The attached photos show Smith & Wesson post-war (1947/48) M&P .38 Special # S 9348XX after a long overdue thorough cleaning. The 6 inch Oops 5 inch! square butt revolver has a long and somewhat convoluted history with my family. Now mine to shoot and enjoy after thirty-nine years away. The finish challenged old revolver sports a perfect bore, chambers and action with just a hint of play in the cylinder lock-up. I added a set of period target stocks from a 1954 K-22 I sold years back. Much better than the beat-up original stocks!
Our subject gun was purchased by my mother's uncle, a WWII US Army veteran a couple years after his discharge in 1946. Great Uncle John had traveled many places from his former typical Western PA mining patch hometown, finally settling in Nebraska. His army experience landed him a job on a village police force where he was required to have his own sidearm.
The M&P rode John's hip for several years until his marriage. He left law enforcement to become a shoe store manager, and eventual owner.
About this time my grandfather took a job to supplement his coal miner's income, working as a reserve deputy game warden. John decided grandad could have his sidearm, rather than purchase a new one, so he shipped the S&W from Nebraska to PA. Grandad carried the revolver on his rounds for nearly twenty years. When my mother moved to Baltimore, MD for a nursing internship in the mid 1960's, grandad gave her the S&W for protection.
A couple years later, my dad married into the family and mom gave him the revolver to keep around the house. My dad favored his Model 36 so the old M&P sat in a drawer until our town had a big 150th anniversary celebration. Men were to grow beards during the month long festivities. Those without beards were considered to be "Turkeys". A "Turkey Patrol" police force was formed. These guys dressed in semi-western attire and carried empty weapons. My dad was a member of the patrol, a good thing since his attempt to grow a beard was pathetic!
Dad had a complete custom western-style leather holster and belt made for the 5 inch M&P. Tan with a very nice oak leaf and acorn pattern rendered in medium brown, the rig was far flashier than the old cop gun. I was only nine years old, but dad let me shoot a few rounds from what he called "the big gun". Only the second gun I'd ever fired, the first being dad's Chief's Special.
My mom was a mean alcoholic. Finally dad had enough and they divorced. She moved out and took "her gun" leaving my dad with a holster he never did fill again. Mom moved way out west for several years before returning to the area to live with an aunt. She brought the gun home and returned it to her dad.
Not long after, she passed away due to complications from years of excessive whiskey drinking. A few months later my grandad passed on too. All the guns in grandads house went to my uncle. He had some money woes at the time due to a recent divorce. My uncle sold the entire lot. Except for the old .38, which he kept for protection, and killing garden raiding groundhogs!
Now, over thirty-nine years later I am the owner of that old, well traveled Smith and Wesson. I'm the last in the family line. Not sure where it will go when my time with it is done, but I guaranty it will be shot, and enjoyed!
Our subject gun was purchased by my mother's uncle, a WWII US Army veteran a couple years after his discharge in 1946. Great Uncle John had traveled many places from his former typical Western PA mining patch hometown, finally settling in Nebraska. His army experience landed him a job on a village police force where he was required to have his own sidearm.
The M&P rode John's hip for several years until his marriage. He left law enforcement to become a shoe store manager, and eventual owner.
About this time my grandfather took a job to supplement his coal miner's income, working as a reserve deputy game warden. John decided grandad could have his sidearm, rather than purchase a new one, so he shipped the S&W from Nebraska to PA. Grandad carried the revolver on his rounds for nearly twenty years. When my mother moved to Baltimore, MD for a nursing internship in the mid 1960's, grandad gave her the S&W for protection.
A couple years later, my dad married into the family and mom gave him the revolver to keep around the house. My dad favored his Model 36 so the old M&P sat in a drawer until our town had a big 150th anniversary celebration. Men were to grow beards during the month long festivities. Those without beards were considered to be "Turkeys". A "Turkey Patrol" police force was formed. These guys dressed in semi-western attire and carried empty weapons. My dad was a member of the patrol, a good thing since his attempt to grow a beard was pathetic!
Dad had a complete custom western-style leather holster and belt made for the 5 inch M&P. Tan with a very nice oak leaf and acorn pattern rendered in medium brown, the rig was far flashier than the old cop gun. I was only nine years old, but dad let me shoot a few rounds from what he called "the big gun". Only the second gun I'd ever fired, the first being dad's Chief's Special.
My mom was a mean alcoholic. Finally dad had enough and they divorced. She moved out and took "her gun" leaving my dad with a holster he never did fill again. Mom moved way out west for several years before returning to the area to live with an aunt. She brought the gun home and returned it to her dad.
Not long after, she passed away due to complications from years of excessive whiskey drinking. A few months later my grandad passed on too. All the guns in grandads house went to my uncle. He had some money woes at the time due to a recent divorce. My uncle sold the entire lot. Except for the old .38, which he kept for protection, and killing garden raiding groundhogs!
Now, over thirty-nine years later I am the owner of that old, well traveled Smith and Wesson. I'm the last in the family line. Not sure where it will go when my time with it is done, but I guaranty it will be shot, and enjoyed!
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