Numbered Stocks

[John Deere]

Guys,

I recently got hold of a nice 1952 5-screw pre-27 .357 Magnum with a 3 1/2" barrel (S76XXX). All the numbers match except those on the stocks.

My questions are when did S&W number the stocks on these revolvers and when (if ever) did they stop doing so? Did the factory always ship revolvers with matching stocks?

My stocks are "original" to the "period" during which this revolver was shipped.

One other question: how much value is added to such a revolver when matching numbered stocks are present?

Thanks!

JD

PS Yep--I just learned that I should have referred to the components in question as "stocks"!

 

[snw19_357]

S&W numbered magna grips until the mid to late 1970s. Targets were usually not numbered but some were.

The factory did not always ship revovlers with numbered grips. One example would be if it was fit with magnas but then ordered with targets. The targets would not be nubmered and the magnas would be removed and reused on a different revolver.

The original grips were often removed and replaced with something the shooter preferred.

 

[murphydog]

My grips are "original" to the "period" during which this revolver was shipped.

One other question: how much value is added to such a revolver when matching numbered grips are present?

Thanks!

JD

My impression is a high-value or rare gun would lose value if it does not have the original stocks; think pre-29 without the "Coke bottle" stocks, which should sell for at least less money than the cost of finding replacements. More common guns will probably sell for about the same if the stocks are correct but not matching numbered. If the stocks are incorrect or (gasp!) rubber, think replacement cost or 10-15% less than if matching.

 

[Jack Flash]

I think a lot depends on how desirable the gun is. Most buyers will snap it up and worry about the stocks later.

I think it's a shame, but sometimes selling the stocks separately from the gun does increase the total dollar intake.

One odd twist on this situation: From time to time, Forum Members talk about getting a fairly common, inexpensive, run-of-the-mill revolver with a rare set of Cokes on it!

 

[j38]

Question: If numbered magnas were removed so special order targets could be shipped with the gun, were the old numbered magnas renumbered for the gun that would eventually wear them? ... or was the now incorrect number left on the right grip panel?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[snw19_357]

...were the old numbered magnas renumbered for the gun that would eventually wear them? ... or was the now incorrect number left on the right grip panel?

Yes, I have seen grips with two serial numbers on them so at least some were renumbered. That doesn't mean that they renumbered them all.

I have also heard that there were certain runs and/or models that less attention was paid to the numbers on the grips and some shipped iwth 'mismatched' grips.

 

[John Deere]

Hmmm.... What about the Pre 27 from 1952 that I recently got, SNW19 357--was that one of the runs/models on which it might be very possible to see 'mismatched stocks'? The wear on the stocks sure matches the wear on the rest of the revolver.

Of course I'll take some pictures and post them within the next few days.

Thanks for the responses, guys!

JD

 

[snw19_357]

I wouldn't expect a .357 Magnum from 1952 to be one of them. It wouldn't surprise me if something had happend to the original stocks. It is 58 years old.

How do the stocks fit? Larger or smaller than the frame in any areas?

 

[John Deere]

I wouldn't expect a .357 Magnum from 1952 to be one of them. It wouldn't surprise me if something had happend to the original stocks. It is 58 years old.

How do the stocks fit? Larger or smaller than the frame in any areas?

EXCELLENT question! The stocks fit perfectly, and I mean "perfectly." My serial number begins with S76, and the stocks on my revolver begin with the number "6" or "8" (it's very hard to read). So the stock is numbered either "64865" or "84865." Would this put the stocks in the same "neighborhood" as S76XXX?

Which leads to another question: where's the best place for me to find a list of S&W serial numbers?

Thanks a bunch,

JD

 

[murphydog]

JD;

Here you go, the best overall reference:

Amazon.com: Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson) (9780896892934): Jim Supica, Richard Nahas: Books

 

[snw19_357]

It puts them within 8000 one way, 12k the other.
If they are 64865 they'd be off of a postwar transitional but if they say 84865 they'd be from a "pre" like yours, from about two years later.

 

[John Deere]

Thanks! I'll do my homework and figure out what "transitional" means for us S&W guys!

I appreciate the responses (and the info on the book, Murphydog).

JD

 

[tac803]

Ok, now for a really stupid question. Since a lot of grips were numbered in pencil, what's to stop somebody from writing the s.n. on a period set of grips and calling them "original"?

 

[Muley Gil]

"I'll do my homework and figure out what "transitional" means for us S&W guys!"

After WW II, S&W started civilian production of firearms again and also went to the short action on their revolvers. Many of the post WW II guns have features of both the pre-war and the postwar revolvers.

 

[Jack Flash]

Ok, now for a really stupid question. Since a lot of grips were numbered in pencil, what's to stop somebody from writing the s.n. on a period set of grips and calling them "original"?

I'm sure that's been done.