What do I have??

[goduke1]

I was just given my Great Grandfathers gun by my Dad. I am new to collecting, and new to this fourm and I am not 100% sure what I have, and hoping someone can shed some light on this weapon.

It's a S&W .38 S&W Special CTG revolver. "Skinny barrel" Nickel Plated, Mother of Pearl Grips, Fixed sights, 6 shot, 6 inch barrel. Finish is 90-95% with some minor pitting. Serial number is 197XXX with a star at the end (on the butt). Stamped on the barrel the last pat'd date is Sept 24, 09

I think it's a model 10 but not sure. Any idea what year it was Mfg?

 

[goduke1]

I was just given my Great Grandfathers gun by my Dad. I am new to collecting, and new to this fourm and I am not 100% sure what I have, and hoping someone can shed some light on this weapon.

It's a S&W .38 S&W Special CTG revolver. "Skinny barrel" Nickel Plated, Mother of Pearl Grips, Fixed sights, 6 shot, 6 inch barrel. Finish is 90-95% with some minor pitting. Serial number is 197XXX with a star at the end (on the butt). Stamped on the barrel the last pat'd date is Sept 24, 09

I think it's a model 10 but not sure. Any idea what year it was Mfg?

 

[s&wchad]

Welcome to the forum.

Your .38 Military and Police Model of 1905, 3rd Change should date somewhere between 1910 and 1915. The star on the butt indicates factory rework or possibly a refinish. If you remove the left stock, there should be a 3 or 4 digit number stamped on the grip frame that indicates the date of the work. Model numbers weren't assigned until 1957.

 

[goduke1]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll have to check out the stock for that number (I knew that star meant something!).
I know posts are better with pictures so...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OIEeSUT4RbbkEd9QyB...si0M&feat=directlink

 

[Hondo44]

Very nice heirloom. It is the Model that eventually became the Model 10 in 1957. S&W chad gave you the correct and official model name of your gun; the whole nine yards. No wonder they finally went to model #s.

Jim

 

[Smithfan]

If the photo of the revolver as shown in the link is accurate, my guess is that the star marking refers to a factory refinish. That is a very nice nickel job for the age of the arm involved.

You have a really nice arm and a spectacular heirloom, bud. Thanks for sharing!

Bill

 

[yugolovr]

That is one great looking sixshooter. The nickle looks great on that old shooter.

 

[goduke1]

Not sure on the refinish? On the other side, there is some pitting on the screw down plate where the trademark is. There are a few places where the nickle has come off, little smaller than a pencil eraser (mostly around the beginning of the barrel where most of the powder residue would be (if not cleaned).

The story behind it is, it was suppose to have been a law mans carry gun at some point in it's life. It does show what I would describe as holster ware on the cylinder and grip area. Who really knows?? All I know is I'll hang on to it pass it along to one of my kids one day. Thanks for all the information and complements!

I'll assume this isn't suited for +P ammo!

 

[s&wchad]

Originally posted by goduke1:
I'll assume this isn't suited for +P ammo!

No. S&W didn't heat treat cylinders on the .38 M&P until ser. no. 316,XXX (4th Change).

 

[goduke1]

Well I cleaned it today, and took a look under the grips. There was an 8.17 there. So I'll say the factory work was done on Aug-1917.

So here is a good question. If I paid for the history report from S&W would it include the history on the rework and what was done?

 

[opoefc]

Sorry, but a factory historical letter, at the present time, only includes the shipping date and to where, or who, it was shipped. There would be an invoice in the archives for the Aug. 1917 repair work for your gun, however those records are not correlated with the shipping ledgers, so unless you have a copy of the repair receipt, with the invoice number, it would be almost impossible to find the invoice in the archives as they are batch filed under the year. You would have to look through 1,000 of pieces of paper to find your gun's repair order. Now, having said all that, there is a program underway by the new S&W Historical Foundation to digitize all the 500,000 pieces of paper in the archives and then a computer can locate any paper or record in the archives for any serial number of any S&W ever made and prepare a report that will show all there is to know about any specific S&W. This cost lots of $$$, so see the posting at the beginning of this Forum about membership in the S&W Historical Foundation.