S@W 38 short

[jughead]

a friend has one. serial # V 629XX. weapon is tight. looking for pic of standard grips. price range if possible from a good shooter to? bluing is much less than perfect.

 

[jughead]

a friend has one. serial # V 629XX. weapon is tight. looking for pic of standard grips. price range if possible from a good shooter to? bluing is much less than perfect.

 

[m-1911]

From your vague description it sounds as if you have a British Victory Model chambered in 38 S&W not 38 Special. It probably has a 5 inch bbl. Grips should be smooth walnut with no medallions

 

[jughead]

thank you it has some grips that i want. just wanted to be sure they were not original.

 

[Combat]

Some early British guns came with these grips.

 

[jughead]

my friends gun is in comparable shape but has target grips.

 

[opoefc]

A gun with a "V" prefix to the serial number would have originally had smooth walnut service style stocks,numbered to the gun, not the checkered variety pictured above. If the gun now has magna style stocks, they are not original. Only British purchased pre-Victory models ( no "V" prefix serial number) would have had the checkered walnut medallion stocks as original stocks.

 

[jughead]

this is a most knowledgeable web site. one more question please. a guess at the value of the gun pictured above would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

jughead; Just for reference there isn't a S&W 38 "Short" cartridge. The correct name is .38 S&W. And, it is NOT a shortened version of the .38 S&W Special. The .38 S&W is one of those somewhat "Rare" cartridges in as much as the Bullet is actually a .385 diameter bullet. The .38 S&W Special uses a .357 diameter bullet. This cartridge has also some times been referred to as the .38/200 British but only when loaded with the heavier 200 grain bullet. The "standard" bullet for the .38 S&W was in the 145 to 150 grain area. The British always believed "Heavier and Slower is better than Lighter and Faster"

 

[jughead]

i would like for a knowledgeable person to make a guess at value of Combats pic. i understand that nothing is carved in stone when pricing a weapon. i just need a general idea.

 

[opoefc]

Jughead, The gun pictured above by Combat, is a pre-Victory model, worth about $350, give or take $50. It has little or no relation, value wise, to your gun, which is a Victory Model, that had the WW2 style smooth grips, etc. and condition is the key to value. If it's mechanically OK, a shooter value is about $250. Restoration to as close as possible to it's original shipping configuration, might up the value $100+ or-, but cost of doing that could exceed the $100.

 

[HKSmith]

Originally posted by KKG:
jughead; Just for reference there isn't a S&W 38 "Short" cartridge. The correct name is .38 S&W. And, it is NOT a shortened version of the .38 S&W Special. The .38 S&W is one of those somewhat "Rare" cartridges in as much as the Bullet is actually a .385 diameter bullet. The .38 S&W Special uses a .357 diameter bullet. This cartridge has also some times been referred to as the .38/200 British but only when loaded with the heavier 200 grain bullet. The "standard" bullet for the .38 S&W was in the 145 to 150 grain area. The British always believed "Heavier and Slower is better than Lighter and Faster"

This is only partly correct. The .38 S&W (not short) was introduced in 1876 and fires a bullet of .360-.361 diameter, not .385. 0.385 is the case diameter. The .38 Special was introduced in 1899 and nominal bullet diameter is .357-.358. The case is longer and narrower than the .38 S&W and the cartridges are not interchangeable.

KKG may be thinking of the .38 Short Colt cartridge, which used a heel type, outside lubricated bullet that was the same diameter as the case (similar to the .22 rimfire cartridges).

 

[jughead]

Originally posted by opoefc:
Jughead, The gun pictured above by Combat, is a pre-Victory model, worth about $350, give or take $50. It has little or no relation, value wise, to your gun, which is a Victory Model, that had the WW2 style smooth grips, etc. and condition is the key to value. If it's mechanically OK, a shooter value is about $250. Restoration to as close as possible to it's original shipping configuration, might up the value $100+ or-, but cost of doing that could exceed the $100.

thank you very much. weapon is very tight not any sloppyness. that is what i was looking for. any object is only worth what someone will pay for it.