K-38 info??
- Thread starter Roscoe36
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
The legal serial number is on the bottom of the grip frame. You'll have to remove the stocks to see it. The numbers you see on the yoke and the front part of the frame are assembly numbers which are meaningless once the gun was assembled and ready for shipping.
Your gun most likely shipped in 1948. That was the first year of production for the K-38 Masterpiece. Yours has the less often seen lighter weight, tapered barrel. A year or so later, they began using a heavier contour on the barrels.
Your gun most likely shipped in 1948. That was the first year of production for the K-38 Masterpiece. Yours has the less often seen lighter weight, tapered barrel. A year or so later, they began using a heavier contour on the barrels.
K-38 Masterpiece, serial number K45924 almost certainly left the factory in 1948. It is a tapered barrel, narrow rib, five-screw variant. A nice piece!
The number on the barrel flat is the serial number, and it will match the one on the butt, the rear face of the cylinder and on the rear edge of the yoke. The number in the yoke cut on the frame has nothing to do with the serial number. It is a parts-tracking number used during assembly.
The stocks on your revolver are much newer than the gun. Those were produced no earlier than 1978.
The number on the barrel flat is the serial number, and it will match the one on the butt, the rear face of the cylinder and on the rear edge of the yoke. The number in the yoke cut on the frame has nothing to do with the serial number. It is a parts-tracking number used during assembly.
The stocks on your revolver are much newer than the gun. Those were produced no earlier than 1978.
Sharp shoulder Magna stocks with the smooth diamond at the screw location.
This is an M&P from 1948, but the stocks would be the same for your K-38.
I didn't have any other photo handy, but your K-38 would have shipped with what are known as 'magna' stocks, just like the ones on this .38 M&P from around that same time frame.
YeshuaIsa53
Member
Some folk prefer target grips for different reasons. If you like the larger grips, those you have makes it easier to load and unload than the old target grips. That is probably why they are on the gun...for shooting it.
Welcome to the Forum! That's a very nice K-38 Masterpiece, and I believe that other Forum members have answered your questions. The Masterpiece revolvers (K-22, K-32, and K-38) are very popular and continue to increase in value. Although your revolver most likely shipped with smaller magna stocks (as described in previous replies), those of us with larger mitts tend to prefer the target stocks. If you wanted to return your K-38 to original, you could probably find the proper K-frame walnut magna stocks here on the Forum if you posted in the Want to Buy section. Enjoy!
