Got this last week. Not quite what I thought I was getting.
It had rubber Houge grips, the sights aren't original and it has some nicks on the frame where the barrel goes through the frame.
When I got home I looked it up in the book. It should have a 4 inch barrel.
The real surprises came while cleaning the leading out of the barrel.
The barrel has been free bored on the cylinder side just past the front the frame.
Its not oversized a bullet won't start.
I guess this was built for competition.
It looks like it was made in 1984. S.N. abz4xxx.

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Do you mean the ad indicated it was 4"? They did make both 4 and 6 inch in the 24-3 run from the 80s. I have the 4 inch.

That's a Millett rear sight. The extra sight radius is nice to have, but I found their white outline a bit distracting. It can be blacked out with a carbon lamp.

The 24-3 came out about when S&W first deleted the pinned barrel. They went with a "crush fit" barrel threading. The result of this was, many revolvers had a choked bore right where it threads into the frame.
Result? Excess leading!
The free bore probably alleviates that. I'd look at it as a bonus, especially if you plan to shoot it!

Enjoy!

That Model 24-4 definitely has a 6 inch barrel, no doubt about that and no way to measure it and come up with only 4 inches. The rear sight was made by Millett and many considered this to be a significant upgrade from the factory rear sight. As for the freebore, unless I am missing something, it looks like S&W revolver barrel throating to me. Might also be some erosion too, but the picture is not quite sharp enough for me to be sure.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

A great gun. S&W retained the classic 6 1/2” barrel on this model just like the original model 24s. I have this one and the 4”. The longer one is amazingly accurate. I believe they made 2500 4 inchers and 5000 like yours. Or close to that.

The 4 inch barrel has the .400 hammer and the .260 trigger.
6.5 inch barrel has the .500 hammer and the .400 trigger.
According to the SCSW book.

The barrel has been bored about an inch deep. Its not the best picture but the reason can't really see anything is because there is no rifling there.

Feels like it had some trigger work done.

Maybe it is leaded (not bored) looking like it has no rifling?
Ed

Your best option is to take it to the range and check it out. I know of an old fix called Taylor throating where the entrance angle has less taper and is lengthened but that seems extreme.
Was this bought on line or did you miss it on an in person check?

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Front sight and squeeze

It was leaded real bad didn't notice until I cleaned it.
See 6strings reply .
Hope to get to the range soon.

S&W barrels were always a crush fit, the pin did not actually hold the barrel unless the barrel was not properly torqued into the frame. Barrels with a choke were more a function of a barrel that was not fitted quite right and it required extra torque to get the front sight into the 12 o'clock position.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Is it just the photo or did someone grind the serrations off of the backstrap ?

At one time what is called "Taylor Throating" was somewhat commonly done to S&W revolvers. In essence it was a freebore of the portion of the barrel shank within the frame lunette. The purpose was to eliminate the "Frame Choke" common to S&W, with the idea it would increase accuracy. This link will take you to an article where Taylor Throating is discussed:taylor throating a revolver at DuckDuckGo

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Just because the hammer and trigger don't match, it doesn't mean the gun started out as a 4". These parts are easy to change and it happened quite often. I've changed a few myself.
Looks to me that the original owner had no problem with modifying the gun to his own desires.
Only a factory letter can tell you the gun's original configuration.

Walter that is an aftermarket sight. It does have sections .

Grayfox it would be easier to change the hammer and trigger. The reason I think it was the barrel that was changed is it looks like someone use pliers or something to hold or twist the frame. I don't think a letter is worth what they charge.

I was asking about the serrations on the back of the grip frame. The photo is a bit blurry, at least on my monitor. I was curious if maybe someone had ground them down and used cold blue on the frame.

I don’t know what leads you to believe it was originally 4”. I don’t recall there being different SN ranges for the two lengths.

If you’re going by hammer/trigger widths, those parts can be swapped a lot more easily than the barrel. Most people don’t like the wide target trigger for DA work.

The only way to know for sure would be the original box or factory letter.

IIIRC, there were 2,625 4” guns produced, so it’s more likely the barrel is what it left Springfield with.

I’ve never seen or heard of thread-choke on an unpinned S&W. Nor have I ever experienced excessive leading with proper-fitting cast bullets. Rugers are a different story.

More likely it was shot with undersized and over-hard commercial cast bullets.

I own 2 4” 24-3s, both purchased new. One will pass a .433 pin gauge through a 6 throats, the other measures .432.

Walter all the serrations are good. I took these pictures with my tablet, it doesn't take a very good picture.

Here's some more pictures. You can see how far down the barrel the land starts. You can see a nick in the frame. The other picture you can see a nick on the other side. That's why I think the barrel was changed. It might have been ordered that way. As long as it shoots good is all that matters.

The nicks were alot worse the first time I saw it. The pawn shop must have filed it down to Make it look better. I did use this to my advantage, they came down $275 on the price.

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Those are better pictures. The barrel throat is definitely not factory and it is possible that it was done to eliminate a constriction where the barrel is threaded into the frame. Speaking of the frame, those marks could be from where the revolver frame was placed into a vice, possibly for a barrel swap.

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It is what it is. A nice old gun. Not a beauty queen.but it is an M24.

Amazing how many people do not understand that. Anybody who has fit barrels knows this. They think the pin does some magical work. All smith barrels are fit to 1/8 turn or so from top dead center then torqued to 12 o’clock pinned or not.