Help ID S&W revolver

[kudu61]

A friend asked me to look into a S&W 38spl cal revolver owned by his late father. As best I can tell the Ser# is 857xxx
.It is blue, 5in barrel, #98779 on crane and frame, small grips(as they do not cover small pin in left side of frame),checkered wood grips, and hole for a lanyard ring in grip frame.On grip backstrap the #99988 is engraved tho obviously not factory engraving. My 1st impression is that this number was put there perhaps by a PD,Sherrifs Dept or whatever.Can anyone tell me when this piece was made and what the name of model it is? 5screw also. Thanks.I am new to this forum and I hope this is enough info to help.

 

[DCWilson]

Welcome to the forum. That gun is almost certainly a .38 Military & Police Model of 1905/fourth change. That serial number sequence, if there is no letter prefix, would probably have shipped from the factory in 1940 or 1941. If it has the letter S off to the left of the serial number, it would be of 1946 or 1947 manufacture. You should see the same serial number on the rear face of the cylinder and the flat underside of the barrel. The numbers you see on the frame and yoke when the cylinder is open are process control numbers that have no meaning once the serial number is on the gun. You can ignore them.

I agree that the number on the backstrap is probably an agency rack number.

 

[kudu61]

Thanks, it also does not appear to have a hammer block saftey.Also the Ser# is on rear of cyl.

 

[DCWilson]

Prewar guns had a hammer block safety, but it was a different design from the ones seen beginning in early 1945. The early hammer blocks were pieces of steel embedded in the side plate with a spring behind them. When you pulled the trigger, the rising hand would push the block out of the way into the sideplate. When you released the trigger after the hammer fall, the dropping hand would allow the block to return to its "safe" position. The problem with this system was that the sideplate groove could get fouled and hold the safety in the retracted position, where it would do no good against a sharp blow to the hammer.

 

[kudu61]

Thanks again. I see what you mean now. Tapping the hammer does not let the firing pin protrude past the frame.Thanks again tho I must confess I'm a COLT guy. ha

 

[Texas Star]

Five-inch barrel? Lanyard hole in butt? I smell a re-chambered British .38-200 here.

Photos? And do you see British proof marks on it?

Do the cartridge cases ever split or eject stickily?

 

[kudu61]

hi Texas, no Brit proofs. shoots 38spl quite nicely.Very smooth ejection. Barrel is quite thin in diameter if that would mean anything.hole for lanyard ring is placed in front of ser#, appears to have been held in with a lug of some sort as there is an open section in the hole toward the front toward the barrel and I think tool marks but no screw threads are visable. Where would Brit proofs be located?