S&W Revolver ID ??

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Stope Rat

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Any assistance on a firm identification on this 6-shot S&W revolver would be appreciated.

There is a number present on the butt (477XXX) - but it looks like it was carved in with a pocket knife. The metal overall looks like it has been polished with a wire brush on a Dremel tool. Couldn't find numbers on the yoke or under the grips.

5 screw
Checkered grips with center diamond
Round blade front sight
Pinned barrel
Non-recessed cylinder
S&W emblem left side of frame


Right side of barrel: ".38 S&W Special CTG"
Left side of barrel: "SMITH & WESSON"
Top of barrel: "Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass USA"
"Patented FEB 6 06 SEPT 14 09 DEC 29 14"
Rights side of frame: "MADE IN USA"

Thanks for taking a look
 
Looks to this untrained eye to be a S&W Hand Ejector, Military and Police, made between 1915 and 1942
 
Thank you gentlemen. I was getting lost in the "3,4,5,6 screw" / pinned versus unpinned barrel / etc etc forest.

Still bothered by the really crude hand engraved ("scratched") number on the butt strap though. Doesn't appear original, but seems to be in the range shown in the link given by 243winxb.
 
Jim Watson said:
You should be bothered. An unoriginal serial number is illegal.
Click to expand...
You're right. Luckily it's not mine, and it's already in evidence. :)

Just trying to track down what it is, so I can do a better search for where it came from.
 
Unless it was really well scrubbed, the serial number is on the bottom of the barrel under the extractor rod, on the rear face of the cylinder, and on the inside face of the extractor. That last is really hard to spot.
The large knob extractor rod and no-medallion grips put it pretty early in the long period that the .38 Hand Ejector, Military & Police, Model of 1905, 4th Change was produced. (That is what it is, made long before model numbers were assigned.) The one-line address has something to say, too. Too bad they didn't put all the fine details in the SCSW but the collectors on the S&W boards have it all down pat. 243 showed one board, the other is http://smith-wessonforum.com/forum.php

Smith did not ship guns in strict serial number order, the best that the s.n. and physical features can do is to get it in a time frame, maybe a year or so, maybe a decade. And that will not tell you WHERE it came from. A factory letter will tell you where it WENT from the factory, maybe they would look it up immediately if it is evidence in a court case. Not that it will do much good with maybe 90 years of travel.
 
Jim Watson said:
Unless it was really well scrubbed, the serial number is on the bottom of the barrel under the extractor rod, on the rear face of the cylinder, and on the inside face of the extractor. That last is really hard to spot.
The large knob extractor rod and no-medallion grips put it pretty early in the long period that the .38 Hand Ejector, Military & Police, Model of 1905, 4th Change was produced. (That is what it is, made long before model numbers were assigned.) The one-line address has something to say, too. Too bad they didn't put all the fine details in the SCSW but the collectors on the S&W boards have it all down pat. 243 showed one board, the other is http://smith-wessonforum.com/forum.php

Smith did not ship guns in strict serial number order, the best that the s.n. and physical features can do is to get it in a time frame, maybe a year or so, maybe a decade. And that will not tell you WHERE it came from. A factory letter will tell you where it WENT from the factory, maybe they would look it up immediately if it is evidence in a court case. Not that it will do much good with maybe 90 years of travel.
Click to expand...

I'm going to go with REALLY well scrubbed. Really pitted, and then wire brushed. I've been over it with a magnifying glass and can't find any additional numbers. The area on the underside of the barrel beneath the ejector rod looks like it has been ground down. And the wooden grips actually have worm (termite?) holes in them. No hits using the number on the grip, so I was hoping to try and use a "no number" search by model. That probably won't work because of the age and lack of a definite model number.

Again, thanks for the info
 
Stope Rat said:
The area on the underside of the barrel beneath the ejector rod looks like it has been ground down
Click to expand...

That shows dedication in the scrubbing process. As I said they might have missed the number on the BACK of the extractor but the gun is in such rough shape that it may not be legible.

I doubt you will get a "hit" on anything about this revolver. It is likely 80-100 years old and had no model number, just the name.
 
Not a real answer, but if you are trying to raise and trace the serial number on that gun, I wish you good luck.
The model number is not that important; it is a .38 Special Caliber Military & Police Model revolver, designated the Model 10 today, but that model always had its own serial number range..
The existing number shows that the gun was made in the mid to late 1920's, long before the 1938 FFA required any record keeping by dealers and I doubt BATFE will have any information. Few dealers from that era are still in business, and it is unlikely those would still have 90 year-old records. S&W's records, if they still exist, might show the point of first shipment, but that would probably be of no help.

Jim
 
I believe there are several methods for bringing the serial numbers back to legibility, such as acid etching or magnetic powder.....if this is a law enforcement issue, the crime lab should be versed in these methods. As for trying to trace the sales history of the weapon, I would think most modern dealers will list it as a Model 10.
 
I have no idea why tracing that gun is necessary or important. In my experience, such a gun may have gone through dozens of hands, with most transfers semi-legal at best. If it is now in evidence, the last owner/possessor might be known, and maybe the person who sold/gave it to him might be found, but that kind of tracking is difficult, manpower intensive, and seldom productive in terms of providing usable evidence.* As a rule, a prosecutor only cares about showing that the defendant had the gun; where he got it is of little interest, and where it was in, say, 1937 is of none.

Jim

*Which is why police and prosecutors would rather gain TV time by railing against legal guns than even attempt to shut down the traffic in stolen and illegal guns.

JK
 
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