S&W .38 Special from Grandfather

[PJRanger]

Hello everyone,

I am looking to identify and age a S&W .38 Special from my Brother in Law's grandfather. The serial number is on the square butt is 944667. The grip has been changed to a Pachmayr grip so I cant tell you what the original grips were. The serial number is also stamped on the cylinder.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated

PJ

 

[Jim K]

More info would be helpful, but the only .38 Special S&W's that went that high were the .38 Hand Ejector, Military and Police Mode, now called the Model 10. They were made in large numbers in WWII on contract for the U.S. both for U.S. forces and for lend lease to the British (in .38 S&W caliber).

S&W's numbering machine only went to six digits and not long after yours was made, they reverted to 1, but with the "V" (for Victory) prefix, thus creating the famous Victory Model. Guns like yours, made in wartime but prior to the "V" series, are sometimes called "Pre-Victory Models."

Original finish would have been a light gray Parkerizing, and the original grips would have been plain wood, uncheckered and without medallions.

Your gun was probably made in early April, 1942.

This outfit has wood grips that are very close to the original, if you are interested in restoring the original look. The link will take you to the page where the S&W Victory grips are shown.

http://www.gungrip.com/items_031__page6.html

Jim