Help identify Pre-Model 10
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hkcavalier
US Veteran
More accurate to call it a .38 M&P, particularly from a parts perspective.
Is it .38 S&W or .38 S&W Special? There is a difference.
Correct grips are probably the "sharp shoulder" magnas which are difficult to find in great condition for a reasonable price. One set I saw on eBay was $120 buy-it-now.
Honestly, though not quite correct if it were mine I would put a set of vintage Victory grips on there, ones with some character. These are more like $40 a set.
Is it .38 S&W or .38 S&W Special? There is a difference.
Correct grips are probably the "sharp shoulder" magnas which are difficult to find in great condition for a reasonable price. One set I saw on eBay was $120 buy-it-now.
Honestly, though not quite correct if it were mine I would put a set of vintage Victory grips on there, ones with some character. These are more like $40 a set.
With the long action hammer most would call that a 38 M&P. A pre-model 10 would have the later short action that was adopted a few years before model number designations. Based on serial number it's post war, probably late-40s and the correct grips would most likely be checkered high-horn magnas.
Art Doc
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Your Military & Police Model was made 1946-1948 by the S prefix serial.
Are either of these two what you're suggesting?
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The grips on the left appear to be made of plastic and resemble the ones from the 1920s and the Magnas on the right are aftermarket.
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daddio202
Member
These are the grips you are looking for notice the sharp shoulder and the diamond around the screw holes otherwise known as escutcheons. They will have blued metal backing on the backside holding in the silver S&W medallions. Good luck in your hunt to find a nice set.
Attachments
I believe the set on the left are aftermarket plastic grips, not from the twenties.
I believe you are correct.
This is a postwar .38 M&P. It almost certainly shipped in January or February, 1947. As others have stated, it would not be correct to think of it as a "pre-model 10."
As for the chambering, I do not believe any in this serial range were chambered for the .38 S&W. If you look more carefully at the right side of the barrel, you will see it is chambered for the .38 S&W Special cartridge.
daddio202's photos illustrate the correct Magna stocks for the period. bigwagon has confused "high horn" with "sharp shoulder." The latter is what you want. "High horn" refers to the unique shape of particular Magna stocks produced for the Centennial revolvers, introduced in the early 1950s.
Looking closer at the barrel it is stamped "38 S&W SPECIAL CTG"
