I would like a bit of help Identifing my pistol please.

[Jeffytune]

Hi all.
I inherited this pistol from my Grandfather, it was his home defense/hunting sidearm. He may have gotten it through the DCM sales.
From the pictures on the sticky I see it is a 38 special 5 screw hand ejector. It had a 6 inch barrel that was damaged from corrosive primers at some point in it's life, knowing my Grandad it came that way, he always cleaned after shooting.
After I got it, at a gun show I found a part seller who had a brand new 5 inch barrel for 25 bucks, I bought it and had it installed by a gunsmith, and he also checked the timing.
It is a very solid shooter.
I did keep the original barrel.
I had posted the numbers from the crane area and the ones on the heal of the butt, but they were no help.
I see on the old barrel there is a number set on the flat area where the ejector rod goes.

Barrel
B 254237.

Crane numbers
7315

Butt
2 (Hole for a lanyard loop) 137

On top of the barrel there are two lines of script.
Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass. U.S.A. Patented
Oct.8.01.Dec.17.01.Feb.8.08.Sept.14.09.Dec.29.14

 

[Hondo44]

Welcome aboard.

What a great heirloom to be handed down within the family. Be sure to write down its provenance for future generations; grandfather's full name, what you posted about when/where he got the gun, when it came to you, and anything else you know about it.


The serial is 254237 and should be on the gun butt, however as you indicate the drilled lanyard swivel must have defaced the original stamped number leaving only 2 - hole - 1 (probably piece of the two) 37.

To be a legal gun, frame serial # (the one on the butt) should be intact. It should have been restamped on the side of the grip frame under the grip. Please check for that!

The B on the barrel stands for a blue finish when originally shipped from the factory. Letters are only part of the serial # when they precede or follow the s/n stamped on the gun butt.

A .38 Spl # 254237 indicates it's officially a .38 Military & Police Model 1905" that collectors label as a 4th change, which were made from 1915 to 1942. Yours was likely produced in the 1915 -1916 era before WW I. It doesn't seem likely that it was obtained from the DCM out of military surplus if it doesn't have any US service markings. Other members will know more than I about this model.

Enjoy owning and shooting a piece of family history.

 

[Alk8944]

Take the stocks off. If the lanyard ring was installed by S&W post-factory they will have stamped the serial number on the left side of the grip frame parallel to the bottom. The serial number will also be found on the back of the cylinder, among several other places that are difficult to see.

If there is a letter in front of the numbers on the butt that is part of the serial number and is needed to determine date.

The SN on the replacement barrel means nothing to identify the gun, but the number on the original barrel should match the cylinder and butt numbers. The "B" on the barrel flat simply means the gun, or the one the barrel came from, was originally blued.

Pictures help!

Hondo44 is right about SN, It didn't register that you said that was on the original barrel. I have several numbers in my SN collection between 250,000 and 255,000 that shipped between March and August 1916.

 

[DWalt]

Regarding SN 254237 (no letter prefix), on my list I have two very close SNs, one shipping in 7/16, and the other shipping in 8/16. I doubt it came from DCM. as it would not have been military.

 

[Jeffytune]

Thank you all for your responses, yes, I see the serial number on the back of the cylinder, man that is small print.

Here are a couple pictures. Most of the bluing is still here, the barrel is a NOS 5 inch and was brand new when I had it installed. The side plate and the back strap have turned plum brown.
My hands are kinda on the large side, the stock grips were too small for me, so I took a set of grips from a N frame I had, I shaved the back to match, and put in a finger groove for my pinky.
I am kinda proud of them, and the feel good in my hands.

 

[Jeffytune]

 

[KEN L]

Most likely Jun/Jul time frame 1916.

 

[Art Doc]

Without the serial on the frame the gun is illegal and I am surprised a gunsmith accepted it for work. He's supposed to call the cops and surrender such guns to protect himself.

 

[DWalt]

Uhhh.....
BE Mike,
You really need to read up on GCA-68. If a gun is not an antique (pre-1899), and left the factory with a SN on its frame or receiver, and that SN has been altered, removed, or defaced, it is illegal.

 

[BE Mike]

I concede that you are correct. I was confusing a gun not serialized before the 68 GCA with one that had been serialized. The revolver with part of the serial number obliterated would appear to be contraband.

 

[chiprboy]

Does S&W have a database to search SN#s?
My father-in-law just handed me a S&W pistol SN# 407547.
No caliber markings, just S&W logo and patent info.

 

[DWalt]

It's best to start a new thread than to break into an unrelated ongoing thread.

You have provided very little information to go on in identifying your revolver. S&W made many, many revolvers of different types and calibers having the same SNs. You need to provide some pictures, the caliber, the barrel length, and the number of chambers in the cylinder, plus the serial number. Additionally, some SNs have a letter prefix to the SN, and that is also very important to identification. If you provide more information, someone can probably help you - a SN alone is inadequate. Without a caliber stamping yours may be a very old top-break revolver.