[MrM]

Hi all. Can someone help me identify this old S&W .22cal revolver that belongs to my father? Been in our family for 50+ years I believe.

From what I've read, S&W stamps a model number on the frame, which can be seen when the cylinder is opened. But there is just a 5-digit number stamped there.

Barrel is 6" long. Butt is rounded obviously. And I have not see a Smith with at straight hammer tang like that. Might it have been bent straight by a previous owner.

And it seems to have its serial number on the front strap of the handle. I have only seen references to SNs being stamped on the bottom of the butt.

The barrel itself only has "Smith & Wesson" on the left side and the caliber designation stamped on the other. Top of the barrel has the usual patent roll marks. Right side of the receiver has "Made in USA" under the cylinder.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Arisley]

If you look on the frame right above the five digit number on the part you see when you open the cylinder, you will see the model number.

 

[magazineman]

Looks like a basic M&P /Hand Ejector/Model 10 with J Frame style diamond grips.

That it's a .22 instead of .38 is really neat!

Go to proofhouse.com for a serial number search.

 

[magazineman]

Yes, open & look inside the crane area. There also may be more markings under the grips.

I've found owner's names & dates written inside grips too. & once, a silver certificate dollar bill.

 

[MrM]

Thanks all. Unfortunately, definitely no markings in the crane? area, other than those numbers. See the pic below.

The other pics show all markings under and on the grips.

I'll research this J-frame info and the SN. See what I can come up with.

 

[19ontheslide]

I don't think this is the best place to get advice on old S&W revolvers. I'd strongly recommend that you go to http://smith-wessonforum.com/ and ask about your revolver to the actual experts there. For what it's worth, here's yet another unqualified opinion: I think what you have is a pre-WWII I-frame .22/32 target model, not a J or K frame. And you can look all day for a model number, but you're not going to find one on that gun. Smith didn't start using model numbers on their revolvers until 1957. Before that it was just names. The serial number on the grip's front strap is correct for I-frames; there needn't be one on the gun's butt on that model.

 

[MrM]

Thanks. Yeah, asking there was going to be my Plan B, in case I couldn't get an easy answer. Main reason is I'm a member here and not there.

No big thing to get a membership there though, since it looks like I'll be owning this pistol soon.

 

[Jim Watson]

You really need to get this one on the S&W board.
It is a .22-32 Target Model.
The serial number is in the right range to be an early post WWII "Transitional".
The Standard Catalog of S&W says. "The authors cannot confirm the existence of a transitional model postwar .22-32 Target Hand Ejector."
You may have one.

The hammer has been altered and the grips may be replacements which will not help dollar value.

 

[MrM]

Thanks. I did post the question over there, finally. We'll see what they say.

And I was figuring the hammer might have been straightened/bent. Never seen one like that that on a revolver. I think the pistol may have come from my mom's dad originally. He was a colonel in the US Army and had a huge collection of handguns. He might have favored the hammer of the WWII era 1911s and tried to emulate that here. LOL That's what this hammer kind of makes me think of.

And I'm not too concerned with the $$ value of this thing. It's just a family heirloom, and the finish isn't very good. Might be fun it use it again some day.

Actually, the reason I was asking about it is because he wants to give it to me, which is great. But I have to report the transfer/acquisition to my state's DOJ. And I need hard data to put in the box where it says "MODEL:"

 

[Jim Watson]

It was made ten years before S&W gave out model numbers.
It is a .22-32 Target Model and was known only as that from 1912 to 1957... and still shown by name as well as number as long as it was made.
So put ".22-32 Target Model" in the box. Or just ".22-32 Target" if the box is small.
If they just HAVE to have a number, it became the Model 35 under the numbering system.

 

[MrM]

Thank you Jim. And everyone. Seems to be the consensus over on the S&W forum as well. .22/.32 Target model.

Thanks for helping me give this thing a name.

 

[FN in MT]

Large ejector rod knob (LERK) model too. Fairly rare, early gun.

 

[magazineman]

I have what looks like the exact same gun in.38

& the grips are hard black rubber.

 

[Capt. Methane]

Pre model 10, that's why there's no model # on the frame or crane. Looks a lot like a Military and Police/Victory model and your numbers are in the same places for the WWII and post war era.

 

[magazineman]

Weren't all the Victory's in .32-200?

 

[magazineman]

Or was it .38-200? (.38 S&W)?

 

[Capt. Methane]

Or was it .38-200? (.38 S&W)?

As far as I know they were all in .38 S&W. I was just comparing the looks of them and the location of assembly numbers and lack of a model number to the OP's .22.

 

[magazineman]

I have one in .38-200 --aka 38 S&W-- that was re-done in nickel at some point.

Somebody gave me a ratty & worthless Porsche 924. I swapped it for the Victory Model.

So, Free gun.

 

[Capt. Methane]

I have one in .38-200 --aka 38 S&W-- that was re-done in nickel at some point.

Somebody gave me a ratty & worthless Porsche 924. I swapped it for the Victory Model.

So, Free gun.

Not a bad deal at all!

 

[kinnison]

The s on the frame means it was built between 1946 and 1954 out of leftover long action parts from ww2.