Smith and Wesson serial number search

Kathrine,

As FlyFish suggested, it's a .38 Military & Police 4th Change.
Serial numbers ran from 241704 in 1915 to 1000000 in 1942.
Although there is no way to be exact without a factory letter, S&W started heat treating the cylinders around 1920 at SN 316XXX. So, your serial number of 397272 would likely be 1920's.

Jim
 
Hello FlyFish,,,

I went home yesterday and gave the K-22 a thorough cleaning,,,
That red on the front sight is definitely painted on.

The owner of the handgun says there is a drawer full of grips at her Dad's old house,,,
Perhaps we could find the original grips there.

Did I read somewhere that the grips were often marked with the S-N of the gun?

Anyways, thanks again for the quick look-up,,,
My S&W book should be here today.
 
That's very good news about the front sight, Aarond. I hate to see these classic old revolvers modified in any way that can't be undone. I've purchased a couple of guns where previous owners had done something similar, either with paint or nail polish, and a bit of acetone on a cleaning patch took it right off with no harm to the blueing. Of course, if you like it that way there's no reason not to just leave it.

With regard to the grips - yes, your K-22 should have left the factory with grips numbered to the gun. The numbers will be stamped toward the bottom of the right-hand grip, i.e., the one that fits into your palm when you hold the gun right-handed. The number stamped on the grip will not include any serial number prefix, so in your case only the numeric digits "1327XX" or perhaps only the last few digits will be stamped. Good luck on that - it would be great to keep the original grips with the gun, even if you leave the target grips on for shooting.

I believe it's likely that the original grips will be the "magna" style, not oversized target grips. The detailed discussion of grips starts on p. 19 of SCSW, for when your copy arrives.
 
Can anyone help me to date this S&W mod.10-8 Thanks. Ted
Click to expand...

Ted - you've posted this as a new thread twice, and now here (which is where it belonged originally). The answer is the same as it was when I responded a few hours ago to one of those new threads: 1979.
 
S&W Information

I have my Grandfathers State Police service pistol but know nothing about it.
38 Special, 6-rounds, Serial #C4057XX

Thanks,
Ace
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ace: Your revolver dates from 1957, which was the first year that Smith started assigning numbers to their different model revolvers, which previously were distinguished only by name. If you swing the cylinder out and look at the area of the frame that's exposed, the model number should be stamped there, probably following the letters "Mod." The possibilities include Model 10 (most likely) or Model 12, which is essentially the same gun, but with an alloy frame to reduce weight. If for some reason the model number isn't there, you can check the frame with a magnet.

The Model 10 was originally known at the .38 Military & Police (or .38 M&P or sometimes .38 Military & Police Model of 1905, or sometimes .38 Hand Ejector M&P, and similar variations). It's the basic K-frame (i.e., mid-sized) S&W fixed-site revolver and was a very common, probably the most common, revolver carried by police around the world, or at least in the US.
 
Hey FlyFish,,, Got the "Book",,,,,

And as I carefully opened it's pages,,,
I heard the sounds of angelic harps in the air,,,
The lights in the room dimmed as a soft glow emanated from it's pages.

~sigh~

Man but there is a lot of info in there,,,
But it's somewhat vague on my little snubbie.

Model 36 (no dash) with s/n of 164xxx

As near as I can tell from the S/N's on page 399,,,
Velma (that's her name) was made somewhere after 1957 but before 1962.

Is that as close as I can get without a factory letter,,,
Or did I miss something in my reading?
 
Yeah, I think that's about as good as you're going to do, Aarond. Sometimes you can narrow things down a bit from the information provided in the text entry. For example, there are sometimes design changes that don't result in a new "dash" variation and the text will say what year they were implemented. I didn't see anything like that in the text for the Mod. 36, though.

So, I hope this means we'll see you answering some of the "what year was my baby born" questions here, right? :D

Velma? That's very sweet.
 
Flyfish

From Aceshootn

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. The frame is alloy so it must be a 12. There are some stampings when I open the cylinder but nothing of use.
 
I'll try FlyFish,,,

You guys have certainly answered enough questions for me.

The only problem is being sneaky enough,,,
To do it at work without my bosses noticing the activity.

One problem with the book,,,
I found several S&W Models I didn't know existed,,,
Hunting down one of those Model 45's is gonna cost me a bucket-o-bucks.

I have a .22 LR equivalent for each of my centerfire Smiths,,,
I had accepted the fact that there wasn't a model 10 or 12 style in .22 LR,,,
So I was going to be happy getting a Taurus or some other 2nd tier handgun as a companion.

Then I saw that danged Model 45,,,
I've already started my dealer looking for one,,,
I know that it will probably cost me a grand or more.

Dang them books anyways,,,
Should have just stayed illiterate!
 
Hank - SCSW lists it at $375 for "excellent." With the big runup in prices for older revolvers in the last few years, I think you should add another 50% or so to that figure.
 
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