspectors' stamps on the cylinder ? I thought the Civilian version were completely void of any military influence, however, I always found this to be a grey area of uncertainty. What makes it an "overrun", what makes it a military reject and what makes it a true civilian?

Then, I'm unclear as to what distinguishes a military reject Schofield. Any advice or experience you can share with me that could definitely qualify a M1 or M2 Schofield as a US reject, would be humbly appreciated.



Best Regards, Sal Raimondi

I appreciate all of the input. I visited him again today and shared the data provided by everyone. We looked at the gun again and tried to remove the barrel catch screw but didn't want to damage it. I did remove the replacement grips and found the US stamp on the butt and the serial number.

He was quite pleased about the history of the model and to finally learn something about it. He then went to the safe and brought me two percussion black powder long guns and asked me to research them. As I was leaving, he handed me the Schofield and told me to take it since I'm the only one that has ever shown an interest in his old guns.

Well... talk about a dowry!

__________________
Existimo ergo sum armis

Sal, All the commercial (non-US ) Schofields are guns that started out their life in the assembly line as US guns, and somewhere along the process they got rejected, for whatever reason, by one of the sub inspectors. Many of the parts already had the inspector's stamps and the proof stamps, and when it came down to the inspector who rejected it, S&W had a decision to make: Send it back and have the Service Dep't correct the reason for the rejection, and return the gun to the US inspector for acceptance, or correct the problem and ship the gun to a distributor, who would pay more for it than the Army, and make S&W more money. Some of these rejects have a "C" stamp, for "condemned" , but not all. Neither Roy, nor I, nor Charlie Pate have ever seen a commercial Schofield that did not have some of the inspector's stamps and usually the P stamp, also. There are no records at the factory that indicate that any civilian Schofields were made as such, from scratch. All were rejected military guns. None of these civilian Schofields have the US stamp, however I know of one such 1st Model that someone added a fake US stamp to the butt, thinking he was creating value, when he actually destroyed it's value, as 1st model civilian Schofields are rare birds, if they letter as such. Remember, there are no factory shipping records for military Schofields, only records for civilian Schofields that were shipped to distributors. So, if you have a Schofield w/o a US stamp on the butt, it probably rates a letter to prove it's a legit. civilian gun, but take a careful look at the butt to see if there's evidence of the US stamp being removed. The presence of inspector initials and a "P" stamp should be an all Schofields, so that's not a clue as to whether the gun is military or civilian. Ed.

Ed, thank you for the benefit of your experience and knowledge. It is very much appreciated. Sal