Hi! and model/year help?

[rqjoe]

Hi all. I am not much of a gun person any more (used to be) and am in need of some insight. Found you forum here and it looks nice. (looks like a couple car forums I belong to) Anyhow, I inherited this .38 special S&W revolver but am not sure what it is and from what year. (s/n 210115) I was told it is a M&P change 3 from around 1910-15. As a sort of 2nd-opinion thing, would you all agree with that? Thanks for any help. J

 

[P5 Guy]

Looks to me you got a good answer.
It is an older Military & Police. Can you put up more photos? Some close ups for us S&W fans to drool over.

 

[carguychris]

(s/n 210115) I was told it is a M&P change 3 from around 1910-15. As a sort of 2nd-opinion thing, would you all agree with that?

I concur. The gun appears to be a .38 Military & Police Model of 1905, 3rd Change. FWIW the "3rd change" part is not a factory designation; it's used by later-day collectors to differentiate between different mechanical versions of the .38 M&P series. The gun appears to have a 6" barrel.

The M&P is a robust design, and the gun should be safe to fire if it's in good mechanical condition. The "Revolver Checkout" sticky in the "Revolver" subforum is a good place to start, although you may also want to get the gun checked out by a gunsmith prior to firing. I would, however, like to share a few words of warning.

• M&P's prior to the 4th Change do NOT have any sort of hammer block mechanism. This gun WILL discharge if the hammer is struck firmly with a live round underneath it. This gun should ONLY be carried "five-up" with an empty chamber under the hammer. Do NOT load all 6 chambers unless you intend to empty all of them right away.
• M&P's prior to serial number 316,6XX do not have heat-treated cylinders. Also, S&W's built prior to WWII are generally made of softer steels than postwar guns, and typically don't withstand extended hard use as well as later models. Additionally, parts may be hard to find if something breaks. For these reasons, I would recommend avoiding higher-powered +P or +P+ ammunition, and I would restrain from repeated double-action rapid-fire practice. Basically, I would not hesitate to fire this gun if it's in good mechanical shape, or even to use it for personal self-defense; however, she's no spring chicken- go easy on her.

Good luck, and enjoy!