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What do you think?
- Thread starter Lamoais
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Welcome to the forums from the cotton and peanut covered plains of the Wiregrass! You have a WWII British Service Revolver likely made in 1941 and chambered for .38 S&W cartridges. It has likely been reamed to chamber .38 Special and it was refinished in nickel. The grips are faux jigged bone and not original to the gun. I'm not familiar with the Athens area but we have members here from Atlanta that can likely recommend someone on the NE side over your way.
Guy is correct. One thing he forgot to mention is that the barrel has been cut to 4" from 5" and the front sight was then reattached.
Thanks for the info. How would I find out if it is reamed to chamber 38 special? So, originally it was a 38 short?
Once cleaned I would love to be able to shoot it but want to make sure I don’t blow myself up.
So, the grips are hideous. Can you advise me on what type of grips to look for that would be “original” or close to it?
Post a picture looking down into the cylinder chambers and we can tell if it has been reamed. Alternately, put a .38 Special in a chamber and see if it fully inserts. You can shoot either cartridge if it does. The .38 Special is slightly smaller in diameter and casings will swell and may crack. It makes reloading an issue but is not unsafe. Tens of thousands of these guns were sold with that mod.
WRT the front sight, 4" BSR's were made for South Africa, IIRC. I couldn't tell for sure the barrel was cut and the sight relocated. So, I didn't say anything.
WRT the front sight, 4" BSR's were made for South Africa, IIRC. I couldn't tell for sure the barrel was cut and the sight relocated. So, I didn't say anything.
ordnanceguy
SWCA Member
And the lanyard ring has been removed and the hole where it was located has been plugged.
Guy is correct on 1941 as a likely shipping date, and I would narrow that down further to October or November.
Any markings on the left top strap?
Regards,
Charlie
Guy is correct on 1941 as a likely shipping date, and I would narrow that down further to October or November.
Any markings on the left top strap?
Regards,
Charlie
The original grips were plain uncheckered walnut and not really suitable for shooting. Actually, what you have on it is better, IMO. You can put any grips made for a square butt K frame on it. You won't gain anything value wise by investing in original replacements since it has been refinished, modified and has lost all collector value.
Here are more pictures. I don’t see any marking on left top strap.
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When the cylinder has been reamed, we typically see two shoulders. I only see one for the .38 S&W cartridge. It doesn't appear to be as pronounced as an original chamber and the fouling pattern looks like .38 Special has been fired. So, I believe it has been reamed but for the full length of the chamber. To know for sure it has been reamed, try inserting a .38 Special and see if it goes all the way in.
As far as the barrel and sight, the muzzle looks good to me and the front sight does as well. If someone modified it, they did a good job. Perhaps Gary or Charlie see the tell-tale signs...
As far as the barrel and sight, the muzzle looks good to me and the front sight does as well. If someone modified it, they did a good job. Perhaps Gary or Charlie see the tell-tale signs...
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The barrel has been cut. It does not appear to have been reamed. Would the grips have still been checkered when this gun shipped?
I'm pretty sure this one came with checkered stocks.
38 special does fit so maybe it has been fully reamed as wiregrass suggested?
Would you agree with him it is safe to shoot specials?
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Interesting. I've never seen that done before.
Yes, it should be OK with 38 Special, but I would not shoot hot 125 gr bullets. Maybe no jacketed bullets at all since the throats are oversized and the bullets might wobble slightly before hitting the forcing cone.
I agree with this....As stated before, if it were mine, I would just leave the plastic grips on there now. It is beyond restoration by far.
Since it has no collector value, I wouldn't mind having this one or one like it to use as a mock-up SAC gun (for my rig without a gun).
A simple straight through ream with a .381d chucking reamer will get you enough room for most 38special ammo to chamber.
It will leave you with no throat in the chamber as normally thought of.
But it'll 'shoot' and the reamer is a lot less costly than a real deal chambering reamer.
Probably part of the reason the gun was done that way. Maybe a bunch were converted in a shop and it was the simple way to do it.
The 38S&W chamber should be approx .390d at the base ,,give or take.
So the difference in the two diameters accounts for the 38special case sometimes cracking upon firing, but not always. They will expand to fit the 2-dia chamber created though.
As stated,,lots and lots of the 38S&W chambered guns were rechambered to take the 38spec case for easier marketing of them.
Just don't try and make a Magnum/+p type of revolver out of them and they'll be fine.
Colt used to bore the 38 Colt caliber SAA cylinders straight thru (pre-war).
The 38Short Colt was orig loaded with a healed bullet of case dia so it needed such a chamber style.
Those old straight thru bored 38Colt cylinders will accept a 357 case as well because of this. Not a good thing to try and shoot in the oldsters.
The 38Colt cal Colt Lightning revolver is bored straight tru and will accept 38special as is.
The cylinder is a bit short for most loads other than WC bullets.
The 41Colt was also straight bored thru. The orig load was healed bullet of case dia. Then the later bullet was inside lubed and smaller than bore dia. So it used a hollow base to expand and grip the rifling.
All this started from the cart conversions of the C&B revolvers and the calibers designed to use in them.
44Colt is another one.
It will leave you with no throat in the chamber as normally thought of.
But it'll 'shoot' and the reamer is a lot less costly than a real deal chambering reamer.
Probably part of the reason the gun was done that way. Maybe a bunch were converted in a shop and it was the simple way to do it.
The 38S&W chamber should be approx .390d at the base ,,give or take.
So the difference in the two diameters accounts for the 38special case sometimes cracking upon firing, but not always. They will expand to fit the 2-dia chamber created though.
As stated,,lots and lots of the 38S&W chambered guns were rechambered to take the 38spec case for easier marketing of them.
Just don't try and make a Magnum/+p type of revolver out of them and they'll be fine.
Colt used to bore the 38 Colt caliber SAA cylinders straight thru (pre-war).
The 38Short Colt was orig loaded with a healed bullet of case dia so it needed such a chamber style.
Those old straight thru bored 38Colt cylinders will accept a 357 case as well because of this. Not a good thing to try and shoot in the oldsters.
The 38Colt cal Colt Lightning revolver is bored straight tru and will accept 38special as is.
The cylinder is a bit short for most loads other than WC bullets.
The 41Colt was also straight bored thru. The orig load was healed bullet of case dia. Then the later bullet was inside lubed and smaller than bore dia. So it used a hollow base to expand and grip the rifling.
All this started from the cart conversions of the C&B revolvers and the calibers designed to use in them.
44Colt is another one.
It is already modified and there are lot of K frame 38 special cylinders available for under $75 0n Ebay. Why fool around with a 38S&W cylinder. Don't worry about the barrel. The material displace by the lands will fill the grooves, but for that matter there are lots of K frame fixed sight barrels available too.
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