Prewar .38 M&P conversion for Target Shooting -- with new-found link to old thread
EDITED TO ADD THIS LINK: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...st-dont-see-em-everyday.html?highlight=755556
(Some the features as described in that old thread don't exactly fit what I see on the gun now and have described below. The assertion that this the same gun is based on the serial number and the mention of King or King-like features. I have not edited any language below this paragraph.)
This prewar six-inch .38 M&P, S/N 755556, strikes me as interesting for a couple of reasons: first, it is one of the limited number of revolvers produced and shipped in 1941 to a commercial customer rather than a military agency, and second, its recipient chose to modify it in very particular ways to make it a target revolver suited to his specific wants.
This is one of two identical guns shipped to John Tobler Co. of Union City, NJ on March 21, 1941. Tobler was apparently a firearms distributor who is known to have received small shipments from S&W as well as multi-gun shipments from Colt for law enforcement agencies. This serial number lies within the total range of numbers seen on revolvers marked U.S.N.C.P.C. (United States Navy Civilian Police Corps). S&W was also still producing British Service Revolvers at this time, and would continue to through the year. This gun and its twin were shipped 10 days after President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease act that would, along with the US entry into the war eight months later, constrain S&W production until the end of the war.
The standard fixed sights were replaced with a drift-adjustable rear sight mounted in a transverse slot cut for the purpose, and a new pinned front sight with a notched rear face that creates a backside overhang, a design I have seen on occasion in other 1940s era sights, including those distributed by the King Gun Sight Company. The double action sear has been removed, and the revolver functions only in single action mode. Pulling the trigger with the hammer at rest will rotate the cylinder to the next position while letting the hammer shift position only slightly as the foot of the hammer rides the contoured top of the trigger return slide. The thumbrest target stocks are Sandersons. X42 is stamped on both interior surfaces. The frame has been drilled for a lanyard loop, but the hole is plugged.
The trademark stamp on the hammer is standard for S&W at that time, so we may conclude that an original hammer has been modified with a longer and wider spur. In another modification, the underside of the rearmost element of the hammer that is usually concealed within the frame has been undercut in a way that leaves a small hollow arch when one looks at the revolver from the side with the hammer at rest. I first thought this was the result of an attempt to lighten the hammer, but when I took the sideplate off I saw that the metal had to be removed to avoid conflict with a small stud that had been inserted into the left side of the gun’s frame. It does not perforate the frame where it is mounted, and there is no receiving pocket on the sideplate to stabilize the other end.
This appears to be the same internal modification shown in post 30 of this thread:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/183475-pre-war-outdoorsman-short-action-pics-inside-edition.html?183475=#post138460563
Forum member Modified posted the revolver seen there, which differs from mine in that it still has its double action sear installed. The video included in his post shows the difference between single action hammer throw and double action throw. The smoother shaping of the upper hammer arm on his revolver, compared to the fairly rough shaping on mine, makes me wonder if that pin has something to do with the double action short throw. My gun might not have that sear if the owner removed it because he couldn’t make it function correctly. Modified’s revolver appears to have a second mounting hole slightly below the extra stud’s current location, suggesting it may have been initially misplaced.
A previous owner of my revolver thought the modifications might have been done by King. The King name is not stamped on either the hammer or front sight on my gun, though, as noted above, the undercut front sight is seen on some King pistol and revolver sights. I hope others can shed light on the shop behind these modifications and the nature of the short action mechanism that would require a new stud where Modified’s gun and mine both have one.
EDITED TO ADD THIS LINK: http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-ha...st-dont-see-em-everyday.html?highlight=755556
(Some the features as described in that old thread don't exactly fit what I see on the gun now and have described below. The assertion that this the same gun is based on the serial number and the mention of King or King-like features. I have not edited any language below this paragraph.)
This prewar six-inch .38 M&P, S/N 755556, strikes me as interesting for a couple of reasons: first, it is one of the limited number of revolvers produced and shipped in 1941 to a commercial customer rather than a military agency, and second, its recipient chose to modify it in very particular ways to make it a target revolver suited to his specific wants.
This is one of two identical guns shipped to John Tobler Co. of Union City, NJ on March 21, 1941. Tobler was apparently a firearms distributor who is known to have received small shipments from S&W as well as multi-gun shipments from Colt for law enforcement agencies. This serial number lies within the total range of numbers seen on revolvers marked U.S.N.C.P.C. (United States Navy Civilian Police Corps). S&W was also still producing British Service Revolvers at this time, and would continue to through the year. This gun and its twin were shipped 10 days after President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease act that would, along with the US entry into the war eight months later, constrain S&W production until the end of the war.
The standard fixed sights were replaced with a drift-adjustable rear sight mounted in a transverse slot cut for the purpose, and a new pinned front sight with a notched rear face that creates a backside overhang, a design I have seen on occasion in other 1940s era sights, including those distributed by the King Gun Sight Company. The double action sear has been removed, and the revolver functions only in single action mode. Pulling the trigger with the hammer at rest will rotate the cylinder to the next position while letting the hammer shift position only slightly as the foot of the hammer rides the contoured top of the trigger return slide. The thumbrest target stocks are Sandersons. X42 is stamped on both interior surfaces. The frame has been drilled for a lanyard loop, but the hole is plugged.
The trademark stamp on the hammer is standard for S&W at that time, so we may conclude that an original hammer has been modified with a longer and wider spur. In another modification, the underside of the rearmost element of the hammer that is usually concealed within the frame has been undercut in a way that leaves a small hollow arch when one looks at the revolver from the side with the hammer at rest. I first thought this was the result of an attempt to lighten the hammer, but when I took the sideplate off I saw that the metal had to be removed to avoid conflict with a small stud that had been inserted into the left side of the gun’s frame. It does not perforate the frame where it is mounted, and there is no receiving pocket on the sideplate to stabilize the other end.
This appears to be the same internal modification shown in post 30 of this thread:
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/183475-pre-war-outdoorsman-short-action-pics-inside-edition.html?183475=#post138460563
Forum member Modified posted the revolver seen there, which differs from mine in that it still has its double action sear installed. The video included in his post shows the difference between single action hammer throw and double action throw. The smoother shaping of the upper hammer arm on his revolver, compared to the fairly rough shaping on mine, makes me wonder if that pin has something to do with the double action short throw. My gun might not have that sear if the owner removed it because he couldn’t make it function correctly. Modified’s revolver appears to have a second mounting hole slightly below the extra stud’s current location, suggesting it may have been initially misplaced.
A previous owner of my revolver thought the modifications might have been done by King. The King name is not stamped on either the hammer or front sight on my gun, though, as noted above, the undercut front sight is seen on some King pistol and revolver sights. I hope others can shed light on the shop behind these modifications and the nature of the short action mechanism that would require a new stud where Modified’s gun and mine both have one.
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