S&W pre model 10 2"

jjroth63 · Nov 3, 2020

Hi,
I have a S&W hand ejector revolver, I think it is a pre model 10. It is a 38 S&W SPL CTG 2" with serial # C 165371. It is blue with original grips, half moon front sight, frame groove rear sight.
Please let me know if I am correct, I am looking for year of manufacture and approximate value and any other information.
Thanks,
John

tops · Nov 3, 2020

!948-1967 Larry

Lee Barner · Nov 3, 2020

i'll go out on a limb and say 1951ish. someone with a database will be along with a close guess. Lee

scha · Nov 3, 2020

In my area, one very similar to this (1952 vintage 2 in similar condition with original grips) sold 2 years go for $425. Hope this helps.

Wiregrassguy · Nov 3, 2020

.38 M&P Pre-Model 10 serial C151961 was shipped in February 1952. But, .38 M&P Pre-Model 10 serial C156210 was shipped in March 1951. Which just illustrates that S&W did NOT ship in SN order. When JP@AK wakes up and votes, maybe his database is more precise.

I think the previous poster is pretty close on value.

Muss Muggins · Nov 3, 2020

Very nice pistol. They'd have $499 on it at the LGS's around here . . .

Muss Muggins · Nov 3, 2020

Very nice pistol. I'd take the stocks off and see if the serial number is memorialized on the back. They'd have $499 on it at the LGS's around here . . .

22hipower · Nov 3, 2020

I have C165078 which I think is 1951 but don't have a letter. Paid $432 for it but that was six years ago. Wouldn't expect to find it where I shop now for less than $500; likely would be $599 and negotiated from there. Enjoy.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

H Richard · Nov 3, 2020

I have C168xxx, 2" which shipped Apr 1952, so I would also guess mid 1951.

Welcome to the S&W Forum, stick around, there are a lot of like minded people hanging around here.

JP@AK · Nov 3, 2020

The closest one on my list shipped in March, 1951. But, as Guy noted, they did not ship in serial order, so you can easily have a few months leeway in either direction.

raljr1 · Nov 3, 2020

Mine is C150035 and shipped in Feb 1951

Robert

Retired W4 · Nov 3, 2020

Yea, this really illustrates S&W's habit of not shipping in SN sequence. Not even close. My 2" SB, C188067 shipped July 6, 1951 to Sharp Horsey Hardware, right here in hot lanta.

pasound · Nov 3, 2020

I have 2" Pre-10 C124xxx shipped 8/14/50 - a month before I was born. Lettered. The serial numbers are all over the map. Letters are the only way to make sure.

Waveski · Nov 3, 2020

Welcome to the forum.
That is a fine revolver , very classy.
Please consider calling your revolver a Military and Police , or M&P , because that's what it is.

I lucked out on this S prefix , 1947 , last year. Set me back about $470.

DWalt · Nov 4, 2020

The closest 2" M&P I have listed to your C165371 is C16888x which shipped in 4/52. While any M&P snubby in higher condition is desirable and will command a premium price vs. a contemporary M&P having a longer barrel, those few snubbies which were made prior to WWII can be very valuable, while postwar (long action) examples in the S series are generally more desirable than C series snubbies.

larryofcc · Nov 4, 2020

Waveski said:
Welcome to the forum.
That is a fine revolver , very classy.
Please consider calling your revolver a Military and Police , or M&P , because that's what it is.

I lucked out on this S prefix , 1947 , last year. Set me back about $470.

Good call. A pistol is a semi-auto and a wheel gun, a revolver. At least that's what we were taught in the Marine Corps. Just saying. Big Larry

DWalt · Nov 4, 2020

larryofcc said:
Good call. A pistol is a semi-auto and a wheel gun, a revolver. At least that's what we were taught in the Marine Corps. Just saying. Big Larry

Way back when, Sam Colt advertised his handguns as "pistols." And of course there are also single shot pistols of many designs, they don't have to be semiauto.

tenntex32 · Nov 4, 2020

larryofcc said:
Good call. A pistol is a semi-auto and a wheel gun, a revolver. At least that's what we were taught in the Marine Corps. Just saying. Big Larry

I have that habit too........even though my grandfather loved to call them both "pistolas".

I think I do it simply to keep folks from correcting me as they see fit, but to be honest I tend to call most anything that goes bang a gun, and all ships are boats to me. At a young age various soda pops were simply "Cokes". (I might have done the ship/boat thing just to annoy the Navy folk while on "boat" deployment.

)

I know, there's simply no hope for me now.

JP@AK · Nov 4, 2020

Interestingly, Sturm, Ruger always listed their semi-autos as "pistols" and their wheel guns as "revolvers." They still do.

If you contemplate the history a bit, you realize that handguns of the muzzle-loading, black powder variety were mostly single shots (with some obvious exceptions) and were routinely called "pistols." So, the early revolvers tended to get that moniker as well. When auto-loaders came along in the late 1800s, they were called "pistols" also. The revolvers gradually earned the right to be called by their description (they had revolving cylinders) and the auto-loaders retained the "pistol" name. almost exclusively. It seems this was particularly true in the military.

None of this really "proves" anything. I just find it interesting, from an historical perspective.

JP@AK · Nov 4, 2020

tenntex32 said:
to be honest . . . all ships are boats to me.

I didn't serve in the Navy, but a submarine is a boat. All the other warships are ships.

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