Correct grips for a Model of 1905 4th Change

[Fortcouragearmory]

I have this Hand Ejector Model of 1905, 4th Change. It’s serial # is 335XXX. I’ve dated it to approximately 1919. It came to me with the grips shown. They look an awful lot like Victory Model grips. I haven’t been able to confirm or debunk if these are the proper grips for this model in this timeframe. Who has the correct info?

 

[JP@AK]

I have this Hand Ejector Model of 1905, 4th Change. It’s serial # is 335XXX. I’ve dated it to approximately 1919. It came to me with the grips shown. They look an awful lot like Victory Model grips. I haven’t been able to confirm or debunk if these are the proper grips for this model in this timeframe. Who has the correct info?

Yes. Those appear to be wartime stocks for a Victory Model.

If your revolver shipped in 1919, the correct stocks would look like these. Recessed brass medallion with a gold wash.

Sometime in early 1920, the stock style changed to these:

 

[DWalt]

Yes, the “Deep Dish” gold medallion grips were standard from approximately 1911 through 1919. The so-called Victory smooth wood grips were used 1942-1945. S&W ceased using the “Model of 1905” terminology in their catalogs in about 1915. They would have listed your revolver as a .38 Military and Police Model, square butt.

 

[Fortcouragearmory]

Just going off what the Supica book used for terminology.

 

[glowe]

First rule is that S&W revolvers did not ship in serial number order often, but at the time your revolver was made in early post-WWI era, demand was very high and inventories were low, so they mostly shipped in order. The last serial number shipped in the database I have shows that the last gun shipped in 1919 was 324,000 range. The first 1920 shipped gun was 325,000 range so your revolver likely had the non-medallion stocks.

Not sure exactly when the logo on this model changed, but my notes state that "small S&W logo on left side ran from 1920 to 1936". Where is your logo located?

Here is a 1920 S&W with non-medallion stocks.

 

[DWalt]

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I do not see a S&W logo on the frame in the picture. As frame logos were omitted during WWI until around mid-1920, it would have been made during that period. It is possible it could have shipped with either grip style depending on what style was in the parts bin when it was assembled.