My local shop has an M&P that shows very nicely. It is in very good to excellent condition and comes with what appears to be the correct gold box with info card. Barrel is 5".

Serial is S 856xxx. Single-line trademark.

I'm not an advanced collector but as I said the gun shows nicely and I'm becoming more interested in S&Ws from this era. So I'd consider purchasing at a fair price. They are asking roughly $1300.

Poking around on the net I see quite a few similar guns offered for a lot less money, but most do not have the box and high condition. I found one very similar with a 6" barrel for a lot less.

So the question is, what are these generally worth and what are the finer points that influence value? I'm particularly interested if the barrel length should make a difference. Thanks for your input.

Jack (JP@AK) is the local expert on these and may be along shortly with more information, He can probably tell you how common 5" guns were in this serial number range, but as you describe it to me this gun sounds about 40% overpriced.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

This one is a 5 inch, SN S837418 from 1946, the S prefix was used only 1946-1948, no box. I paid $150 for this one although that was 25 years ago. If I found one like it today with the box I might be willing to pay $800-$900. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

For me the 5" seemed a little harder to find. I don't know if they generally carry a premium over the 4". I purchased the one on top, S955xxx, from KenL so I probably paid a LOT! We'll see if Ken sees this.

$1300 seems high regardless, even with the original box. Show them this thread and they might come to their senses.

Top has the old long action hammer, bottom has short action "speed hammer". The 4" is my C prefix w/one line address which makes it a bit unusual, but again I don't know how that effects value. I spend what I need to for a gun I want.

Good luck with the negotiations.

Another interesting variation is the late war SV prefix guns (commercial production) that left the factory with the post war satin blue, the lanyard loop removed and plugged and a S stamped on the side plate under the stock panel. For me they bring a slight premium, but they were all 4" guns. The experts feel free to correct me on this point, but it's a little off subject.

Attached Images

IMG_0565 (2).jpg (183.1 KB, 20 views)

Probably shipped in December, 1946, or January, 1947.
There is one with a close-by serial number that shipped in March, 1947, in a batch of 10 to a single distributor. But that one is late for the serial range. Of course, they did not normally ship in serial order.

All the S prefix M&Ps still had the one line address. The last S prefix M&P (S999999) was assembled in March, 1948, before the change to the four line address.

Gold box is correct. The "info card" should be the Helpful Hints brochure.

The only barrel length that usually gets a premium is the 2". The 5" is the second most common during this period (second only to the 4").

Yes, that's a bit high, even with today's pricing. I think it is $400 to $500 high, but prices have risen over the past 2-3 years. I own about 2 dozen of these and the most I've paid was $650, and that one was a 6" unit that was nearly ANIB (just a tiny bit of blue wear).

I hope this helps.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

A few illustrations of the early postwar M&P revolvers (S prefix).


This one is very early, shipped in March, 1946. 5" barrel, maroon box, HH. Notice that it wears its original stocks that are in the prewar style. Those stocks were used on the early commercial SV and S prefix units. All of them were gone by April, 1946.


A 2" square butt, shipped in September, 1947.

Just for the fun of it, I'll throw this one in. It is a rare .32 M&P that shipped in April, 1948, to a distributor in New York.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

I picked up a nice 6" nickel M&P with MOP stocks (ca. 1949-1950) from my lgs abut 10 years ago for $350...no box or goodies. I would value it today at around $800 (including a slight premium for nickel). However, the 5" you're looking at is probably not as common as my 6", so add another $100 and $150 for the box. I would value that package at about $1050...IMO $1300 is much too much.

Attached Images

IMG_3201.jpg (87.8 KB, 5 views)

This is a common, but incorrect, assumption.

My research data (including approximately 15,000 units) indicate that the 6" was the least common barrel length in the 1946-48 period. Even the 2" units were produced in greater quantity, if you include both grip frame configurations. Of course, the round butt 2" is, by itself, the least common by far.

Here is the order:
4" (most common)
5"
2" square butt
6"
2" round butt

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

More than I would want to pay and I collect them. $800 would be my absolute top dollar and I'm not entirely sure I'd go that high.

Actually, no. The vast majority of the SV guns were 4" units (most were shipped to the Navy in or before August, 1945), but there was a substantial number of the SV units fitted with 5" barrels in the postwar period.

The highest SV number (less one oddball) in my database is SV813132. It is a 5" unit that shipped to a distibutor in Hartford, CT, on April 4, 1946.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Very interesting. I lust checked my SV812256. 4' with barrel ejector rod, plugged butt swivel, fitted with stocks with blued milled steel stock circle insert, long throw hammer. I paid $682 several years ago.

SV prefix on the butt but not on the cylinder or barrel flat. S on the side plate.

OP here. Thank you everyone for the input. Sounds like its overpriced, and that's good to know. Here's a photo of the gun in question.

That’s a nice example but not $1300 worth of nice, to me.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Yes, nice package. IF the box is numbered to the gun (in grease pencil on the bottom) and all the numbers match, including the stocks, I would go back with 8 crisp hundred dollar bills and see what they say. All they can say is NO. If it were me, and it's just me, I would have another hundred in my pocket, just because it goes well with others in my safe.

My SV 809976 was shipped to HD Folsom Co. 4-4-46. Has the original numbered purple box and actual pre war numbered and checkered magna stocks with the aluminum, patent dated stock circles. All the rest is like yours. It too is a 4". Bought it off this Forum for $800. The gun and box are minty. A letter came with the gun. Big Larry

Thanks for the tip on the box number, I didn't know about that. Cash money makes no difference to the shop, other than negating the credit card fee. The gun is a consignment so price flexibility depends on the owner.

Larry

Good info. But you should check that stock circle medallion with a magnet. I've never encountered one that was aluminum. It should be milled steel.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

The S on the top rear of the sideplate was a visual indicator that the inside of the sideplate had been milled for the new sliding hammer block safety. It eventually went away and many of the S prefix guns (from, for example, 1947 and 1948) do not have the S in that location.

No one has been able to confirm this, but I think that S was put there after the milling process to speed up identification of the correctly milled sideplates for the convenience of the fitters. At that time, there were still sideplates that lacked the appropriate milling on the inside. Production speed being especially important in 1945 (until August), every little bit helped. (NOTE: This is my unconfirmed theory.)

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

At that price I wouldn't be surprised if the gun sits for a while. I tend to agree with others that the gun is overpriced for what it is. I've seen more than a few overpriced (in my opinion) consigned guns that didn't move quickly unless someone either did no research or just impulse bought them. I have had some luck making offers to the consignee, especially if a gun sits for a while. And if I missed one at a price I considered too high so be it.

Photo attached of 5" SV7702XX.

Attached Images

SV 7702XX.jpg (168.8 KB, 16 views)

__________________
SWCA #590
"Colligo ergo sum"

Correctamundo. Just looks like aluminum. I would have had a hard time believing that they actually put prewar stocks on post war guns if they had not been numbered to the gun. I also have another 1946 gun with the blued stock circles and the hole for the domed screw, but it has post war checkering. They are also numbered to the gun. Big Larry

In my database, I have documented more than 50 postwar M&P units that shipped with the prewar style Magna stocks. None of them shipped later than April, 1946. There are also quite a few revolvers in the serial range encompassed by that group which no longer have their original stocks, so I suspect the total number that shipped with them will remain unknown. But it is more than a few.

Note: We don't know whether these were actually prewar Magna stocks that were found after the war and installed on postwar guns or if the earliest postwar stocks were simply checked in the prewar style. There has been some debate about that question, shored up by an extant letter from the early 1940s, stating that there were no more prewar Magna stocks in inventory. What we cannot know, unless new information is forthcoming, is whether someone found a cache of them after the war and then used them up. I tend to believe that is a possible explanation, but it is just a guess. Otherwise, we have to believe that for some reason, S&W had some prewar style stocks produced for a very short while in late 1945 or very early 1946, and then decided to reduce the checkered area and began turning out the postwar style stocks. People can argue this both ways until Doomsday, but pending discovery of some new info, we probably will never know the right answer.

Edit:
Since we like illustrations around here, I'm posting this picture for the upteenth time. It shows two M&Ps that shipped about one month apart (March and April, 1946). The top one (a 5" unit) is wearing correctly numbered prewar style Magna stocks; the bottom one (a 4" unit) is wearing a correctly numbered pair of the earliest style postwar Magna stocks.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Interesting thread.

Jack, did any of the early post-war SV revolvers use the military style smooth grips? I have one that is in nice shape (SV 809,351 with plugged lanyard ring hole and S sideplate) but has the smooth grips. It was listed as having original grips, but I now think they were replaced at some point, based on the info in this thread.

Thanks for that picture Jack. Just today i was wondering how to tell pre-war from post-war magnas without taking them off the gun. My milled blued steel insert magnas, which I now understand are early post war, have the normal (if there is such a thing) reduced checkering area.

It's been good getting reacquainted with some guns that have been tucked away in the safe for a while.

That is a very nice looking M&P .38. Like most have said, they'd like it better if it were cheaper. Well, no kidding, wouldn't we all. When you're looking at it, and you want it, that makes it worth a little more. Try polite negotiation on the pricing, but think about how you might feel if someone else comes in and buys it. I've regreted the ones I didn't buy more than the ones I did. Just because it's not a bargain, doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it. I don't know where you are, so in your location, you may not see these often.

__________________
Wayne
Torn & Frayed

I have a 5” SV M&P in the 770XXX range in about 90% condition, and I have never seen another. I would not sell for $1000.

One hesitates to say "never" in the S&W world. However, I have not seen, nor heard of, any postwar commercial .38 M&P that was sent to a distributor, police department or individual with smooth wartime stocks. None show up in my database.

The one you own (SV809351) is clearly a postwar commercial example (plugged swivel hole, etc.). The highest number that shipped to the Navy is SV802722, which shipped on August 13, 1945, to the Norfolk Navy Yard (note the significance of that date!).

Moreover, it is in the range of a large shipment that went to the NYPD in early 1946. I don't find that number listed in that shipment, but SV809352 and SV809354 are on that list. I have very little doubt that the stocks you describe are not original to that revolver.

I suspect, as you do, that someone put them on the gun later.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Thank you for the thoughtful reply and info. I guess I need to decide whether to leave the smooth grips in place, or search for a correct (but misnumbered) pair of grips. Either option is not original, but I can get it looking more correct.

Aren't the smooth stocks numbered? Big Larry

I always keep a 100 dollar bill in each boot for such occasions!
IMO ,, Buy it!

They are unnumbered, but well fitted. Most likely replaced at some point.