information please

[david cunningham]

i am trying to research a gun for a friend, my information came over the phone.
s&w 38 special
serial c357xxx
model number 26004 7 this is where the model number usually is
in the address there is what looks like Spanish or protégées writing
it is also marked usa

the model numbers have me confused as I can find no reference to any model
any information would be appreciated.

 

[steelslaver]

It is probably a "pre" model gun from before 1958 when S&W started using model numbers. The number from yoke cutout is an assembly number only used to keep all the pieces together during assembly in the factory. If it is a fix sight, 6 shot gun it is probably a pre model 10. I think the C serial numbers were K frames only. If adjustable sights a pre 14 or 15. Pre guns or non model numbered guns had actual names instead of model numbers. The Military and Police became the model 10, the 38 Combat Masterpiece the model 15, the 38 Masterpiece the model 14. . The combat magnum the model 19 etc etc. The Spanish is probably something referring to the trademark registration.

Hard to give anything more as your description has little detail.

 

[Absalom]

Indeed, with that C-prefix serial number and in .38 Special it can only be a Military & Police model from the mid-1950s. Model numbers, in this case the Model 10, started getting stamped in 1958 around the C 420-thousands somewhere.

 

[JP@AK]

As stated above, it is a .38 Military & Police, which became the Model 10 Military & Police model in 1958.

C357xxx is likely from late winter or early spring, 1956. I show several in that serial range that shipped in Feb-April of that year.

The C prefix was used only on K frames with fixed sights. The adjustable sight K frames from the same period had a K prefix.

The Spanish is Marcas Registradas (Trademark). S&W started stamping this on handguns in 1948. Pirated copies of S&W revolvers were coming out of Spanish-speaking countries and the company moved to protect its trademark. This was the advent of the four line address. Previously (since 1922) it had only said, "Made in U.S.A." on the side of the frame.

 

[david cunningham]

than you all for the information.