Help Identifying old S&W

[BrunoBettoni]

Hello,

I posted this without much info about this revolver in January, now I have more pictures and I would appreciate any input to help me clarify the estimated time of manufacture of this piece.

I am not sure whether it is actually a genuine S&W or a counterfeit. It belongs to a good friend of mine. It's a 38 with 5" barrel.

Thank you!

Bruno Bettoni
Caxias do Sul - RS - Brazil

 

[Jim K]

That is a tough one. My first impression was that it was a very badly worn S&W M&P Model from around the time of WWI. But that barrel marking certainly was NOT done by S&W, so that casts doubt on the S&W sideplate marking as well. The serial number seems to be from a different type than S&W used at that time.

So what is it? I don't know. It could be a worn S&W that someone tried to "restore", or it could be a copy, possibly made in Spain or Brazil, that someone passed off as a genuine S&W.

I am not sure it matters much, since the gun is in such poor condition that it has little value in any case. It might work, and if so it is a shooter, but be careful; if it is an old Spanish copy, firing it could be dangerous as they were made of poor material and many have blown up.

Jim

 

[BrunoBettoni]

Thank you, Jim!