What have I got here?

[Narren]

I have a .38 special S&W that I purchased from a friend who was just getting rid of his grandfathers weapons. Neither of us are sure what it is worth. It is a blue six shot revolver with a four inch barrel and wooden grips. There is a diamond shape around the screw holding the grip on. The serial number on the bottom of the grip is 293129. The left side of the barrel says “Smith & Wesson.” The right side of the barrel says “38 S. & W. SPECIAL CTG” The top of the barrel says “SMITH & WESSON SPRINGFIELD MASS. USA PAT’D MAR. 27 94. MAY 21 95. AUG. 4 96. DEC. 2 98. OCT. 8 01. FEB. 6 06. SEPT. 14 09.

Anyone know anything about this gun, or where I can find out? Anyone know how much it may be worth?

 

[DouglasW]

There are many, many folks on THR with more expertise than me, but for starters I'd suggest you swing open the cylinder and look at the frame on the left side. is there a "Mod X-X" shown (where X is a number such as Mod 10 or Mod 15-3).

Sounds like a K-frame to my novice ears, possibly a pre-model number M&P (military and police) depending on it's age -- but someone with the S&W Standard Catalog will chime in with your revolver's year of manufacture shortly.

p.s. Welcome to the THR.

 

[Trebor]

A picture would help as well.

Also, where did you measure the barrel from? Your "four inch" barrel may be a five inch barrel. The correct way is to measure the barrel from the muzzle all the way back to the chamber. Many people mistakenly measure from the muzzle to where the barrel meets the frame. When they do that they underestimate the official barrel length by an inch.

 

[XavierBreath]

In lieu of a photo, I'll take a guess......... Does it look like this? If so, it's a pre-war Model of 1905 4th Change, also known as a Military & Police revolver or M&P. Market value is largely dependent on condition, (as well as a few special order options) but most M&Ps sell for between $100 and $400 at this time. The price variance has to do with condition. A couple of good photos would help there.

 

[Narren]

Well, it's been awhile, but here are those pics. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Narren]

umm...never mind. It's not wanting to work with me!