.38 HE M&P Mod 1905 2nd Change

[monet61]

Hello, newbie here. I have come into possession of the above revolver. It is cosmetically rough, but mechanically fine. I am planning on shooting 148 gr W/C's. My question is, can I use normal 158 LRN rounds safely in this gun?
I know not to use any +P ammo. As I said, it is in fine mechanical shape.
Thank you for any advice.

 

[Old Fuff]

My question is, can I use normal 158 LRN rounds safely in this gun?

Yes you can, and they should shoot to point of aim. The 1905 2nd chg. were made between 1906 and '09. Standard loads are still made, but sometimes hard to find. .38 Special ammunition made for the Cowboy Action Shooting (CSA) sport would also be O.K. Stick to lead bullets. Another option, also loaded for CAS competitors, would be .38 Long Colt.

 

[Oyeboten]

If that is 'cosmetically rough', some of mine would be, well...uhhhh, no where near that nice anyway.

That actually looks quite good.

The Wooden Stocks are pretty rare for that period, usually haveing been the Hard Rubber version at that time.

Very nice, lovely Revolvers.

Older boxes of plain .38 Special 158 Grain RNL are often easy to find 'reasonable' at Gun Shows.

Steer clear of Jacketed or Hardball also...( such as older MilSurp .38 Special Ammunition).

 

[Radagast]

Also keep in mind that your gun lacks the internal hammer block safety found in all S&W revolvers since WWII. It would be prudent to leave the chamber under the hammer empty if you keep it loaded.
The reason for steering clear of jacketed and or plus P ammo is that the gun predates heat treatment of cylinders. 158 grain and 148 grain lead loads are the rounds it was designed to shoot, so stick to them.

 

[monet61]

38 he m&p

Thanks to all for the response. This gun is a pleasure to shoot.

 

[bannockburn]

monet61

I would agree with Oyeboten; your S&W looks to be in fairly decent shape. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jim K]

FWIW, the first type hammer block safety was installed on the .38 HE M&P Model 1905 Fourth change as early as 1915, though some models did not receive it until 1926, just before the second type was installed on all M&P revolvers. It was a revolver with the second type of hammer block safety that failed and led to the change to the current type safety. The reason for the failure seems still not known for sure.

In any event, in the early HE guns, the rebound lever or rebound slide does provide some resistance to the hammer being driven forward, but does not block it when enough force is applied to shear the hammer pin or crush the rebound slide.

Jim