S&W Model 4 .38

D

dmack74

Inactive
Could someone tell me anything about this gun. I was told it is was a Model 4 .38 Double Action. No original grips serial number #371XXX. Both on the butt and the Cylinder itself. The trigger action needs repair as it feels as if the spring is not working properly. And if it was made before 1898 it would be an antique?......the last Pat # listed on the top of the barrel says 1889. A value?

Thanks for any help

Dmack
 

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Its a 38 Double action, and the "4" could be a fourth model, but it is not a model 4. Antique status depends on SN which is on the bottom of butt of the gun.

Its not worth much because the grips are replaced and the gun was re-blued.

I collect these, but I look for higher condition guns.

38SWcollection.jpg
 
Thank you sir. It has been in my family a long time and was just wanting some information on it. I appreciate your help..........Dmack
 
It is a .38 Double Action Fourth Model or Fourth variation. (Those "model" numbers were given the guns by collectors, not by S&W.)

It looks like the trigger return spring is broken, missing or possibly not installed properly. For a replacement, you might try www.gunpartscorp.com the last catalog I have shows them available at $10 so, item number 327990.

Some 216,000 of that variation were made from 1895-1909, serial numbers 322701-539000, with a total of 554,000 for the .38 Double Action, which was made from 1880 to 1911.

The gun appears to have been heavily buffed and reblued, and that, combined with the large number made, means that yours has very little collector value.

Flayderman's says that serial numbers up to approximately 382,000 were made prior to 1 Jan 1899, so yours should be an antique under U.S. federal law.

Jim
 
Gee, Winchester 73, that one S&W looks real funny. If you didn't collect S&W's I would almost swear that one is a M&H. ;)

Jim
 
Gee, Winchester 73, that one S&W looks real funny. If you didn't collect S&W's I would almost swear that one is a M&H.
Click to expand...

You, me and about 1 or 2 other people here are the only TFL members who could ever notice such a thing. My M&H (Merwin and Hulbert) is one of my favorite guns. I would like to get a big 44 cal one, but they are pricey. The unifying concept as you probably noticed in my photo is the "38 S&W" cal. All are S&W except that ol twist break ;)
 
"You, me and about 1 or 2 other people here are the only TFL members who could ever notice such a thing."

I'd say there are a LOT more than 4 people here who recognize an M&H in the ejector position.
 
I have seen quite a few posts on the M&H, mainly about how good they were and why they were not more successful and, incredibly, on a repro that was supposed to come out at one time.

I think the folks who claim such good things for the M&H never really used one. It seems to me that they have almost all the problems of an S&W, a jointed frame, with slower ejection and empties that always seem to get in the way of one another, plus the disadvantages of the SAA Colt (slow to load through a loading gate). Great for the collection, though.

Jim
 
I see the M&H revolvers as kind of the Frontier equivalent of the Luger.
Well made but to an intricate design less functional than, say, a Colt.
 
I won't say "intricate" as much as using an idea that was good in theory but not so hot in practice, like the Evans rifle. Here is the loading sequence for a M&H revolver (single action).

Starting with a loaded gun, fire six shots normally, cocking the hammer for each shot.

Put the hammer on half cock.

Press the barrel release latch.

Turn the barrel.

Pull the barrel forward. This is supposed to allow the empty rounds to fall away while the loaded ones (held by the bullet) are retained. It is rarely that neat.

Push the barrel back; the unfired rounds (if any) will go back into their chambers, or that is the way it is supposed to work.

Turn the barrel back to lock it.

Shift the gun so it is pointed down. Pull the loading gate down.

Turning the cylinder with the off (normally left) hand, load cartridges into the empty chamber(s).

Raise the loading gate.

Gun is now ready to fire.

IMHO, a bit easier (quicker) than the Colt SAA, but more likely to have the ejected rounds hang up; a lot slower than the S&W American, but the S&W is more likely to allow unfired rounds to be lost.

Jim
 
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