Smith & Wesson Special CTG

[HunterBryan]

I have a S&W special ctg 38 6" w/ Mar 27 94 thru Sept. 14. 09 on the top of the barrell Smith & Wesson on the side of barrell with 38 S & W Speacial CTG on other side. Was carried in law enforcement in early 1900's. Just trying to see what it is worth and any info about it. If there is any model or serial #'s they are worn off.

 

[Oyeboten]

This is a Six Shot?

Would kind of have to be I think.

Serial Number would be stamped into the Butt, the face of the Cylinder, the small flat area under the Barrel where the Ejector Rod rests, and, probably on the underside of the Ejecter 'Star'.


Images of the Revolver?


Worth from $65.00 to maybe five grand, depending on condition, type of finish, provenance, and, other details.

 

[HunterBryan]

280915 I think is the serial # Gun is got pitting and it still shoots like a new one. very tight. I could send pics to email. Thanks for info

 

[DPris]

And CTG just means cartridge.
Denis

 

[SaxonPig]

Sounds like a Hand Ejector Military & Police 4th Model made 1915-1942. That serial would be very early, like before 1920 or so.

Should chamber 38 Special ammunition and due to its age I would stick with standard velocity ammo.

 

[Crusader103]

Should chamber 38 Special ammunition...

Be very careful on that. 38 S&W, as it appears the OP may have, is definitely not the same thing as 38 Special. While most often a 38 Special will not fit in a firearm designed for 38 S&W CTG, if it does it will have much higher pressures than designed for.

Here is a picture of my 38 S&W, a Regulation Police.



and this is 38 S&W CTG ammunition

 

[Crusader103]

OP, you may want to repost this in the S&W DOB thread. There is a sticky at the top of this subforum. There are some pretty knowledgeable S&W historians on this forum.

 

[Old Fuff]

jscott:

We have some serious confusion here...

Your revolver, a very nice Regulation Police model, is chambered to use the .38 S&W cartridge. The revolver mentioned in the opening post uses the entrely different .38 S&W Special round.

The .38 Regulation Police is based on Smith & Wesson's I-frame, and the cylinder is 5-chambered. The revolver in the O.P is a .38 Military & Police model, made on the K-frame, with a six-shot cylinder.

The serial number on the opening post revolver is apparently 280,915 - but between 1917 when the .38 Regulation Police was introduced, and 1940 when it was discontinued to make way for war production, S&W only made 54,474 of them.

You are correct in saying that the .38 S&W and .38 S&W Special cartridges are not related to each other, and are not considered to be interchangeable.

 

[SaxonPig]

The OP stated the gun has "Special" stamped on the right side of the barrel. That and the patent dates sound like a Military & Police rather than an I frame.

 

[Crusader103]

We have some serious confusion here...

That's what I get for reading too fast.

I probably "jumped the gun" because I just went in to purchase some 38 S&W and the guy tried to tell me I was looking for 38 Special. I knew the difference but many do not. Always a good reminder to double check the actual ammo type, especially on some of these older firearms.

 

[Barkoff]

Wow, I'm glad I read this thread, I had no idea pistols marked "CTG" were not .38 Special, in fact I think I have one out in the safe. Weren't the Victory pistols, 1942, marked CTG, these are not .38 Special?

 

[SaxonPig]

CTG = Cartridge so any caliber could be so marked.

38 S&W CTG .... or
38 S&W Special CTG

 

[DPris]

CTG has to be the most widely misunderstood thing S&W has ever stamped on their guns by people who know little or nothing about them.
It is nothing more than an abbreviation for the word "cartridge".
It has no meaning in itself in that it is not a model designator, and it has to have numbers along with it to tell what the caliber of the gun is.

In fact, if you want to know what caliber the gun is, just make a mental effort to remove those three letters from your mind & pay attention to what comes before them.

.38 S&W is .38 Smith & Wesson.
.38 S&W Special is .38 Special.
Two totally different calibers, and CTG has nothing to do with either the caliber designation or the model of any gun so stamped.
Denis

 

[jhvaughan2]

Barkoff; A "victory" can be either S&W 38 CTG (not really a Victory, rather a 38/200) or 38 S&W Special CTG.
Many 38/200's have been modified to take 38 special. Some will say, "shoot away". Personally I would not shoot 38 specials in them. (Well, maybe I would if I knew I loaded it lower.)

 

[John Wayne]

CTG has to be the most widely misunderstood thing S&W has ever stamped on their guns by people who know little or nothing about them.
It is nothing more than an abbreviation for the word "cartridge".
It has no meaning in itself in that it is not a model designator, and it has to have numbers along with it to tell what the caliber of the gun is.

I thought it stood for "Crimson Trace Grips" When I did a Google search, I found out that the S&W triple lock is the best gun ever, so I bought one and threw away the cheesy walnut grips that came with it right away, in favor of the original Crimson Trace Grips. When I went to buy ammo I noticed it said ".44 Special" so I made sure to buy the best, most special kind of .44 Magnum ammo the store sold.

 

[DPris]

And, there you are.
Denis

 

[Radagast]

John Wayne gets an award for magnificent trolling. I cringed at first before I realised it was a joke.