S&W Mod 14/4"

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Jonah71

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Don't know how bad I could be getting ripped off, I can't seem to find this gun on any site. The S & W Model 14 with a 4" barrel. Made sometime in the 60's. Pretty sure it was made primarily as a target gun. Shows a little wear...finish has worn off a little on both sides of the end of the barrel. But otherwise it's really tight and very accurate. Nice trigger pull. I may be getting screwed but I'm leaving in about 20 minutes to pick it up for $440. Just how bad am I getting hurt here? Go ahead...I can take it. I've been had before.:confused:
 
With the exception of the Dayton Gun, there were no 4" Model 14's.

Because a 4" Model 14, would in fact be a Model 15 Combat Masterpiece cataloged at the same time.

If it has a 4" barrel with a ramp front sight, it is a Model 15, or it's predecessor the Combat Masterpiece before the numbering system started.

rc
 
Not sure if the Dayton run is the only batch of 4" 14s but they are rare. I think the 4" 14s have heavy barrels compared to the tapered barrels on the 15s. This may have been the rationale behind creating the 4" 14 - they wanted the heavy barrel.
 
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble but I have in my hand, my Model 14-2 with a 4 inch barrel. serial # K660xxx. This is the second one i have owned and I have seen one other. It's NOT a model 15, it's NOT had the barrel replaced or cut. :neener::neener
 
As mentioned, the "Dayton" guns were a limited production, heavy 4" barrel, and are pretty collectible. I just located one for a friend of mine who used to carry one many years ago. He got it for about $500 and felt very lucky. Condition will dictate the price. New in the box it might be worth $1000-$1200 to a serious collector.
 
I don't know about Dayton, but one made it to my home town of Birmingham many years ago. It has been a long time, but I clearly remember the broad rib, short ramp, and post sight on the 4 inch barrel confirming the shelf tag.
 
Be careful! While S&W did make some 4-inch model 14's there are also a lot of them floating around that started life with a 6-inch tube that got shortened. Some were done at the factory, while others were made by private gunsmiths. Always compare the way the barrel is crowned at the muzzel with another revolver that has a longer barrel. It may take $50 and a letter from Roy Jinks to tell for sure.
 
Looking in my borrowed copy of the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 3rd ed (I'm gonna have to get one of these :)), there were a few instances of 4" Model 14s being produced.

If you can post the first part of your serial number (blanking out the last 3 or 4 digits), we might be able to tell whether yours is factory original 4" or not. We can at least tell you a year of manufacture.
 
I'll do that the first chance I get. But right now, I have to have a sermon ready in 45 min. (lol...i need to re examine my priorities). But unless the gun was altered, it sounds like I did OK...so far. I'll find someone to show me how to post pics on this old dinosaur of a pc. One thing I wasn't use to was the front site, but after 3 shots I started getting a real tight group. (even with one eye gone and the other one going.) I've got a feeling that eventually I'd have no problem selling it but have no intention of doing so. I just hope it wasn't cut down as was suggested. I WILL get the 4 digits on the serial # posted. One thing I can say is it sure is fun to fire.
 
It does have a very short ramp....that I do know. And the guy I bought it from has bought and sold it back to the same person 3-4 times over a period of several years. Strange, but I'm beginning to see lots of strange buying/selling/trading habits among gun owners.
 
I should have explained that if it was cut down, this does not mean that it isn't a good revolver from a shooter's perspective. All it does is lower the collector's value over a gun that was originally made with a 4" barrel. Many of those factory cut-down's were ordered by FBI agents and other law enforcement officers who knew exactly what they were doing and why.
 
A cut down S&W barrel is instantly spotted by the lettering no longer being centered. If the stamping starts very close to the muzzle it's been cut.
 
SharpsDressedMan said:
As mentioned, the "Dayton" guns were a limited production, heavy 4" barrel, and are pretty collectible. I just located one for a friend of mine who used to carry one many years ago. He got it for about $500 and felt very lucky. Condition will dictate the price. New in the box it might be worth $1000-$1200 to a serious collector.
Click to expand...
It does have a post front site.....but no box I'm sorry to say. I will try to figure out how to get pics on here this week. I'm on my pc at church and we are all networked. I guess I could try to take a pic with my cell phone and then down load it onto the pc. I'll get with someone this week who knows what they're doing. I just know how to turn it on and to run copies from here to the copier in the other office. But no matter how it turns out, I wanted the gun so bad it won't matter that much to me if I paid a little too much. I'm kinda sure evryone on this site knows how that goes lol.
 
Most cut down guns won't have the caliber or S&W marking centered; they will be off due to having been centered on a longer barrel. Usualy, a close look at the front sight will show a chop job, too. Dayton, Ohio, was the home of the distributor that ordered these gun originally. I do not know if S&W later produced them for marketing on their own.
 
S&W 4" Pre Model 14 Target Masterpiece

I just posted this same reply on the S&W Forum as well.

Here are a couple of pics of my 1957 Pre-Model-14, 4" Target Masterpiece (s/n K292XXX). This is a factory barrel as can be seen by the centered position of the lettering, crown, etc. For comparison I also show my Pre-15 1952 Combat Masterpiece with the common tapered barrel. It is true that S&W never cataloged a 4" bbl for the Target Masterpiece/Model 14 (only 6" and 8 3/8") but some 4" guns were produced on special order.

This may be one of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Dept. guns referred to on page 144 of Supica and Nahas - Standard Catalog of S&W under Variations. The year of manufacture is correct and the fact that it came from a gun shop in Independence, Missouri lends credence; however I have not had it researched as yet. Anyway, I wanted to show the difference between the the 4" Model-14 (and pre-14) guns and a standard Model-15.

The "Dayton" guns have what appears to be a Model 10 heavy barrel with Baughman ramp front sight added to match the height of the adjustable rear sight. It is a significantly thicker barrel than either of these pictured.

Chris
 
Here are the pics that didn't come thru on my previous post.
 

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NWShooter said:
I just posted this same reply on the S&W Forum as well.

Here are a couple of pics of my 1957 Pre-Model-14, 4" Target Masterpiece (s/n K292XXX). This is a factory barrel as can be seen by the centered position of the lettering, crown, etc. For comparison I also show my Pre-15 1952 Combat Masterpiece with the common tapered barrel. It is true that S&W never cataloged a 4" bbl for the Target Masterpiece/Model 14 (only 6" and 8 3/8") but some 4" guns were produced on special order.

This may be one of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Dept. guns referred to on page 144 of Supica and Nahas - Standard Catalog of S&W under Variations. The year of manufacture is correct and the fact that it came from a gun shop in Independence, Missouri lends credence; however I have not had it researched as yet. Anyway, I wanted to show the difference between the the 4" Model-14 (and pre-14) guns and a standard Model-15.

The "Dayton" guns have what appears to be a Model 10 heavy barrel with Baughman ramp front sight added to match the height of the adjustable rear sight. It is a significantly thicker barrel than either of these pictured.

Chris
Click to expand...
It may be one of the KC guns. Not sure. I talked with gun shop owner who said the gun originally came from a retired KC, Mo. LEO but that really doesn't mean much I guess. Anyway the serial #s are K3387--. And the lettering is centered. The front site ramp doesn't appear to be altered and the barrel isn't that heavy. I WILL find some way (hopefully Wed. night) to get pics posted.
 
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