Help me ID my Grandfathers S&W

M

mparris71

New member
HI,
My Grandfather has an old S&W 38 speical. He bought it in the 70's off an old guy that said it was bought new in 32 but that could be not true. I don't know much about S&W so I was hopeing someone could date it and ID the model number for me. on the butt of the gun it has "s" large Space then the # 953060
on the top of the barrel the last Patnet date is Dec 29 14 under the crane arm on the frame is K 4 then the # 32901.
Hope someone can help me.
Thanks
Mark Parris
 
Parris,

Are you sure about the numbers on the grip?

If it is 6 numbers after the S, it's a postwar .38 Military & Police, which is now known as the Model 10, and was probably made in 1948.

The K that you note could indicate that it's a K-frame, but I've never seen one so marked. The number after the K is the floor assembly number.

If it is only 5 numbers, then it's one of the .38 Spl. chambered N-frame revolvers, which is larger and heavier and would have been made about 20 years later.

The patent dates, though, are a strong indication that this is a .38 Military & Police.
 
mike

Mike,
Thanks for the information. I wrote the #'s down while looking at the gun I geuss I could have made a mistake but I don't think I would. I will try to take some digtal pictures next week if you interested in seeing it. I might have been unclear were the K4 and the number 32901 is located. it is on the frame where the crane arm rest in the frame.
Thank you
Mark
 
Parris,

I'd say the chances of it being a Military and Police are EXCELLENT, given that there were millions of these made and they were available after the war very inexpensively.

When you take the pictures, lay a ruler along side the gun, along the top of the barrel.

This will give a definite size reference. S&W's revolvers are SO similar looking that without a size reference it can often be very difficult to tell the frame size.
 
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