Smith & Wesson Model of 1902 TARGET Model Revolvers

[mikepriwer]

Here is a very interesting .38 1902 8 3/8th inch target revolver. It was shipped to C.T.G. Armstrong, and described in the letter as having a "special order barrel". George Armstrong was a well-known shooter in the 1900 - 1920 era, and is mentioned several times in Doug Wesson's book "Bullet Holes".

The gun has a H.M. Pope-stamped barrel, and stamped with a Pope serial number on the bottom of the barrel. There is no question that Pope made the barrel: it is rifled counter-clockwise with 8 lands and grooves. The lands are about 4 times as wide as the grooves. This unique pattern is documented in an article written by Pope. Smith & Wesson rifling is clockwise, 6 lands and grooves of equal width.

Typically, but not always, revolvers were shipped to Pope by the owner of the gun, but in this case, it appears that the factory ordered a barrel from Pope, and installed it on the gun themselves, and then shipped the Pope-barreled revolver to its destination.

I assume this is the meaning of "special order barrel".

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[mrcvs]

And here's the factory letter for the revolver I posted photographs of in posts 16 & 17.

 

[mikepriwer]

I've started another thread in this section titled "Updating Survival Study for early .38 K-frame Target Revolvers". This is a survivor study for .38 targets, from serial 1 to serial 62450, covering 1899's, 1902's, and early 1905's. These guns all have the early lockwork and the early cylinder stop, and are all 4-screw frames.

You'll note, from the study, that the number of known survivors is very small. This probably means that the list is missing more guns than it already has. So, it was time to try to update it. The goal is to help with the decisions and discussions taking place here in this thread. It's not there yet, but hopefully with enough participation, we'll make some progress..

Regards, Mike Priwer