S&W U.S. Service

[smle cat]

A friend of my dads was given this pistol by his dad. He was wondering how old it was and app. its worth. It's nickel plated, says in good condition, on the barrel is 38 S&W SPCL, U. S. Service, 4" barrel, ser. no. 99208. I haven't actually seen the pistol he just gave me this info. Thanks for the help.

[Muley Gil]

Welcome to the Forum.

The very early S&W Military & Police .38 revolvers (1899-approx 1904) were marked this way. That serial number sounds a bit high, but I may be mistaken.

[glowe]

Sounds like a 38 Military & Police, either a First or Second Change, shipped around 1907. The common name for these revolvers are Model 1902 if round butt, or Model 1905 if square butt. Value is determined by condition, and could range from $200 to over $500

[smle cat]

Thanks, I appreciate your input.

[opoefc]

The early barrels with the dual caliber markings sometimes show up on later guns, as S&W did not throw away anything usable. I've had M&Ps up to the 122,000 serial range with these barrels and all matchings numbers on the guns. The "U.S.Service Ctg." stamping refers to the military .38 Long Colt cartridge which was the nomenclature used by the Army after they adopted the .38 cal. cartridge for the service revolver round. The dimensions are approximately the same as the .38S&W Special, so both rounds will chamber in any S&W K frame of the period. Ed.

[Muley Gil]

The .38 Long Colt is approx 0.10" shorter than the .38 S&W special.

[glowe]

Originally Posted by Muley Gil

The very early S&W Military & Police .38 revolvers (1899-approx 1904) were marked this way. That serial number sounds a bit high, but I may be mistaken.

I have an M&P that shipped in 1907, with serial number 100,007, that also has the old 2 line caliber stamping, so that fits Ed's numbers.

[Muley Gil]

Originally Posted by glowe

I have an M&P that shipped in 1907, with serial number 100,007, that also has the old 2 line caliber stamping, so that fits Ed's numbers.

The factory must have had a bunch of those older barrels. S&W didn't throw away NUTHING!

[Combat]

I picked up a 5" one last week. Nickel plated RB. Sn.112896 It has the dual markings. I really need to get around to taking some pics.

[DWalt]

As noted, the "U. S. Service Cartridge" of that time was the .38 Long Colt. It reportedly performed very poorly against Moro tribesmen in the Philippines. That led the U. S. Army to return to a .45 caliber handgun, which was the Colt Model 1911. The Philippine experience with the .38 LC also caused the Army to pull some old Colt SAAs out of storage (and a few other .45 revolvers) and back into service.