Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum and I hope that I'm posting in the right place.

I recently purchased a Smith & Wesson 22 long rifle CTG revolver at an estate sale.

I don't know much about revolvers or guns for that matter so I'm going to try to be as specific as possible in describing it in hopes that you can give me some information. I'm hoping to find out the year, make, model, etc.

It has a 6" barrel, double action, it looks like adjustable sites (2 screws for the rear sites), the cylinder releases to the left, it has a spring loaded pin that you push back to eject the casings.

On the left side of the frame, it's stamped SW trademark. On the left side of the barrell it's stamped Smith & Wesson. On the right side of the barrell it's stamped "22 long rifle CTG." On the top of the barrell it's stamped "Smith and Wesson, Springfield, Mass, USA" below that it's stamped "Patented February 6.06 September 14.08" (this is a guess). On the right side of the frame it's stamped "Made in the USA." When you eject the cylinder, the cylinder is stamped "391413." With the cylinder ejected, under the barrel above the cylinder pin it's stamped "391413." On the grip frame, behind the trigger (Where your fingers wrap around the grip), it's stamped with the same "391413."

I've seen on other forums that people have mentioned a stamp on the bottom of the grip frame, there is no stamp on this particular model.

I've also seen other people mention a "K" stamp on the frame when the cylinder is open or on the cylinder and I'm not finding this marking either.

I've tried to be as descriptive as possible, thank you for baring with me as I'm not very knowledgeable about guns.

I will try to post pictures asap.

Any help that you can give me in regards to make, model, year of production, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome to the Forum. The SN stamped on the front strap (grip frame) indicates this is a .22/32 Heavy Frame Target, aka the Bekeart Model. It was built on the I or .32 frame but is in .22 LR, hence the ".22/32" name. These were made from 1911 until WW II, and it probably shipped from the factory in the early-mid 1920s. The K or medium frame .22 is more commonly seen, and post-WW II versions had the K SN prefix. Looking forward to the photos, and hope this is helpful.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Yes, welcome. With that serial number your gun probably shipped in 1925.

Here's what the S&W catalog of that era said about your gun. You may have on your gun either the large two-screw extension grips shown in the illustration, or some slightly smaller square-butt grips that leave the backstrap half exposed. The smaller stocks are referred to as Regulation Police stocks after the model for which they were designed and introduced in 1917.

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David Wilson

Hey guys thank you so much for identifying it! That's definitely the one. I jumped over to the "I" frame forum after I saw Alan's post and it's just like the one pictured with the recessed cylinder. Unfortunately someone has changed out the grips but I figure that I can find those somewhere. I'm going to take it to a gunsmith and have them inspect it to make sure it is in working order. Just out of curiousity, what would an estimated value be for this gun? Not that I'm planning on selling it, I'm only curious because I paid a whopping $5 for it so I'm fairly certain that I got a good deal!

Thanks again for your help! I'll post pictures tomorrow.

You paid $5 for it? I will give you $50 and pay the shipping...Nice find and you do know you stole it....Kyle

When I saw it I asked the lady "What are you asking for this?" She said "I hate guns, give me 5 bucks and it's your" I couldnt hand her the money fast enough! Then again in AZ you can buy old western guns at swap meets for cheap at any swap meet on the weekends so I thought it prob wasnt worth much. I'm going to hold on to it, and give it to my son one day.

Here are a couple pictures of the gun. I took it to a gun smith this morning. He took the the time to disassemble it and take a look for free which I thought was really nice of him. He said he is 99 percent sure it has been through a fire. He said the springs inside have lost their temper and it looks to have carbon/smoke residue built up on the inner workings. He also thought this would explain the grips being replaced.

He told me if I wanted him to he could respring it and get it to fire. But in his opinion he would be worried that some of the steel might have softened on the inner workings making it unsafe. He did think it was ironic that they put cheap Rossi grips on this particular gun.

I told him I would give it some thought because I wanted to check with you guys. If nothing else its a cool piece of history to have. Anyway thanks again for all your information!

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You will have to decide for yourself if you want to shoot a burned gun, but remember that when the gun was made .22 HV ammo had not yet been developed. I would not shoot anything hotter than standard velocity ammo in it under any circumstances. If I wanted to test a burned gun, I'd restrict myself to subsonic target ammo, which is no hardship because this was considered a target revolver anyway.

It's worth more than $5 obviously, but if it is a fire gun I'm not sure I would value it as more than a $75 paperweight or a $200 limited-use shooter. In 90% condition it might be a $450-500 item. People try to sell them for more than that, but they rarely move at the original high asking prices.

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David Wilson

removed PC

The only part I would be worried about failing on that piece would be the cylinder. I say if you can find a replacement cylinder, re-spring it and enjoy it.

Oh, and you would probably need to re-case-harden the trigger and hammer.

I once bought a M36 Chief's Special that had been through a fire. After I cleaned it up, I took it to a machine shop and had it Rockwell tested. (BTW, this same shop once was part of the American Walther PPK/S program)

I had to the replace the springs, but it shot fine.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I too would not worry about that gun being in a fire. It does not look like most guns I've seen that were in a fire, so if it was it must not have gotten very hot. It doesn't take much to ruin the wood grips but it does to ruin the gun. Does the action not function with the current springs? You can safely try firing it with CB caps or the other low pressure rounds mentioned above, like Aquila's Subsonic ammo that has no powder, only priming.

If you're worried about the gun and the current springs won't function, then leave the old springs in it and no one will be able to shoot it.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

What year was the Sigma first made?
I have one SW40V pauxxxx, I would like to know when it was made, thanks

Welcome to the Forum.

You will have better luck posting your question here:

Smith & Wesson Sigma & SD Pistols

This section is for older revolvers and some early (like pre WW I) semi-autos.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

It looks like a very worthy little project to me. The springs are cheap enough to replace and heat treating a couple of parts or finding replacements could put it right back in order. It was never meant for hot ammo anyway. It might even be a good candidate for a reblue.