Help identifying an older S&W

[nathanours]

Hello everyone,

A friend of mine was recently given an older S&W revolver for some work he did. I do not have pics or the serial number, and am trying to figure out which model it is. There is no model number on the yoke like on the newer guns.

It has what appears to be around a 1" barrel
It is not a bull barrel, or at least it is pretty thin
It has fixed sights
It is bigger than my J frame
It holds 6 shots
It has a square butt with wood grips
It is blued
It is chambered in 38 special, not 38+p
It has a normal style hammer that is exposed (unlike some of the newer j frames that are rounded an you can only grip a small exposed portion of the hammer)
The firing pin in on the hammer
It has the older style cylinder release (as opposed to the newer style on the lock guns)
The serial number was engraved on the bottom of the butt
The front sight is a half circle shape, the rear sights are cut into the top of the frame

Any ideas? He showed it to me last night by his truck, but it was dark out and now I am kicking myself for not writing down the serial number because I am curious what it could be.

I know it could be a lot of things, but if you guys could help me narrow down my search that'd be great.

Thanks,

Nathan

 

[nutsforsmiths]

It sounds like 38 Military and Police (M&P), later to become the Model 10. With the description of the front sight being of the half moon style, it should be before 1955 or so, when the front sight design was changed. The barrel is certainly a 2"

If the serial number starts with the letter 'C' then it is most likely between 1949-1955. If it starts with an 'S', then it is 1947-1949. If it starts with a 'V' or 'VS', then it is a WWII Victory model. If there is not a letter before the serial number then it is older then 1940. I am not an expert on this model, but I don't think there were too many 2" barrel lengths until after WWII.

Also, the serial number should be on the butt, as you described, on the back of the cylinder, and the underside of the barrel flat where the ejector rod goes into. If the grips are original to the pistol, then they would have the same serial number on the inside of the grips.

Again, I am not an expert on this model, so my dates might be a year or two off. Someone should be coming along to give you a better idea then I probably did.

Of course, pictures would certainly help.

 

[DCWilson]

It is likely to be a .38 Military & Police with a two-inch barrel. These were first made in the 1930s in small numbers, and came into their own in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Can't tell you much more without a serial number, because there were different models with different model designations and even some engineering changes.

If this gun has no locking lug under the barrel to retain the end of the ejector rod, it is a cut down WWII revolver that has little value. If there is a locking lug and the ejector rod is short, it could be a desirable configuration of the .38 M&P or the Model 10.

 

[nathanours]

It is likely to be a .38 Military & Police with a two-inch barrel. These were first made in the 1930s in small numbers, and came into their own in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Can't tell you much more without a serial number, because there were different models with different model designations and even some engineering changes.

If this gun has no locking lug under the barrel to retain the end of the ejector rod, it is a cut down WWII revolver that has little value. If there is a locking lug and the ejector rod is short, it could be a desirable configuration of the .38 M&P or the Model 10.

It does have a lug at the end of the barrel. It isn't a full lug though, and begins where the ejection rod ends. It doesn't encase the rod like my 686 does.

 

[dinghysailer]

Without pictures and or a partial serial number we are all in the dark. There is no differentiation between models that will tolerate +P ammo. Even the Heavy Duties, precurser to the .357 Magnum, were marked 38 S&W SPL CTG. The only way to know about +P is to be sure about the date of the revolver vs. when S&W started heat treating cylinders in the 1920s. Serial number may include a letter, well separated from the number, on the butt.

 

[H Richard]

Did it look like this? This is a 1957 version (C prefix) of the M&P 38. This was shipped about the time the Model numbers were starting to be applied, and would have been called a model 10.

 

[DCWilson]

It does have a lug at the end of the barrel. It isn't a full lug though, and begins where the ejection rod ends. It doesn't encase the rod like my 686 does.

That pretty much forces the gun to be a .38 M&P, which was built on the company's mid-sized K frame.

Here's another example to use for comparison. This one is similar to the one in the preceding post, but dates to about 10 years earlier (1947). Notice the different hammer profile, which is associated with the so-called "long action" guns that the company built up through early 1948. The gun is the preceding post is a short-action model of the M&P, which was first produced in early to mid-1948. The long action guns will almost all have an S prefix, and the short action guns will all have a C prefix, apart from a very few S-prefix guns numbered above about S990000 that will also be of the short action variety.