Need help identifying 38 Special

[BRYAN76]

Hello I'm new to the forum. My 38 was inherited from my uncle. He was always buying random guns. Sorry no photos, I couldn't get the app to cooperate on my phone.

1. Hand ejector
2. Serial # C424xxx
3. 38 S&W Special CTG
4. 4" barrel
5. Fixed sights

Thanks any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BC38]

6-shot? How many screws on the right side (including the one under the right grip)? Screw in front of the trigger guard where it meets the frame - or no?

 

[Absalom]

If it does, as I suspect, hold six shots, then based on the serial number and caliber, you have a Military & Police Model from about 1958/59, just before S&W started labeling that gun "Model 10", which seems to have begun in the low C 430-thousands. Just to be sure, check inside the yoke (open the cylinder) whether it is stamped MOD 10 yet; I expect not. Collectors also call these "Pre-model 10".

 

[Alk8944]

The only model(s) that ever had a "C" prefix to the Serial Number were the fixed sight variants of the Military & Police or M&P, the models 10, 11, 12 and 45. Of these the 10 and 12 were .38 Special. The Model 10 is steel framed and the Model 12 Aluminum, and the barrel will be marked "Airweight". Your SN falls mid to late 1959, and thus should be "Model marked" in the yoke cut. Open the cylinder and you will see the gun is stamped Mod 10, for Model 10, unless it is an Airweight. Some guns that should be model marked were not, but chances are yours is!

 

[Targets Guy]

This pre Model 10 is s/n C155xxx. Does it look like this?

 

[BRYAN76]

Thanks for the responses. I will try to get a pic later today. There isn't a model number on the yoke. It's a 6 shot. The front sight isn't a half moon. It looks like serrated ramped half moon. If that makes any sense.



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Absalom]

Thanks for the responses. I will try to get a pic later today. There isn't a model number on the yoke. It's a 6 shot. The front sight isn't a half moon. It looks like serrated ramped half moon.....

Yep, just as I expected. The half-moon changed to the ramped front sight in the mid-1950s. Targets Guy's gun is from before that.

 

[DWalt]

C405,019 – C429,740….....1958 – 59 (manufacture)
I'd say yours likely shipped around mid-1958. Model numbering started at a little higher SN than that (mid-C43xxxx range), so yours is a pre-Model 10 M&P (if it has a steel frame).

 

[Absalom]

DWalt:

Interesting data point on this: I just got C 412004 lettered, January 12, 1959.

Now late shippers aren't unusual. But the SCSW 3rd ed. seems to be way off on the production for these years in the opposite direction. It gives C 429740 as the end for 1959, but I've found a reference to C 477xxx shipped December 29, 1959 (which acc. to the SCSW should be early 1961), and several others in between that had lettered in 1959.

 

[BRYAN76]

Here are the photos. The gun is a little rough looking. I'm thinking about having it reblued.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[TripleLock]

DWalt:

Interesting data point on this: I just got C 412004 lettered, January 12, 1959.

Now late shippers aren't unusual. But the SCSW 3rd ed. seems to be way off on the production for these years in the opposite direction. It gives C 429740 as the end for 1959, but I've found a reference to C 477xxx shipped December 29, 1959 (which acc. to the SCSW should be early 1961), and several others in between that had lettered in 1959.

Model 10, Serial Number C 477768. Shipped December 29, 1959.
Letter and photo:

 

[mikepriwer]

Don't waste your money on a refinish - it will cost more than the gun is worth. And then you'd have to do something about the grips.

This gun is not rare. Its not even scarce. At the point when yours was made, they were
already about 2,000,000 of them. And then they've made millions since yours was made.

Clean it up and see how it shoots. Then, keep it well oiled after that.

Mike Priwer

 

[BC38]

Yeah, since it has so little collector value, clean it up nicely and shoot & enjoy it. If the appearance bothers you use some high quality cold blue to make it look prettier. A reblue would cost ~$250-$300 and that is probably more than the retail value of the gun.

 

[BRYAN76]

Thanks for the advice. I'll clean it up and see how it shoots.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[69maverick]

Don't waste your money on a refinish - it will cost more than the gun is worth. And then you'd have to do something about the grips.

This gun is not rare. Its not even scarce. At the point when yours was made, they were
already about 2,000,000 of them. And then they've made millions since yours was made.

Clean it up and see how it shoots. Then, keep it well oiled after that.

Mike Priwer

Hi Mike I am infact going to do my own Cold Blue job on one I just bought cheap. I just picked up a 10-5 S# D446502 I know it was a Police duty used gun in the Litchfield Ct. Area and I know the officers name who used it. But I have not been able to talk to him. Any Idea on the year of this little gem.

 

[Absalom]

........I just picked up a 10-5 S# D446502 ...... Any Idea on the year of this little gem.

Made in 1972 and most likely shipped that year.