Smith and Wesson serial number search

Inherited Smith & Wesson 38 Military & Police Revolver
Serial Number c274XXX
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1953

Box still has $62 price tag from "Klein's Sporting Goods". Apparently this is the same store Lee Harvey Oswald purchased his guns from.
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I believe Oswald's rifle was purchased from Klein's. His revolver was purchased from Seaport Traders of Los Angeles. Incidentally the revolver was an S&W M&P originally made in .38 S&W, s/n V510210, and shipped to Britain during WW II. Subsequently it was rechambered to accept the .38 Special cartridge and its barrel shortened to about 2".


Smith & Wesson Model 14
Serial # 14K2309
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1977 s/n range was from 10K0001 to 24K9999
 
year of manufacture?

Smith and Wesson 686-1 4 inch barrel, stainless, serial #AVD5932 with a M stamped below it. Neighbor is selling, think I might get it for around $400 plus or minus a few dollars. Comes with a cheap holster and some white box ammo, somewhere along the line it acquired a set of Pachmayer grips. Taking it to the range first, but curious as to what year it was made. He bought it used back in the 90's and has never fired it. Barrel looks to be in fair condition , may be a bit of lead or pitting in the middle between two grooves, I have not cleaned it yet so I am not sure what it is other than a small discolored spot. Could be spider dung for all I know, he has carried it under the back seat in his truck for years now.
 
Smith and Wesson 686-1 4 inch barrel, stainless, serial #AVD5932
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Made July 1987 according to SCSW

I might get it for around $400 plus or minus
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I'd call that a reasonable price in the condition you describe.

may be a bit of lead or pitting in the middle between two grooves
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Most likely leading. S&W uses pretty good stainless alloys. Although pitting can result if you really work at it (e.g. dunking it in the ocean and then storing it uncleaned in a high humidity environment for a few years), it's unlikely pitting would show up in just one spot.

Cleaning will tell the tale. Even with a bit of pitting in the barrel odds are it will still shoot well.
 
thanks for the info. Update is it looks like it was leading, in the barrel. I got most of it off after repeated cleaning with Pro Shot, Hoppes 9 and Remington bore cleaner, about 50 patches and a introduction to mr copper brush combined with a lot of elbow grease. Next step is to get it up to the range one day this week and see how it fits my hand. I thought 400 plus or minus twenty five was a decent price just from my limited knowledge. Gun has a few handling scratches but I am not interested in a safe queen anyway. My club has started holding ICORE matches and I always liked revolvers, I just don't own any double actions other than the wifes bodyguard. I guess I will have to look into some speed loaders and a better holster if I can work a deal with the guy and I like the way the gun handles.
 
S&W Model 17?

Could somebody verify that this is a Model 17? It matches the pics on S&W's site to my eyes. Chambered in .22LR.

Also, any read on date of manufacture? Serial number is K843xxx.

Thanks.
 
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Could somebody verify that this is a Model 17? It matches the pics on S&W's site to my eyes. Chambered in .22LR.

Also, any read on date of manufacture? Serial number is K843xxx.
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Made in 1968. The model number (should be 17-3) is found stamped on the left side of the frame beneath where the barrel screws into the frame, and visible when the cylinder is swung out.

Great revolver and looks to be in nice condition.
 
It appears to be a model 17 K22 Masterpiece vintage 1968. Judged by many to be one of the best 22 revolvers ever produced.

I have one of the earlier ones.
 
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M&P or Model 10

Hi all, trying to date a M&P or Model 10, not sure. 4 inch barrel marked 38 S&W special ctg, equipped for a lanyard ring. The butt, cylinder and barrel are marked with the same number 922xxx. The crane and recess are marked 69xxx.

Thanks for any help
 
per Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson - Second Edition

.38 Special Hand Ejector M&P (Model 10) 1940-1945 Serial Numbers 700000 to 1000000. This would put yours at probably 1945.

Post war model 10s had a S or C1 prefix.

Trying to make sense out of the S&W models and serial numbers can be a study in futility for any but a S&W expert, which I obviously am not.:)
 
a M&P or Model 10, not sure. 4 inch barrel marked 38 S&W special ctg, equipped for a lanyard ring. The butt, cylinder and barrel are marked with the same number 922xxx.
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Sounds like a Hand Ejector Military & Police, Model of 1905, 4th Change. S/N 999999 was made April 24, 1942, at which time S&W started a new numbering sequence with the letter "V" as a prefix.

During the war years S&W averaged around 20,800 of these revolvers a month, so a reasonable estimate for this example would be right around December 1941 - January 1942. Who knows, it may have been in production when the news of Pearl Harbor was just starting to come in.

The Model 10 designation began June 12, 1957.
 
If anyone could provide the model number, production year, and any other random info I would greatly appreciate it.

Serial no. 538163
1491 is stamped on the yoke
.32 long ctg

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capptainclutch

From the information provided your S&W 32 appears to be a model 30 or 31. Serial number would indicate manufacture sometime between 1948 and 1960. Postwar serial range starts at 536685. Your S/N 538163 suggests probably 1949. Dave Anderson can probably hit it closer. :)
 
Serial no. 538163
1491 is stamped on the yoke
.32 long ctg
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This is a neat old gun. It appears to be a .32 Hand Ejector made on the S&W "I" frame, which is slightly smaller than the "J" frame. S&W introduced the J frame in 1950 for the Chiefs Special taking the .38 Special cartridge.

Seems odd they would go to the trouble of making two nearly identical frame sizes, but that is what they did until 1960 when the I frame was discontinued, and the former I frame models began being made on the J frame.

While in production the I frame was used for the .32 Hand Ejector, the .38 S&W Terrier, the Regulation Police in .32 S&W or .38 S&W, and the .22/.32 Kit Gun.

As redscho has indicated this one was most likely made in 1949. References don't always agree exactly on details. SCSW says postwar production of this resumed in 1948, while Roy Jinks in "A History of Smith & Wesson" says production resumed on July 14, 1949. Both agree the 2" barrel option first appeared in 1949.

The .32 Hand Ejector was assigned model number 30 when S&W began using the model number system in 1957. In 1960 when it began being made on the J frame it was called the 30-1.

I kind of rattled on here, but collector interest in postwar S&Ws is increasing. The difference in size from I to J frame doesn't mean much to a shooter but collectors do like to have their collections complete!
 
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My neighbor, a lady 82, has one that I can't talk her out of. I doubt if she even knows how to load it. When she showed it to me she had a few 32 shorts wrapped up with it.
 
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My neighbor, a lady 82, has one that I can't talk her out of. I doubt if she even knows how to load it. When she showed it to me she had a few 32 shorts wrapped up with it.
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Beautiful condition! Does it have a model number stamped on it? I'm guessing it does as the serrated ramp front sight was introduced late 1956 - early 1957, and model stamping started in mid-1957.

Very nice indeed.
 
S/N 790XXX

The switch from I-frame to J-frame of the .32s took place April 20, 1961 at s/n 712954.

At first the J-frame version used a flat thumb latch. S&W went back to the regular thumb latch, which this one has, in 1966. However this one also has the diamond pattern around the grip screw, a feature dropped in 1968. So it would seem a safe guess this one would have been made in the 1966 - 1968 era.
 
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