Need help with an ID on my father-in -law's 38 S&W SPECIAL CTG. On the bottom of the barrel is S 998954. On the cylinder is 87994. The left side wooden grip has 995 and 445 on the inside.The gun was pasted on from his father to him quite a while ago. in the early 70's he flared the 6" barrel with some reloads. he then put it in a bag until last fall. Then for x-mas i took it to a gunsmith and had it checked and reblued,the barrel shortened to 4" and a front site put on. I was interested in it's history. THANKS
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Trying to ID an older .38 S&W
- Thread starter gringo5
- Start date
Doc Hudson
New member
Gringo,
It might help if you could tell us the brand name.
Is it an S&W, Colt, Taurus, Rossi, or some other brand?
Doc Hudson
It might help if you could tell us the brand name.
Is it an S&W, Colt, Taurus, Rossi, or some other brand?
Doc Hudson
The serial number is on the bottom of the grip frame, altho' S 998954 is a valid K-frame S/N (from the bbl). I'd guess from what little we (assuming that the bbl has the S/N) have that it's a pre-Model 10 Military & Police (M&P) from just after WW2. There should be 4 screws on the right sideplate, and one in front of the trigger guard (a "5-screw"). This thread would probably get better and more learned attention if it were in Harley's forum.
The Serial number is.....
The s/n is the S998954 number on the butt and barrel, but the number on the back of the cylinder should be the same. Since it is not, that means that the gun is a "parts" gun, unfortunately. If it were all original, the serial number would be on the barrel, butt, back of cylinder, under the extractor(push it out and look at the underside), and the crane (on the surface that faces the cylinder - may require dissassembly to see), and lastly on the inside of the RIGHT grip panel (assuming the grips are original).
If all these numbers don't all match, then the gun has even more "history", albiet uncertain.
......SmithNut
The s/n is the S998954 number on the butt and barrel, but the number on the back of the cylinder should be the same. Since it is not, that means that the gun is a "parts" gun, unfortunately. If it were all original, the serial number would be on the barrel, butt, back of cylinder, under the extractor(push it out and look at the underside), and the crane (on the surface that faces the cylinder - may require dissassembly to see), and lastly on the inside of the RIGHT grip panel (assuming the grips are original).
If all these numbers don't all match, then the gun has even more "history", albiet uncertain.
......SmithNut
Smithnut,That is what i like about these forums i am constantly learning from those like you. Thank you! As i look and relook at this gun in front of me i am seeing more #'s every time.The cyl.# is the same as the frame, the # on the crane is 87884 not the the 87994 i had said before. i have been using stronger light to look for the #'s
Smithnut,That is what i like about these forums i am constantly learning from those like you. Thank you! As i look and relook at this gun in front of me i am seeing more #'s every time.The cyl.# is the same as the frame, the # on the crane is 87884 not the the 87994 i had said before. i have been using stronger light to look for the #'s