S & W Special CTG history?

[moushka]

A number of years ago I inherited my grandfathers service revolver. I have no intention of selling it but would like to know it's value and the history of the model. It is a 38 S & W Special CTG with a 4 inch barrel, steel lanyard ring and a fine checkered hammer. The serial number starts with an S and ends with either an 8 or B (I can't quite make it out). About 20 years ago I took it to a gun smith to have it reblued as it is worn and I wanted to protect the revolver, but he refused stating it was a "collectors" item and reblueing it would reduce the value. Any information would be welcomed.

Thank you!

 

[Will5A1]

A bit more info please - look at the butt and give us more of the serial number, its great that you are telling us it starts with an S, but if we can have the complete number (you can X out the last 2 or 3 digits, i.e. S123XX) we can provide more info. Your revolver sounds like a post war Military and Police or Victory to me, is there a "V" following the "S"?

 

[BlindJustice]

From some recent readings about the history of S & W

The .gun you have has been in continuous production since
1899. It began as S & W wanted to have a little more velocity than
their competitor's revolvers in .38 Long Colt S& W lengthed
that cartridge by 1/8 of an inch so that the black powder charge
could be increased from 18 to 21.5 grains. It was a time of
transition to smokeless powder so the blackpowder charge was only
used for a year or so. It was known as the Model 10 M & P ie
Military & Police. I think The frame size is now known as the
K-Frame and was standard issue for Law Enforcement for decades
until the advent of Semi-Autos. Today K-frames continue
in the 617 in .22 LR but the Model 19 in .357 Magnum has been
discontinued and replaced with the L-frame models 619 & 620.

I think that's a fairly accurate brief summary of the history of the
Model 10 M & P