S&W model ID

[crazysccrmd]

I was offered a S&W 41 magnum revolver but I'm unsure what model it is. I'm working with the seller to get more pictures and info but thought I'd post here for some input. It has adjustable sights like a model 57 but a non-shrouded ejector like a model 58. The owner says he thinks it might be a model 1917, which means it would have to have been rebarreled and all sometime after the mid 60's. S&W revolvers aren't my area of expertise.

 

[Jim Watson]

It is a "five screw" N frame with Model 58 barrel and cylinder fitted, adjustable sights installed.

It might well have been a 1917 but could have been any other N frame prior to 1956 when the upper sideplate screw was dropped. There have been a lot of Heavy Duty .38s used up for caliber conversions.

What is the serial number? (You will have to get the Monogrip off, the true serial number is on the butt. The number under the yoke is a factory assembly number of no present significance.) A 1917 will have been marked US Army Model 1917 and have a hole for the lanyard loop, maybe plugged.

 

[crazysccrmd]

Thank you for the reply. If it is built on a 1917 frame designed for 45acp how safe is it with 41 magnum pressures?

 

[Jim Watson]

I doubt it will blow up in your face.
Otherwise you need a real expert. Will magnums stretch the topstrap or shake the action loose? I dunno.

 

[crazysccrmd]

Any guess on a rough value for something like this?

 

[crazysccrmd]

Got some more info.

No model number on the yoke but t yoke and frame have matching assembly numbers . 5 screws, 4 inch barrel, 41 , Hand ejector post war adjustable rear sight, SN 135649.

 

[Jim Watson]

Now we know. The frame is a 1917, made in 1918 or 1919.

I don't know about the gun's strength, but I would find all the fun I could handle at loads like the original Remington "medium" with a 210 gr SWC at 900 fps. Which is not much more than .45 ACP.

 

[Radagast]

That is a very nice conversion. Value is hard to pinpoint. I would guess to the average shooter much less than a Model 57, for a collector of S&W oddities? Probably about than the same as the Model 57.

 

[bannockburn]

crazysccrmd

That's a very interesting, and nicely done, conversion. Any chance the seller knows who did the work on it originally?

 

[Walkalong]

A very interesting gun, and one I would want, if the price was right. I wouldn't pay Model 57 prices though.

 

[Smith357]

It looks like a very well done conversion. Back in the heyday of surplus arms 1917s were dirt cheap and nobody ever though they would be collectable. In much the same way as the surplus a3-03s and 98 Mausers were used as starting points for custom hunting rifles, the 1917s were used for all manner of projects, though most were very poorly done, there are a few gems such as yours out there. As to value, any shootable N frame S&W that has been dragged behind a truck is currently priced at least $400 round these parts, a nicely done conversion from a no name maker might be priced from 5-700, a good conversion from a well known Gun Smith well.... it all depends. I saw a real documented Fitzed Colt priced at 13K.

 

[crazysccrmd]

I traded a Rossi 1892 44 mag 16" stainless for it. Goes well with my 629 mountain gun.

 

[crazysccrmd]

Tried to get a couple pictures of the only markings I could find. Above the trigger guard on the left rear it looks like an eagle with the number 7 beneath it. There's another eagle visible when the cylinder is opened, this one with S2 beneath it. At the base of the grip frame there is an F on the right and something else on the left.

 

[Jim Watson]

The eagles are Army Ordnance inspectors' marks, replacing the stamps with chief inspector's monogram. Changed in April 1918. There was an ordnance bomb stamp, probably wiped out in the polishing to commercial blue.

The F is probably a factory assembler's or inspector's mark. Stamps applied by men long dead for records long lost.