Just a little bit off, but I bought it any way.

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I have been eyeballing this at my favorite LGS/Range for some little while and finally decided to jump. It appears to be a pre-war Targetmaster, Serial # 47xxx. Pretty nice shape. Timed correctly. Nothing obviously buggered up. It will be a shooter. It is strange in one regard. The cylinder and barrel match each other but do not match the frame. Their number is 81247. The rib on the top of the barrel is somewhat wider than the one on my original and correct matching numbers 1948 vintage Targetmaster. And the grips that came on the "new" gun are absolutely hideous. They have "elephant ear" extensions going well up the sides on both sides of the revolver. They are either very well worn or were checkered very shallow. They do not match well and the screw and estucheons look "mickey mouse." I am GUESSING that at some point after WWII the owner decided that he wanted a .38 instead of a .32 and had it rebarrelled and recylindered by Smith. Could be other explanations of course but that it was I am guessing right now. I will very likely have it lettered. It is right now in CA gun jail but when I get it out I will post photos and a range report. Price was decent though not great ($600) and I expect to put a fair number of rounds downrange with it. If anybody has any different or better guesses I wouldn't mind hearing.
 
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No K. Significantly ribbed barrel. Both cylinder and barrel match numbers to each other but not to the frame. That's why I am guessing it may have been converted from .32 or .32-20 to .38 Special at the factory. I am likely to letter it just to find out how it left the factory. I will make sure to check under the grips for any factory rework codes.
 
5 digits beginning with 47xxx thru 81xxx ARE early production . Nice find!
How about a serial number on the,, yoke?
How many ribs on that barrel?
Are there alignment pins on the Star?
 
I have not had the grips off yet and do not yet have physical possession of the gun.

Target Masterpiece is a post-1940 designation from S&W. It was a K-frame, usually square butt, usually six inch barrel but always longer than 4 inches. Click adjustable sights. Short action. Anti-backlash trigger. Introduced right after WWII, probably 1946. (Info from standard catalog.)
 
Quite the mystery! If it really is a .32-20 Target with a factory replacement .38 barrel and cylinder, I too would like to see that.
 
THIS IS WHY YOU TAKE THE GRIPS OFF. I did a little more research and applied Occam's Razor. I then went back to the gun store this morning and said, "We have to take the grips off." Sure enough, the CORRECT serial number is the numbers on the barrel and cylinder, K 81247. Not only now do all the numbers match but it turns out to be a birth year gun. I now have two in my collection, this one and a 2" M&P, all matching, originally sent to the Portland PD. I am now a happy camper. The gun is worth more, and worth a LOT more to me. They picked up a barely legible assembly number from under the crane as the serial number. Potential mystery solved. I am unsure how much trouble the correction will be within the system but one of the old timers at the store tells me that this happens more than you would think and the correction is not really a big deal (unless it comes back stolen under the correct number). So far at least, today is a GOOD DAY. I WILL post pictures when I have it in my hot little hands. The only odd think so far now that this mystery is solved is that the rib on the barrel of my 1948 version is much narrower side to side than this one is. Both clearly factory, but quite different. Rib is significantly grooved. Nice clean Patridge front sights on both. Will post photos of BOTH when the "new" one is available.
 
When S&W first started production of the K38 Masterpiece after WW II, it had a tapered barrel and a "narrow" rib. I have a narrow rib that dates from April, 1949, and a Heavy barrel version that dates from March, 1950. Pic shows the two barrels and the apparent difference.

Additional information from "History of Smith & Wesson" by Roy G. Jinks, Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition, page 177: "...In 1949, the factory began experimenting with the width of the barrel rib on the K-32 and K-38 to further increase the gun's weight. The first heavy-barrel K-38 was completed on February 4, 1949, and the K-32 followed shortly after. This heavy-weight barrel brought the K-32 and K-38 up the 38 1/2 ounces loaded, balancing them to the weight of the K-22."
"By April 10, 1950, the heavy barrels were in full production, and from January 1950 to September 1953 the catalog carried both variations; but by September 1953 only the wider-rib or heavy-barrel K-32 and K-38 were available. This change began at serial number K75,000 but the lightweight and heavy barrels are numbered together up to the K160,000 range."

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