Were any made with round butt frames? Seems to me I've never seen one. Only seen square butt models.

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I don't know if this counts but there were 100 round butt 2 inches shipped after WW 2. There were made up of pre war parts .

SP
Yes, but so far as I know only 2" offerings had round butts. The snub version was available with either the round or square butt. The other available lengths were 4", 5" and 6". I don't believe I have seen any with those barrels and a round grip frame (at least not factory). As you know, I have been tracking the S prefix K frame guns for a couple years and have nearly 600 in my database.
We know there were 100 examples with the 2" barrel and round butts made up in a group in the S833xxx range. But those were not the only round butts produced during the two years of the S prefix guns.

About this:
People keep saying this. But it is not really accurate and is very misleading. It is not as if S&W had a whole bunch of prewar frames, barrels and internal parts lying around and then assembled them after the war. There certainly may have been some prewar parts included, but it is likely that a lot of the barrels were wartime production and some may have been forged after August of 1945 when the war ended.
As for the internal parts, the postwar M&P had the sliding safety mechanism that wasn't even conceived until the autumn of 1944, so those were definitely not "prewar parts" and the sideplates had to be machined to fit them.
Also, the vast majority of the S prefix guns were fitted with postwar Magna stocks. Again, those definitely were not "prewar parts." Production of them started in the late winter of 1946.
Finally, after October, 1946, the frames were not threaded for the hammer pivot stud, but the stud was simply pressed into the frame's left side and then polished flat on the outside. Therefore, the stud itself was certainly not a "prewar part." Whether or not an older frame was used at this point is anybody's guess, but it would have had to be one that had not already been threaded for the older type stud, unless the threads were drilled out, which seems to me to be unlikely.

In sum, I wish this myth about them being "made up from prewar parts" would just go away.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

There indeed were some unknown number of M&Ps sold on the civilian market by S&W after WWII, having the "SV" prefix to the serial number. They were identical to the wartime revolvers, and were made up of wartime-manufactured components remaining in factory inventory at war's end, but were given a blued finish and fitted with Magna-style grips. Any revolvers bearing the S prefix likely were made up from components manufactured after the war, but of course it is possible that some earlier S-series revolvers may have contained a few parts made during the war.

Were not the transitional guns of the pre-war DESIGN with the long action? That's what I mean when I say they used pre-war parts. Would you feel better if I said pre-war DESIGN parts? Do we really need to be this nit picky?

When I look at a 1946-48 M&P it sure looks like a pre-1945 gun. But like I keep saying, I'm not an expert. I don't have the fascination with the minutia to be a serious collector. Also don't have the cash...but that's another issue.

Thanks for the answer on the RB frames. I was thinking of the 2" guns and not the longer ones. I'm just so darned imprecise...

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Some pre war or wartime parts could have been used, and I suspect they were, especially barrels with patent dates. After the adoption of the sliding hammer block, different hammers, rebound slides, side plates, and hands would have been required. Triggers, frames, cylinders, thumb pieces, cylinder stops, ejectors, ejector rods and several other small parts are interchangeable. S&W did not throw stuff away if it could be used.

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Tom
1560

" Do we really need to be this nit picky? "

Come on SP, you have made your living on this board being this nit picky. The poster is just pointing out the facts.

Toyman, I believe you're "toying" with me now, this is one that I have on my short wish list. Very nice.

smith17- Not so at all. I'm not nit picky except with "pencil barrel" and that bugs me. Otherwise I don't go off on terminology. Obviously this is the case since I have the serious guys upset with me.

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No life story has happy end.

The desire to be rid of the "pre-war parts" talk has little to do with being nit-picky, but more with it appearing nonsensical. Smith&Wesson produced and delivered the M&P continuously with the same parts before, into and throughout the war, albeit with a different finish, producing guns at a high rate for most of that time, and the idea of those mystical "pre-war parts" lying around waiting to be assembled into guns after the war is, as far as I'm concerned, simply poppycock. As Jack said, the whole idea should just go away.

Aside from those components in factory inventory remaining from the wartime SV production which were later used for SV commercial production, in late 1945 there were probably very few remaining from before and during the war, just whatever was needed for use by the S&W service dept, and for gunsmith sale. Most industries attempt to control their inventories to the minimum level required to meet projected production needs, as excess inventory represents capital tied up in unproductive assets. At present, most manufacturers attempt to practice maintaining essentially zero parts inventory, maybe just enough for a few days of production, the so-called "Just in time" inventory control.

While I'm at it, I'll also put out something else that should also just go away - the term "Transitional."

Yes. I knew you were asking about the 2" snubbies. I just decided to give you more information than you asked for. I thought you might be interested.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not upset with you. I just try to provide the best information I can when I can add knowledge to a particular post or thread. If it feels like "nit-picking" to you, I'm sorry.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Yes. This brings up an interesting topic. One of the features that I'm tracking on the S prefix M&P is the cylinder release. The early examples have a thumb piece with beveled edges, the same as you find on prewar and wartime revolvers. The later thumb pieces are flat on the top and bottom. The changeover starts taking place at about serial number S852xxx, but the beveled type still shows up occasionally on guns with much higher serial numbers. The highest one I've found so far is at S928xxx, with several in the S903xxx range. But the flat style is definitely predominant after S852xxx.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Alrightyroo...hows about this: Into 1948 the M&P was built using the "long action" design and then in 1948 the design changed to the "short action."

I figured the "transitional" term worked if dividing the production into pre-war vs. post-war but OK, no pre or post or transitional. Only long and short. That work or is there something wrong with this too?

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No life story has happy end.

Works for me, SP.
The fact is, I don't use the "transitional" language myself to apply to the postwar M&P, but I don't care at all if someone else wants to say that. To each his own.

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Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

I come here because your all "nit picky"...