good afternoon gentlmen,
i recently took a look at an old snub nose .38 revolver that a shir tail family member acquired in the early seventies. serial #v543XXX, 38spc ctg stamped in barrel with front half of trigger guard removed. Rumor has it that his grandfather owned the gun and was a detective in the san francisco pd in the early 1900's to possibly 1920's. he acquired the pistol from his uncle in the mid 70's after the uncle passed away. any information on date of manufacture or resources to trace history of pistol greatly appreciated. thank you

You have provided so little information, it's not possible to give a definitive answer to your question. Pictures would be nice.

HOWEVER, with the "V" in the serial number it is very possible this is a S&W "Victory" model made during WWII - one of the most common varieties of the S&W K frame. Google on S&W Victory Model and you will find considerable information, at least enough to tell whether that is what you have or not.

Removal of the trigger guard would have been done well after it left the factory, and would essentially destroy any collector value it might otherwise have had. Plus it's also very dangerous to carry loaded in that condition. The trigger guard is there for a purpose.

I agree that the V prefix on the serial number points to WWII manufacture. Most Victories had four or five inch barrels, but some were cut to two inches and remarketed after the war. Please check the barrel marking again and see if it says .38 S&W CTG or .38 S&W SPECIAL CTG. Most of the shortened barrel guns were lend lease revolvers that went to Britain or other Commonwealth countries. They chambered the shorter .38 S&W round, and some of them were bored out to take the longer .38 Special cartridge as part of their conversion. This is not necessarily a good thing, as the two cartridges have slightly different case diameters. When.38 Special rounds are fired in these modified guns, there is a risk of swollen or even split cases.

Is there a locking lug under the barrel to stabilize the front end of the ejector rod? Or does the ejector rod just hang under the barrel without any lock near the muzzle? All S&Ws should have the lug. The few snubnose S&Ws made just before and after WWII had these lugs -- and a much shorter ejector rod in order to permit proper cylinder lockup.

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David Wilson

Thanks so much for the replies and info. i will post some pics as soon as i can get some photos of the pistol. was a little curious of the trigger guard mods, and honestly thought it may have been a "garage"type of mod with fairly neat fit and finish on removal of guard. whoever did the work made it look almost as if it was done at the factory. the barrel does have a 38spcl ctg stamp.....will send more info as soon as i can get another look at it with pics...thanks again

At one time, there were certain pistoleros around that felt cut-off trigger guards were cool to have, and felt there was some speed advantage. In fact, some gunsmiths made such custom alterations as cutting down barrels and chopping trigger guards in a professional manner. To my knowledge, no firearms manufacturer ever offered chopped trigger guards, not necessarily because they wouldn't sell, but for legal liability reasons associated with the safety hazards created. The simple act of holstering such a revolver could easily cause it to fire, and of course the trigger is open to all sorts of impacts which could result in accidental firing. Another sometimes unrecognized danger is that dropping the revolver could result in jamming the remaining portion of the trigger guard against the trigger, making it inoperable in an emergency situation. In short, I wouldn't allow such a gun in my house, and I would consider its value to be nothing more than a parts gun.

To my knowledge, no firearms manufacturer ever offered chopped trigger guards,

Colt offered the Fitz Special with mutilated trigger guard and bobbed hammer.
It was not a cataloged model but if you asked they would do the work.
A real Colt factory Fitz Special can be recognized by the location of the VP proof mark at the rear of the trigger guard where it would not be lost or clipped when the front of the trigger guard was chopped out.