Oddball hand ejector. Help with identifying please

[Lmudave]

Looking to see if anyone here has some knowledge on what this old hand ejector might actually be. I'm guessing it's possibly been cobbled together for some bullseye shooter years past.

Sights are interesting and unlike anything else I've seen, front squared blade, rear has an insert that is nonadjustable. Grips are not matching and have a hand cut piece of plastic spacer fitted to each side.

Barrel has S&W .38 Mil stamped on the side - however .38specials fit perfectly in the cylinder. Dec 17, 1901 is the last date on the top of the barrel.
Under the barrel there's a serial number non-matching. B 104xxx

The gun is a 5 screw with serial number on the square butt of 411XXX.

Would love to know what this thing is please and thank you all!

 

[Modified]

I'm away from my computer at the moment but it looks like you have what is some times called a half target. The upgrade was typically done to improve the sights for military matches that required fixed sights. This would get you a target style improved sight picture while staying within the rules.

Some guns like this were service weapons upgraded by cops who were very serious about marksmanship. I have two such guns.

Yours looks like an early target match upgrade on my phone here. I'd suggest lettering it and seeing if the SWHF has any records on it. There's no guarantee, but this gun looks to me to be a good chance for having some old documentation. One of mine was a treasure trove of fun letters.

 

[DARE]

The serial number of your gun makes it a .38 M&P Model of 1905 4th Change. SN range from 241704-1000000. 1915-1942. My guess is your serial number would be early 30's.
Since your barrel has a different number from the gun, probably a replacement. The B might mean it was blue finish when manufactured. I'm guessing their is a good sized gap between the B and the SN on the barrel. The SN on the barrel is in the 1906-1909 era. My guess is both the front and rear sights have been modified.
I am far from an expert so my information may be incorrect.

 

[Wiregrassguy]

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! You have a .38 Military & Police Model 1905, 4th Change made around 1924. The barrel has been replaced with one made around 1908 for the .38 M&P chambered for the.38 Long Colt military cartridge. S&W lengthened the .38 Long Colt to make the .38 Special so they have the same bore diameter. The rear sight appears to be similar to the Bisley-style sight popular in English pistol matches. So, a former owner wanted a target revolver and found the parts to make it happen. Interesting gun!

 

[glowe]

Where to start on this one??? It is a customized 38 Military & Police from somewhere between 1922 and 1927. 1922 was when the company started stamping the frame with MADE IN USA. 1927 was the last year that the ejector rod had a mushroom shaped knob. The gun has been modified outside the factory, due to the style of rear sight that was cut into the top-strap. The front sight was cut into the base of a standard forged front sight. Simply cut off the forged blade, mill a 1/2" diameter slot in the sight base and insert any style of front target sight you want.

The barrel is a BIG question mark and the serial number you supply dies not fit anything we know about. Could you add a picture of the barrel serial number stamp? It is obviously a barrel made no earlier than 1903 with the barrel swell at the frame and larger diameter thread bore. The stamping is stamped as a US military contract gun, but there were supposedly none made with that style barrel. In 1902, the barrel was straight tapered with a .500" threaded attachment into the frame. That was the last contract with the US Navy as far as I know and all barrels should have had the straight tapered barrel. The new barrel shape was introduced in 1903 with the 38 Military, 1st Change, but that barrel had a two line caliber marking.

It is a confusing revolver, but a barrel with a S.& W. 38 MIL stamp was used between 1899 and 1902 and none of those barrels has a swell at the rear??? The caliber was meant for military contract use and was actually a 38 Long Colt to match the caliber used by Colt.

 

[JSR III]

The barrel is a BIG question mark and the serial number would be good to know.

The Op stated "Under the barrel there's a serial number non-matching. B 104xxx"

 

[Lmudave]

So I'm not crazy! I've tried looking this thing up so many times and couldn't found anything like it. This forum is a huge wealth of knowledge… thanks guys, I'll try and add some more pictures of the barrel.

 

[glowe]

The Op stated "Under the barrel there's a serial number non-matching. B 104xxx"

I knew that, but it was not logical that the number would be that high. Now looking at the barrel I cannot see 104XXX, I see a fuzzy number that does not look like that?? Something is very wrong with a barrel that has 6 digits, a 1901 a caliber mark that was not used since 1902, and a last patent date is 1901.

 

[Lmudave]

Here's a zoomed in shot…. Not much of this gun seems logical to me

 

[DARE]

Maybe someone redid the caliber stamp for an unknown reason?

 

[mikepriwer]

Seems like this barrel could be a left-over, or spare, barrel originally made for one of the early Army or Navy contracts of 1899 or 1902. It would have had the 38 MIL caliber roll marking, and the 1901 patent date. It may have first been used on something with 104XXX serial number, either by the factory or a gun-smith. Some years later, it found it's way to this present gun.

Mike Priwer

 

[handejector]

Seems like this barrel could be a left-over, or spare, barrel originally made for one of the early Army or Navy contracts of 1899 or 1902. It would have had the 38 MIL caliber roll marking, and the 1901 patent date.

Mike Priwer

Mike,
That doesn't jive because, as Gary pointed out, neither of those models had the flange at rear like this barrel has.

 

[glowe]

Mike,
That doesn't jive because, as Gary pointed out, neither of those models had the flange at rear like this barrel has.

Add to that, early guns had a very faint serial number under the barrel, right tight to the frame, that was read by pointing the barrel to the right. By the 100,000 serial number the number were read by pointing the barrel to the left. This means the barrel number stamp was applied the same as later guns,

 

[mikepriwer]

Lee

I forgot about that detail. There was another Navy contract, for 25 revolvers, of which serial 34653 was one of the guns. Roy had lettered it as a 1902 1st change, but it has a 1902 barrel with no shoulder. The Navy markings on these guns is somewhat different from the 1902 contract, and they were shipped to the Navy yard near Newport News, instead of the Brooklyn yard.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[Lmudave]

Thanks for all the help guys. I guess the barrel is just going to be a mystery. Any reason this wouldn't be safe to shoot? I handload soft shooting .38s for my other guns. Obviously no high pressure stuff.
Have a good weekend everybody

 

[glowe]

Shoot away without worry with any standard loadings. The only caution is that any part could break on a 100 year old gun, but they are generally available with some looking. Some of my 38 M&P revolvers came to me broken, but after repairs have shot hundreds of rounds without incident.