[cobrajet789]

I have obtained a S & W 38 special from my father. I have no knowledge of guns in general but am interested in any information concerning the age of this gun, possible value, etc.

The Serial Number on the gun is: S 94707

Thanks

[Hutch]

Cobra, more info would help. The S/N is a bit ambiguous. Can you give the finish, (blue or nickel), barrel length (measure from the muzzle to the stub end inside the frame. What sort of grips does it have? If you could post some pictures, that would help.

[Shade00]

Yes, we will need to know some more info to accurately date and identify the gun. However, such a low set of digits following an S points to an early post-war N-frame; since it is .38 Special, my bet would be on the .38/44, either the Heavy Duty of the Outdoorsman. Much more info will be needed to be more specific, though. A picture would be great too.

[cobrajet789]

Thanks to those that replied to my initial message. I'll take a few photos of the gun to post.

Regards...
Cobra

[cobrajet789]

I found a photo on a web-page that looks very much like the revolver that I have.

[csmkersh]

I, too, thought it might be a Model 20 Heavy Duty or Outdoorsman, but in both cases, the serial number the Op provided was too high for those. Both stopped using the "S" prefix at about 74000 per the Blue Book.

[Shade00]

That is not entirely true - the pre-Model # variations of the Model 20 and 23 as well as the Models 20 and 23 were both built into the S200xxx serial range.

[Phil DeGraves]

Well, the picture is a Model 14. The Model 14 being a K-Frame would not have an S serial number.

[Hutch]

Cobra, no offense, but very subtle differences to someone who has "no knowledge of guns in general " are very big differences to gun-geeks like us. The picture you posted appears to be a K-38 Masterpiece, manufactured sometime between 1968 and 1982. I don't think the serial number you gave jives with that. When you can take pictures of your particular heirloom, post them and you'll get lots o' help. As Phil pointed out, S&W started calling this the model 14 in 1957 or so. Open the cylinder and look at the newly-revealed portion of the frame and see if you see " Mod xx-y" where xx is the model number and y (if present) is the engineering change.

[csmkersh]

That is not entirely true - the pre-Model # variations of the Model 20 and 23 as well as the Models 20 and 23 were both built into the S200xxx serial range.


I was speaking only of the two .38 Special models. My Model 57 .41 mag is in the S200xxx range. supposedly the HD and the Outdoorsman switched to N prefixed SNs in 1968. Could this be a case where the Blue Book is in error?

[Shade00]

I think the major problem is with inconsistency over all the S&W lines of serial numbers prior to 1980 or so. Here is the deal with the .38/44s - being N frames, they were numbered concurrently with all of the other N frames produced until the Models 20 and 23 were dropped - that said, they were produced until somewhere in the mid S200xxxs. Imagine S&W having a big barrel of N-frame frames, and they'd just grab one from the barrel and that would become a Model 20 or 28 or whatever - even though there were not very many Heavy Duties produced, they would still fall within the acceptable S serial parameters. Hope that wasn't too confusing.

Still, we need a picture of cobra's gun to make any kind of determination.

[OFT]

Shade00 is right about the serial numbers. I have a heavy duty with a serial number of S109586 that was shipped in 1954. I do agree that the photo is of a K frame target, just can't tell the caliber.

[Master Blaster]

Well, the picture is a Model 14. The Model 14 being a K-Frame would not have an S serial number.


Not true, post war K frames 1946 and on have the S prefix I have a 1946 .38 special M&P that has an old style long action frame, and an S prefix serial number.
The S denoted the use of the new hammer block safety, IIRC K frames started using the K prefix around 1949-1950.

A picture would be a great help, both sides of the gun.

[Shade00]

The S serial prefix was used on S&W N-frames and on S&W post-war transitional M&Ps. While S does not necessarily denote either, S prefixes on M&Ps began in the 700xxx range and ended at S999,999. There is no overlap between the two frames.

[SaxonPig]

CJ789- If the serial you provided is correct (S94707) and if you are correct in that it is a .38 Special caliber and has adjustable sights with a 6" barrel as the gun pictured has (you said yours looks like that one and it has a 6" barrel and adjustable sights) then the only possible candidate would be an N frame "Outdoorsman" revolver. This would become the Model 23 in 1957 but your serial is from about 1950 and that's before they used model numbers.

If this is what you have it is a very collectible gun and a nice one would sell for $1,000-$1,200 in most cases. More if you have the original box.