I recently acquired a K38 Combat Masterpiece (4 inch barrel) 5 screw with a gold box from that period. It was not holstered during its life and the bluing is intact. I would say a 95% condition conservatively. The serial # is 1493XX. The only serious drawback is that the original grips are long gone, replaced with grips now found on modern reissues of classic S&W models. I wondering what vintage a firearm it is and what value it might have as a collector item. The owners manual and tool kit are also missing.
S&W K-38 Combat Masterpiece
- Thread starter crestone
- Start date
Mike Irwin
Staff
Vintage is sometime between 1952, when S&W changed the front sight, and 1957, when they started stamping model numbers inside the crane cut is my guess. Not sure when they dropped the 5th screw, but it was also around that time.
In that condition, with all the goodies, and with a box in that condition, you bet it has collectors value.
If I were to see that at a gun show in Northern Virginia I wouldn't be surprised to see $900, or even $1,000, on it.
In that condition, with all the goodies, and with a box in that condition, you bet it has collectors value.
If I were to see that at a gun show in Northern Virginia I wouldn't be surprised to see $900, or even $1,000, on it.
5th screw was dropped in 1956. For a period of 8 months or so after dropping the 5th screw they produced 4 screw K-38 Combat Masterpieces as you would call those the pre model 15 revolvers.
If you want to invest $50 you can click on this link and you will receive a nicely printed letter from Roy Jinks with your revolvers history from when it shipped to the place of business it was sent to.
http://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson/upload/other/LOA.pdf
aarondhgraham
New member
Hello Crestone,,,
You've just purchased what may arguably be,,,
The finest combat revolver ever made.
In a way it's a shame yours is in such nice condition,,,
I doubt whether you will shoot the gun.
Of all my handguns my Model 15 remains my all time favorite to shoot.
Nice catch.
Aarond
You've just purchased what may arguably be,,,
The finest combat revolver ever made.
In a way it's a shame yours is in such nice condition,,,
I doubt whether you will shoot the gun.
Of all my handguns my Model 15 remains my all time favorite to shoot.
Nice catch.
Aarond
Dave Anderson
New member
Code:
I recently acquired a K38 Combat Masterpiece (4 inch barrel) 5 screw with a gold box from that period. It was not holstered during its life and the bluing is intact. I would say a 95% condition conservatively. The serial # is 1493XX.The s/n with a K prefix dates to 1952.
From what I can see in the photos I'd call it better than 95%, more like 98 - 99%. Might not seem like much but to collectors it makes a difference. As collectors like to say, guns aren't scarce; condition is scarce.
For some collectors the original grips being missing would be a deal breaker. The original grips were polished along with the grip frame for a near-perfect fit, then removed while the frame was sent to the bluing tanks. They were serial numbered to the gun so the grips/frame could be matched again after the finishing was complete.
Even if you could find a set of grips from the correct era (and they are getting expensive all by themselves) they wouldn't enhance collector value as much as the ones the gun had when it left the factory.
Other collectors might not care as much about the original grips, and actually the ones on the revolver are pretty nice. Considering the exceptional condition it is certainly collectible. The original grips probably exist somewhere (people don't throw original grips away when they buy new ones, they toss them in a drawer or parts cabinet). Maybe they'll show up at a gun show some day!
I agree. 1952. The grips may not be the original ones to the gun, but appear to be the right kind, which would be diamond Magna's.
I've got one from 1951 (K 118xxx) no box or papers. It had rubber grips on it when I got it. I got a set of correct vintage grips from a seller on the Smith & Wesson forum.
With the correct blue/gold box, one in your condition would bring about $750.00 around here.
I've got one from 1951 (K 118xxx) no box or papers. It had rubber grips on it when I got it. I got a set of correct vintage grips from a seller on the Smith & Wesson forum.
With the correct blue/gold box, one in your condition would bring about $750.00 around here.
Guys, thanks much for all the historical background on my K-38. It does have a "K" in front of the serial #. I have shot it, but not much. I also have a mid-nineties Model 67 and while I have been very satisfied with the double and single action feel of that gun, acquiring the K-38 shows how much they (S&W) don't make them like they use too. Thanks for the info on value. I paid $500 and was hesitant to at first, but since I am also a 1952 vintage (not nearly as well preserved as the k-38), I'm glad I did. I'll hang on to it as a piece from a bygone era.
Beautiful find Crestone....I too have a thing for those great years at S&W. My carry piece, through part of my first tour in Vietnam in 1970, was a Combat Masterpiece. I hated those grips...(couldn't find a snap on grip filler for the arch behind the trigger) so my shooting with it wasn't as good as a better stocked gun. Later, I locked it up in the commo bunker safe and got a Browning Hi-Power for the increased magazine capacity...and that was followed by an Army issued 1911A1.
They issued a web belt with it, an ammo pouch, and a half a$$ed holster of gov't make. I quickly had a Vietnamese make me up a better holster which fit the gun to perfection...but the damned thing smelt of the urine they had used to cure their leather...but it worked well. The Air Force issued us FMJ .38 Spl rounds with a 130 gr bullet, if memory serves; plus some .38 Spl flare rounds. The idea was to hide out if you were shot down, then signal the Huey's with a flare round, without shooting them in the belly.
The guns were super strong...before going over, I was the range officer at the AF Academy for a cpl of months. On one eventful afternoon, we had a new cadet fire a squib round, then follow it up with 4 more fully functional ones. The gun tied up on the last round and would not allow the cylinder to swing out...the last bullet had lodged between the cylinder face and the forcing cone at the barrel's rear, and the squib had been pushed up and was sticking jauntily out of the crown.
Our gunsmith tapped them back down the barrel enough to allow the cylinder to swing out, then tapped the rest out though the frame cutout. After a careful examination, the gun appeared unharmed and I fired a full cylinder from rest at the 25 yd target, getting a 3" group...about the average for those well used guns with contract ammunition.
There was no bulge in the barrel or cylinder and we surmised that the pressure buildup bled off through the cylinder gap before anything could happen.
Yours is a beautiful piece of history, well worth what ever you paid. Thanks for allowing an old man's ruminations...Rodfac
They issued a web belt with it, an ammo pouch, and a half a$$ed holster of gov't make. I quickly had a Vietnamese make me up a better holster which fit the gun to perfection...but the damned thing smelt of the urine they had used to cure their leather...but it worked well. The Air Force issued us FMJ .38 Spl rounds with a 130 gr bullet, if memory serves; plus some .38 Spl flare rounds. The idea was to hide out if you were shot down, then signal the Huey's with a flare round, without shooting them in the belly.
The guns were super strong...before going over, I was the range officer at the AF Academy for a cpl of months. On one eventful afternoon, we had a new cadet fire a squib round, then follow it up with 4 more fully functional ones. The gun tied up on the last round and would not allow the cylinder to swing out...the last bullet had lodged between the cylinder face and the forcing cone at the barrel's rear, and the squib had been pushed up and was sticking jauntily out of the crown.
Our gunsmith tapped them back down the barrel enough to allow the cylinder to swing out, then tapped the rest out though the frame cutout. After a careful examination, the gun appeared unharmed and I fired a full cylinder from rest at the 25 yd target, getting a 3" group...about the average for those well used guns with contract ammunition.
There was no bulge in the barrel or cylinder and we surmised that the pressure buildup bled off through the cylinder gap before anything could happen.
Yours is a beautiful piece of history, well worth what ever you paid. Thanks for allowing an old man's ruminations...Rodfac
The Model 15 is a magnificent handgun. I carried one in the Air Force for four years.
It was a great, but alas the miltary load hampered it: 130 gr. full metal jacket at about 750 to 800 fps. A real weenie load. The 148 gr. lead wadcutters we qualified with had more oomph than the service load.
But the revolver itself was exceptional. I never a person who disliked them, especially if fed proper ammo.
I knew a sergeant who carried one in Vietnam. He had a relative mail him a few boxes of 158 gr. lead semiwadcutter handloaded to what was probably +P equivalent. THAT was an effective load, he said.
I recently picked up a 1977-made Model 15, like-new, nickel-plated, with 4" barrel. Cost me $500 and I may have paid a little more than most, but I got what I wanted and it's absolutely gorgeous!
Accurate too.
It will become my desert-roaming gun.
Now, I just need to put some nice, wooden grips on it. The grips that came with it were not original. Need to find some nice, hand-filling wooden grips.
Love the Model 15.
It was a great, but alas the miltary load hampered it: 130 gr. full metal jacket at about 750 to 800 fps. A real weenie load. The 148 gr. lead wadcutters we qualified with had more oomph than the service load.
But the revolver itself was exceptional. I never a person who disliked them, especially if fed proper ammo.
I knew a sergeant who carried one in Vietnam. He had a relative mail him a few boxes of 158 gr. lead semiwadcutter handloaded to what was probably +P equivalent. THAT was an effective load, he said.
I recently picked up a 1977-made Model 15, like-new, nickel-plated, with 4" barrel. Cost me $500 and I may have paid a little more than most, but I got what I wanted and it's absolutely gorgeous!
Accurate too.
It will become my desert-roaming gun.
Now, I just need to put some nice, wooden grips on it. The grips that came with it were not original. Need to find some nice, hand-filling wooden grips.
Love the Model 15.
Winchester_73
New member
They are not the right kind. These are either modern S&W imitation diamond magnas from their re-introduced classic line, or they are repros. Original grips would be like this, on my K-22 (I don't have any pics of my K-38
)Very nice gun btw. As others have said, one of the better revolvers of all time.
That loading was intentionally mild out of deference to the M13 "Air Crewman" (not to be confused with the later M13 .357 Magnum) revolvers that were floating around in inventory.
The "Air Crewman" was basically a M12 fitted with an aluminum cylinder in order to make it lighter. These revolvers are very valuable today if in original condition because S&W does not consider them safe to shoot and will replace the aluminum cylinder on one returned to the factory with a steel cylinder.
While I cannot verify it, I have been told that Remington's 130gr FMJ .38 Special load is a duplicate of the U.S. military load you mention.