Hey!

Found a lot of great info on this site! I have a family heirloom. My grandfather's grandfather's old .38 Special. It looks just like a number of the side ejectors on this site, but has a pearl handle.

It'd mean a ton if I could know more about this gun. Supposedly it has two lives on it and was a piece for riverboat gambling - grandpa story.

Anyways it's a side ejector, strain screw, fixed sight, .38 Special US Service CTG. Serial is 56574.

Also,
Should I polish this up or will it lose value?

Any info would be great! What's it worth? Was the pearl handle an option or something added for flash? Is it a common gun?

Thanks in advance,
Ben

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What you have is a S&W Hand Ejector, Model of 1902, First Change, sometimes called the Second Model, First Change. From your SN, it would date to about 1904. It's one of the earliest S&W K-frame hand ejector revolvers. There are several on this forum that are experts on S&Ws from this era who will probably provide more details about value. You can polish it up a little with Flitz. Grips may not be original, so I'll pass on giving an opinion about those. It's great to have a really nice old family heirloom like that one.

By the way, it's a .38 S&W Special. The U. S. Service CTG (cartridge) stamping means it will also fire .38 Long Colt, which was the U. S. standard military revolver cartridge of the time. It's a little shorter and weaker than the .38 Special cartridge.

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback and info. It's great to get some education on it. I'd like to preserve some of the knowledge for when I pass it down to my kid (should I have one) some day.

I'll look for some Flitz online and get it polished up. I found on S&W where you can send in pics and the serial (plus $50) and get a full write-up on your gun. I may opt to do that just to have the documentation.

The factory letter won't provide a great deal more information than you now have, but it will give you the exact shipment date, and to where it was shipped (usually to a S&W distributor). It will also tell the original finish and grip style. It's not a bad idea to have a letter if you want to spend $50 for it.

Factory pearl stocks, at the time, had gold medallions. The grips on this gun are
after-market grips, maybe from years later.

It would be a good idea to get the gun cleaned (internally) if that has not been done
recently. And make sure the bore, and cylinder charge holes, are cleaned and oiled.
Often black powder cartridges were shot in these early guns, and if not cleaned
promptly, corroded the bore.

Flitz is one of several compounds that will clean up whatever nickel is left. Frequently
the nickel is worn through to the underlying steel, so it will be the steel that is getting
cleaned.

If it were mine, I'd try to find a pair of period checkered walnut stocks. They go
very nicely with a nickel finish.

This gun has the patent date roll markings on the right side of the barrel. This was
done from about 1903 through 1916, for the 4-inch barrels. They belong on the
top of the barrel, but when the shoulder was added to the barrel, there was not
enough room for the roll marking die, so they were moved to the side of the barrel.
By about 1916, a new roll 4-inch roll marking die was made, and the marking moved
back to the top of the barrel.

Mike Priwer

Thanks for the info on the grips and history!