Highway Patrolman

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mallard1

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Hello all, I hope that I am posting this in the correct place as I am not sure of the year this revolver was made, I have just acquired a smith and wesson revolver marked highway patrolman, I thought these were model 28's, however this one does not have model 28 on it where the cylinder swings out it has 456 41 and over that is a 1 and under it is a 7. Is this still considered a model 28? Is there a way to tell when it was made and possible ballpark value?
Thanks!
 
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It became the Model 28 about 1957.
The numbers you are looking at are fitting numbers and have no meaning after leaving the factory.
The serial number is on the bottom of the grip frame.
That will give us something to work with to give you an approximate age.

You may have to remove the grips to read the number.

Pictures are required.:D
 
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S 1343xx suggests it probably shipped in 1956. That SN is in the 1954-1955 production range. Remember that S&W did not ship in serial number order, so 1956 is just an educated guess based upon known shipping dates of nearby serial numbers. A Highway Patrolman is simply a pre-Model 28.
 
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You certainly are posting in the right place.

About nomenclature:
S&W used to give their revolvers names. Yours was named the Highway Patrolman. Then, as Iggy said, S&W got the bright idea in about '57 to give their products model numbers. The HP was redesignated as the Model 28. But to keep things confusing, S&W retained the HP designation on the barrel. Strictly speaking, yours is a Highway Patrolman, not a Model 28. Some people say "pre-28".

About price:
Yours will be referred to as a "Five Screw", since it has four sideplate screws and another screw in front of the trigger guard. It is also "P&R" (pinned and recessed). And it has the very desirable "Diamond Footballs" (Target stocks with the extractor cutout. Later on S&W eliminated the little diamonds). Many of us love these old features and are willing to pay more to get them.

I would just say a lower-end price would be $600 and it could easily go up from there, especially if you have the box and other accessories.

My Highway Patrolman / pre-28:
I bought the one below from Cabelas. They had it marked as a Model 28, although it clearly is a pre-28 / HP. That's a common mistake that probably only this Forum cares about. You will note it has 5 screws and a 6 inch barrel like yours, but diamond magna stocks (ie, not diamond targets like yours). I got it for $400 + tax, but that was a few years ago. It has the smoothest action of any S&W revolver I have ever handled. The finish isn't the greatest, but the finish on these was always low budget anyways. The whole idea was to keep the price down for sales to law enforcement.

I wouldn't let it go for $600. If it had diamond targets, I probably wouldn't let it go for $700.
HP_Pre28.jpg
 
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Here is a later version, an M28-2. If you look closely, you can see it still has Highway Patrolman on the barrel. You can see the stocks have no diamond, the upper sideplate screw is missing as is the one in front of the trigger guard, making this a "three screw". At least it's P&R! :D
I tried to get artsy by adding the sight adjustment tool and spare set of Footballs.
HP.jpg
 
A few things that may bring the price down, at least to a collector:
The stocks look like they don't fit right. Maybe someone else can say if they are K-Frame Stocks (the HP has the larger N-Frame).
The front sight has a red insert. I don't think this was a factory option back when yours was made so it was added later.
The trigger looks like it may have had a trigger shoe on it(?) at some point.

On the plus side, it does seem to have a much better than average finish. It's funny, some of these left the factory with a better polish and finish than others. My guess is that a really experience old pro did the polishing and finishing, and / or they had a light work load that day and it got extra attention.

Someone can correct me if I'm off base on any of this. It is worth every bit of $550.
 
Very nice! I notice the front sight is painted red. Looks like someone has been shooting it. They are a fun gun to shoot. Enjoy!
 
2ffat said:
Very nice! I notice the front sight is painted red. Looks like someone has been shooting it. They are a fun gun to shoot. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
It looks to have been shot a little though the finish is very nice, however the front sight is not painted it is a red insert that looks to be factory from other photos I have seen but I am not an expert.
 
Looks like a red insert front sight to me too, but it is a picture and I'm not holding it in mt hands.

Either way, very nice gun for that price. I would be all over it like a cheap suit.

TRE


mallard1 said:
It looks to have been shot a little though the finish is very nice, however the front sight is not painted it is a red insert that looks to be factory from other photos I have seen but I am not an expert.
Click to expand...
 
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