38 S & W Special CTG Dating

[prisondog]

I am in possession of a 38 S & W Special CTG. Serial # 478081.I want to know when the gun was manufactured.
On the top of barrel it states:
Smith & Wesson Springfield Mass. U.S.A. Patented
Oct 8.01 Dec 17.01 Feb 8.05 Sep 14.09 Dec 28.14
Any help would be appreciated

 

[Jim K]

That is not much information, but I think it is a Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector, Model 1905, (also known as the Military and Police Model), 4th change. It was probably made sometime in the mid 1920's or early 1930's. Maybe someone else can narrow that down a little.

The .38 S&W Special cartridge is what we usually call the .38 Special. At one time, a firearms company that developed a cartridge made sure that it put its name as part of the cartridge name on its guns. Colt made guns for the .38 Colt Special, which was exactly the same cartridge when used in a Colt revolver.

Jim