pre 40 centennial question

[Sluggunner]

I have a pre 40 Centennial I would like to more know about. The frame butt, grips,cylinder face, and barrel are numbered 8xx. the yoke and cylinder pivot are numbered 84938. The right hand side of barrel says 38 S.+W. SPL. The left hand side of the barrel says Smith&Wesson. It has the flat cylinder latch and high horn grips. The S&W logo is just below the latch. There is a white dot on the top of the grip safety and the number 6 on the right hand side of the frame at the bottom of the frame. The right hand side of the frame below the cylinder has the made in USA, marcas
registradas, smith&wesson, springfield,mass mark. Will try to include photos, any help would be appreciated.

 

[murphydog]

Welcome! The 8xx is the official SN and makes this an early production gun (1952 or so). The other numbers show the frame and cylinder are the same original parts fitted together back then. The 6 is also probably a factory internal code if you are referring to it being stamped on the grip frame under the stocks.

A photo of the white dot would help with an ID but I don't think it is factory. Hope this is helpful.

 

[bettis1]

It sounds like a very nice gun and we would love to see it. The white dot on the top of the grip safety is original. It is an indicator that shows whether the safety is locked in or free. If you carefully remove the grips, you will see a small hole in the support strut in the grip. Unless it has been lost, there will be a small pin stored in that hole. That pin can be placed in the grip safety when it is depressed to lock it in and make it non-functional. The are often lost but can easily be made from a proper size paper clip.

Bob

 

[murphydog]

Aha! That's what I get for not owning one...the white dot will now enter into the trivia data bank. Thanks, Bob!

 

[mbliss57]

Pics pics pics.... that is a very cool gun. They didn't make very many and the s/n is sequential with Model 42 Airweight. I have one in the 8000's S/N range.
And I am excited about that!

 

[murphydog]

Very nice! I don't see a photo of the right side but I would bet it has an upper sideplate screw, or a total of four if you have the stock panels off. This would confirm it was produced before about 1955.

 

[mbliss57]

That is a beautiful pre-model 40. The upper side plate screw is present on the early pre model 40's & 42's Pre 1955. The early 42's (Airweights) also had a bug screw to hold the upper side plate screw from backing out. The 40 didn't need that.

 

[bettis1]

Sluggunner,

That's a very nice example. Congratulations on finding it.

The nearest number that I have is 769 and it shipped on May 13, 1953 (to Wolf & Klar!). I would encourage you to invest the $50 for a letter. The information uncovered might be pretty common but there is always a chance with guns of that age that it could have been shipped to someone of interest and open up avenues for further research. In any event, the letter will more than pay for itself in adding to the value of the gun if you should ever sell it.

The pin that I referred to would normally be stored in the hole in the spring strut. When the grip safety is pressed, the pin could be placed in the hole at the top of the back strap which would effectively disengage the safety. At that point, the white indicator dot wouldn't be visible.

Bob

 

[1blindref]

Nice little pre 40 you have there.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of my model 40 that should help with the pin and where it goes to lock down the grip safety.

the pin is shown to the left of the grip frame

it is stored in this hole in the frame when not being used

this is the hole the pin goes into while depressing the grip safety to lock the safety down

hope this helps