6" Hand Ejector

[Willwillwin]

Hello,

I am trying to run down the model and date of manufacture for a hand ejector.

Here are the facts:
Serial Number: S 995XXX Located on the butt of the grip and the underside of the barrel
Length: 6"
Sights: Fixed
No Model Number
Screws: 4 visible, including a front trigger guard screw. There could be a fifth potentially under the grips.
Caliber: 6 Shot, .38 S&W Special Ctg

 

[Willwillwin]

Here are two photos. They aren't the best quality, my apologies.

20170723 163435 — imgbb.com
20170723 163420 — imgbb.com

 

[Tom Kent]

That is a Military and Police model, called by some a "pre model 10". I have one like it that dates to 1948. Model numbers were not assigned until 1957-58 and it became the model 10. It looks as though it could tell some stories. If mechanically sound, it is a real good shooter. Enjoy it.

 

[murphydog]

Welcome! Tom is correct on the ID, a .38 M & P. It has "character" .

It is somewhat of a scarce variation, as this was one of the about 10,000 examples at the end of the S prefix series made with the then-new short action. Jack (JP@AK) is the local expert on these and will be along with more information and questions.

 

[Texas Star]

That squiggle hammer dates it to between 1948 and maybe 1954-55, before the later hammer arrived.

 

[DWalt]

As alluded to earlier, that SN indicates a fairly uncommon (at least in the quantity made) variation of the Military and Police Model. First, yours would likely have shipped in mid-1948, maybe June or July. At around SN S990xxx, S&W made a significant engineering change in the design of the firing mechanism, going from the old "long" action to a newer "short" action. And the S-series M&Ps ended at S999999 (S1000000?), so there were fewer than 10000 of the short action M&Ps in the S-series like yours made. The short action continued in production from that point on, the next series being the C-series. It's easy to tell the difference between the long action and the new short action by looking at the shape of the hammer, and yours has the new so-called "High Speed Hammer". You have what some collectors would call a very early pre-Model 10. The wooden grips appear to be correct for that time period. While it's probably a good shooter, in its present condition it would be worth little, if any, more than any other 6" pre-Model 10 revolver in the same condition despite its somewhat unusual characteristics.