S&W 38 Special CTG

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I inherited my great grandfathers 38 special ctg. Can anyone tell me the year of manufacture?serial number 396749.

Thanks
 
Welcome to the forum. Is there a C or K prefix to that serial number? It might be separated from the numerical portion by several spaces.

Can you give us other info like barrel length, fixed or adjustable sights, are there patent dates stamped on the top of the barrel, and is there a S&W trademark stamped on the frame? If there is a trademark, is it on the left or right side?

We can help you date your grandfather's revolver, but we just need a little more info to exclude the incorrect answers. Please post a photo if you can.
 
If there is no letter prefix ( sometimes very far to the left of the
digits) then its about 1921. A letter prefix makes its post-WW2 .
its always helpful if you post a couple of pictures.

Mike Priwer
 
I am also looking to track down the history of my Grandfather's .38 Special CTG. The serial # seems to be 8457, located on the rear of the frame above the grips, with the letters NZ above this number. It has fixed sights, 4" barrel, 38 S&W CTG on the right side barrel, a S&W trademark on the right side of the frame, and Smith & Wesson on the left side of the barrel. I have been told he carried this when he worked as a security guard at some of the Texas City oil refineries. I appreciate any information.
 

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Rear of the frame above the grips?

Here is where to find the serial.

standard.jpg


Note that there is often a letter prefix in the serial.

It appears you have a Military & Police Model made before WW II.
 
I can tell you that the gun is post WWII, and that the grips are not original to the gun. You might want to wipe down the barrel on the outside with some oil, its hard to say from the photo, but the gun appears to have some rust.
 
PGJ3925 said:
I am also looking to track down the history of my Grandfather's .38 Special CTG. The serial # seems to be 8457, located on the rear of the frame above the grips, with the letters NZ above this number. It has fixed sights, 4" barrel, 38 S&W CTG on the right side barrel, a S&W trademark on the right side of the frame, and Smith & Wesson on the left side of the barrel. I have been told he carried this when he worked as a security guard at some of the Texas City oil refineries. I appreciate any information.
Click to expand...

If it chambers .38 Special but says .38 S&W CTG on the side of the barrel rather than .38 S&W SPECIAL CTG, then the gun has been modified to chamber the longer .38 Special round. The .38 S&W (or .38/200) was the specified chambering for revolvers provided to Britain and the Commonwealth countries in WWII. The NZ and four digit rack number probably indicate this was originally a gun issued to New Zealand civilian or military police forces in the course of WWII. After the war was over the gun probably came back to the US as a commercially available revolver. Your grandfather probably picked it up then. The four inch barrel is a little unusual. Most commonwealth production was fitted with five-inch barrels.

Collectors would consider your gun a "Pre-Victory." Mike is correct that it is probably of 1941 manufacture, but it might not have shipped until early 1942. In April of 1942 the M&P six-digit serialization sequence ran out of numbers and the serial numbers began again at 1 with a V prefix. These V-prefix revolvers are the ones called Victory models.
 
38 Special help!!

I am also looking for help. My grandfather gave me his S&W 38 Special CTG and said it was his grandfathers. Serial # 153776, No letter. Just looking to date and a value if possible. Thanks Tried to upload pics but it keeps failing.
 
Start a new thread. You'll get better results.

More info is helpful. Swing out cylinder? Six chambers? Dates? Exact caliber on barrel?
 
We have a .38 special s & w ctg that we'd like to know the approximate age. The serial # is ID97265, the S & W trademark is on the right side, it has a 3 1/2" barrel, 6 chambers, no patent #'s stamped on the top of the barrel, fixed sights, 64-3, and when the cylinder is swung out 53206 is visible on the part that holds the ejection rod.
 
Things are getting congested here with several others jumping into the thread with different questions about different guns. Separate postings would be better to prevent confusion.

"The SN is 967110, no letter."
The shipping date on that one would likely be April or May of 1942, making it a very late pre-Victory model revolver. The fact that the caliber marking is .38 S&W indicates that it was made for use by the British Commonwealth military. Many of these .38 S&Ws were "Converted" after WWII to fire .38 S&W Special ammunition by boring the chambers more deeply, to facilitate civilian sale in the 1950s and 1960s. The serial numbers on these pre-Victories went up to 1000000 in early 1942, at which point serial numbering re-started at V(Victory)1. Most, if not all, of the pre-Victories had shipped from the S&W factory by mid-1942.
 
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need help with age

New to the forum and need help figuring out the year of my S&W 38 special 4'' CTG

bottom of handle has a "star" then 257xxx. Also under the Barrel is what looks like a "<B>257xxx.

the grips are wood checkered with the gold medallions and nothing on the frame like "made in the USA"

let me know if you need more information
 
Ok ive got the S&W 38 Special CTG 4" Barrel. 5759 is on the arm of the Cylinder. and the Serial Number is " V 645xxx" yea the V is spaced way away from the numbers hopefully you can see by the picture. the top of the frame right between the cylinder and the hammer there is a P stamped The whole gun is blued minus the grips of course. There is a Patent stamped right under the S&W emblem but its rubbed smooth and hard to read. Any idea when this was manufactured?
 
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RebelNation38 said:
Ok ive got the S&W 38 Special CTG 4" Barrel. 5759 is on the arm of the Cylinder. and the Serial Number is " V 645xxx" yea the V is spaced way away from the numbers hopefully you can see by the picture. the top of the frame right between the cylinder and the hammer there is a P stamped The whole gun is blued minus the grips of course. There is a Patent stamped right under the S&W emblem but its rubbed smooth and hard to read. Any idea when this was manufactured?
Click to expand...

Welcome to this forum. But you do realize this thread was initiated almost 2 1/2 years ago?

As others have said above, start a new thread if you want the proper attention paid to your question(s).
 
DAinTX said:
Welcome to this forum. But you do realize this thread was initiated almost 2 1/2 years ago?

As others have said above, start a new thread if you want the proper attention paid to your question(s).
Click to expand...

You replied didn't you?
 
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