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In the post-WWII period, a lot of SAA's were converted to .38 Special, not so many to .357, either because they had bad barrels or because they were in odd calibers and ammo was hard to get. After all, they were just old guns that Colt wasn't going to make any more, and Numrich was selling new .38and .357 barrels and cylinders at dirt cheap prices.
I will second concerns about firing .357 or even hot .38 Special in that gun with its old black powder frame.
There is probably no way except a factory letter to find out what the original caliber was.
I have no real feel for the price of such a gun. I had one that had been .32-20 converted to .38 Special that I traded even up for an M1 rifle, but today I am reasonably sure the SAA would be worth a lot more than an M1.
Jim
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