s&w .38 help me out please

[josh_isgood]

hi all. my grandfather passed on recently and while cleaning his house up to sell it we found a handgun. i dont know much about guns honestly, being mostly that chicago doent allow you to own a gun in the city. anyways i know its a s&w and is hammerless. aka as a lemon squeezy or something like that (been looking on net for info) i dont have pictures at the moment but will get some soon. looks alot like this one http://bbs.macmad.org/~jamiecox/SmithandWesson.html
but doesnt have any deceration what so ever on it. has a solid metal butt, not sure if the butt was wood or anything else at one time but doesnt look like anything was taken off it. my first thought was maybe a military gun, he was in the korean war, navy i believe. but again not knowing much about guns i couldnt tell you even if that was a g.i. sidearm.

if anyone could give me some ideas what model it could be or where i could find out more info would be helpful. ( yes im aware you dont have much info on the gun )

thanks alot

 

[Trebor]

We need more info. What markings does it have? Where?

It could be a S&W. It could be a copy of a S&W. It could be a lot of things.

Btw, from the description, it's not a G.I. gun.

Pics would help as well. Right now it's like trying to ID a particular make and model of a car by saying, "I have a car. It has four wheels and two doors. I think it was made by Ford. What is it?"

 

[Old Fuff]

Josh:

The revolver in the picture you posted is a Smith & Wesson "New Departure" model that was also called a "Safety Hammerless" because of the squeeze safety mounted in the back of the handle. While other companies made similar revolvers they did not have this safety feature.

The serial number is stamped on the bottom of the butt, and if you post it (use "xx" for the last two numbers) we may be able to tell you more. Also measure the barrel length from the front face of the cylinder to the end of the muzzle. Also look for markings and patent dates on the top of the barrel rib. These may or may not be there depending on when the gun was made. Of course posting a picture would help.

S&W made two versions, a larger one chambered to use the .38 S&W cartridge (not the current .38 Special) and a smaller one chambered to use the .32 S&W round. Both had 5-shot cylinders.

These revolvers were made from the late 1880's to the late 1930's, and in fact the .38 model was available until early 1941. The serial number will tell the approximate (but not exact) date of manufacture.

 

[josh_isgood]

ok slight mistake. it uses s&w 38 bullets. its from harrington and richardson arms co. made in worcester massachusets. i looked on the net and looks like its model IJ 6469. i would put the serial numbers on here but not sure what numbers i should leave out. or if i should put any of them on here. it has a black plastic-like looking handel. still much looks like the picture i posted before. just wondering if someone knows if that is the model for sure and what about its worth. thanks

 

[Old Fuff]

Josh:

Go to the following link:

www.armsbid.com

They are having an auction, which includes a substantial number of old Harrington & Richardson and Iver Johnson revolvers. Go to the H&R section and look at the pictures. See if any of them match your gun.

The auction is coming up soon, and when it's over they will post the results. Then you can see what the kind of guns you're interested in went for.