DOB Inherited S and W

rhettwilson78

I am trying to find out when my grandfather's gun was made. It is a .38 S&W Special CTG. The serial number on the bottom of the grip is 672594. The number on the inside of the frame is 11235. 90% blue steel with a wooden-checkered grip which has a diamond shape with screw through the middle, and the logo at top of grip on either side. The other markings are on the barrel. It says smith and wesson on the left side and .38 S&W Special CTG on the right side. And on the top of the barrel are the patent dates October 8,1901...December 17,1901..Feb.6,1906..Sept 14,1909...Dec 29,1914 It would be great to have any information on this gun and also the approximate value of the gun. I have been told this gun has never had a round through it. Thanks, Rhettwilson78[?]

Old-Colts

I'm going mostly from a reference work, not knowledge, so a Smith & Wesson collector on the forum may be able to give you better information, but from the picture and what you have described I believe what you have is a .38 Military & Police Model of 1905 - 4th Change. If so, the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 3rd Edition list the serial number range of 241704 through 700000 as being manufactured between 1915 and 1942, so your gun was probably made around 1940 or 1941.

I am surprised that the S&W monograms in the grips appear silver instead of gold.

You can see a drag mark on the cylinder, so it has seen some handling, but in Excellent + condition the same reference indicates a value around $450.

It appears that your gun is a square butt and the same reference indicates they are scarce and worth approximately two times the listed value.

rhettwilson78

Old-Colts,
Thanks so much for the input and it was surprising to find out it is older than I thought. The drag mark I did notice, also you are correct the emblems are silver and not gold. Does this have any significance? So the square butt is scarce, thanks so much again for all your help. Maybe a S & W collector will see this and help us out a little more. If you were me, would you put any rounds through this gun? Thanks again, Rhettwilson78 [^]

Txs

Just to clarify something for you, ".38 S&W Special CTG" isn't actually this gun's model designation. That's just stating the round the gun's chambered for, with CTG being the abbreviation for "cartridge".

dcs shooters

The M&P serial numbers started at 241704 and ended at 1,000,000 on 04-24-42, for a total of 758,296 built. So your 's is really earlier than Old-Colts said.
It looks like a nice Pre-10.

Robin

You may want to perform a good cleaning or even let a qualified pistol smith go through it for you. If is deemed to be in good condition, I would not hesitate run a bunch of rounds through it. My favorite S&W is a pre-model 27 manufactured in 1951. It is a solid as a rock. I would suggest staying away from +P ammo.

Some folks may refer to your revolver as a K-frame (medium frame) or a pre-model 10. You have a nice solid well built revolver that should last another lifetime with a little TLC. Congratulations and welcome to the forum

peabo

I'm a little skeptical about everything mentioned except the date of manufacture. I'm no expert but it seems to be a run of the mill M&P to me. A nice old 5 screw though.


Thanks---Peabo

v35

38 Hand Ejector 4th change, made 1915-1940. S/ns ranged between 241,704 and 1,000,000.

22hipower

Agree that it is a Hand Ejector 4th model. The stocks probably should have a gold S&W emblem instead of silver although this is fairly late in the 4th change serial number range (probably 1940 or 41) so perhaps S&W used silver

. S&W used to put the serial number of the gun on the stocks on the inside and you can check by removing the screw (carefully; turn it out part way then lightly tap it to loosen the right side stock then you can remove it the rest of the way. This way you can check to see if it has the original grips. Doesn't change the value much but enhances it a bit of they are factory marked with the serial number. If the number is different; means they were replaced after leaving the factory. The other number you mention (11235) is a number assigned during manufacturing and is sometimes mistaken as the serial number. Nice gun and if you're correct about it not having been fired you might get a little more for it than the $400/$450 mentioned. But, if it was my grandad's gun, it wouldn't be for sale for any price.

rhettwilson78

22hipower,
I have checked and all the numbers match throughout the gun and yes the emblems are silver instead of gold. The grips appear to be the original wooden grips. Also, theres not a price I will take for this firearm, just wanted some information about a family heirloom. Thanks so much for all of the responses. Rhettwilson78[8D]