ID help- post WWII M&P?

[Oxenford1550]

I have a 38 S&W Special revolver, with a 5 inch barrel, and on the bottom of the butt S/N S 814292. It has five screws, (one is hidden under the grip), and what looks to be a plug on the bottom between the "S" and the numbers. The bluing is mostly gone but it shoots well and locks up tight. Sorry, the pictures are poor.

Any ideas on the model type and when it was made or shipped?

Since the finish is a bit rough, and I don't think it's rare, would there be any reason not to re-blue it?

Thanks.

 

[MelvinWalker]

I would not reblue it....It doesn't look rough to me. The grips are probably original and the finish is appropriate wear to the rest of the gun.

I'd leave it just the way it is, if it were me.

 

[daddio202]

Check the face of the cylinder and under the barrel on the flat spot, should be same numbers as the butt. It is a post war transitional M&P. It Still has long action and large ejector knob as pre war guns. Just like the SV serial guns that were commercial versions of the victory frames that were made during ww2 the factory plugged the lanyard hole. A serial number will also be on the inside of the right grip also. If that number matches Hou have a well used original post war M&P.

 

[Slufstuff]

It does not look that bad in the pictures. I would not re-finish it. You would be spending money on it that you will not recover in any added value. In other words, I do not think it will be worth any more refinished than it is now, likely even less.

 

[Oxenford1550]

Thanks for the quick feedback. I am putting off any changes for now.

Yes, the cylinder face and the flat area under the barrel have the same serial number but without the "S" prefix.

Is there a way to find out about when it was manufactured or shipped?

 

[JP@AK]

Hi Oxenford1550 and welcome to the S&W Forum.

Your revolver is a postwar .38 Military & Police model that almost certainly shipped in March 1946. Shipments to civilian distributors resumed on March 1, 1946, so this one was in an early postwar shipment.

The stocks are period correct and probably are original to that revolver. Units in this serial range usually had machined washers in the stock circle, retaining the medallion. I suspect they will be in-the-white and not blued. If you could remove the stocks and confirm that, I'd be grateful. I maintain a database that includes slightly over 15,000 units from this period (1946-1948) and I'd like to enter that information. While you have the stocks off, you can confirm that those shipped with the gun by comparing the serial number on the right hand panel with the number on the butt.

If the stocks are original, your revolver has a current market value in the $500 to $600 range as it sits right now. I would strongly urge you not to have it refinished. That would cut the value in half immediately. Left alone the value will go up over time.

 

[MajorD]

To piggyback on JP@AK take a gun currently valued as is at $500 spend $400 refinishing it properly, and it will then be worth $400.

 

[Oxenford1550]

Thanks to all for the advice- I will leave well enough alone.

JP@AK, I am including photos of the grips. The only number I could find was 136 270 on the right grip so it doesn't look like a match. Thanks for all the background information.

 

[quinn]

Howdy froma cold south Texas. I find your gun interesting. If the lanyard ring hole is NOT drilled through any numbers but is clearly between the S and the digits, I would expect that it was factory done that way. Given the wear pattern and the lanyard your M&P could very possibly be a polide department shipped gun. This could also be born out by the correct era grips with a different serial. Department armorers often cleaned or serviced several department guns at the same time. There was no concern about getting the exact same grips back on the reassembled gun. Only a Historical Foundation letter could tell you the original destination for sure. Transitional guns as well as LEO guns have their own collector community. Congrats.

 

[JP@AK]

If the lanyard ring hole is NOT drilled through any numbers but is clearly between the S and the digits, I would expect that it was factory done that way. Given the wear pattern and the lanyard your M&P could very possibly be a police department shipped gun.

At serial number S814292 the swivel hole would be normal regardless of destination. The hole continues to be present on nearly all frames up to about S820000 before it stops being common.

 

[JP@AK]

JP@AK, I am including photos of the grips. The only number I could find was 136 270 on the right grip so it doesn't look like a match.

Good info.

Those stocks were originally on either a K target sight gun from 1952 (hence K136270) or a fixed sight M&P from 1950 (hence C136270). The stamped steel washer is consistent with both those serial numbers and the sharp shoulder was still in use until late 1952 or very early 1953.

 

[DWalt]

All the foregoing information is accurate. Yours is among the earliest M&Ps made after S&W re-started production of revolvers specifically for the civilian market after WWII. There were some very similar M&P revolvers sold on the civilian market at around the same time which were assembled from wartime-produced components remaining in factory inventory at the war’s end. Those are easily distinguished as they have a “SV” serial number prefix instead of the “S” prefix yours has. S&W produced the same version of that M&P revolver until around serial number S990xxx, at which time there was an engineering design change made to the internal mechanism components.

As noted, the grips are at least period-correct. And I am sure you now know there is a negative benefit in re-bluing the revolver.

 

[LVSteve]

Did I read somewhere that the 5", S-series guns are somewhat uncommon. I have a 6" example.

 

[JP@AK]

Did I read somewhere that the 5", S-series guns are somewhat uncommon. I have a 6" example.

You may have read that, but it is not correct. My research has demonstrated that, of the four available barrel lengths, the 5" is the second most common, behind the 4". The 6" is the least common. But none of them are rare or even scarce.

 

[DCWilson]

S814910 shipped 30 Apr 1946.

(This is one of the rarely seen postwar M&Ps with adjustable sights that S&W manufactured for export. There was no commercial distribution in the US.)

 

[Oxenford1550]

Thanks again for the wealth of information everyone has provided. I didn’t realize how much history is involved.