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Old March 13, 2011, 10:40 PM   #7
Winchester_73
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Join Date: December 20, 2008
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 2,863
Quote:
The barrel doesn't look "cut off" to me. If it is, they did a really good job with the crown and front sight. And the words are all centered?
I'm not sure that the barrel has been cut off either for the same reason. The crown and front sight alone don't prove or disprove a cut barrel but the lettering does. While the barrel could easily be from another M&P, actually due to the sight type, I do not think its been cut.

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Having not considered the barrel was cut down, I guess that could explain why I couldn't place the model from ...so M&P was round butt?
The barrel wouldn't have helped you any. The keys here to identification are the barrel length, type of sights, SN, caliber, etc. Since its a fixed sight 38 special, that limits it to pretty much a model 10, 12, or 64. The model 12 is an airweight version of the M&P which we have ruled out, correct? The model 64 is ruled out since the gun is blued and not SS. So that leaves the model 10 or pre model 10 aka M&P. M&Ps were available square or round butt with round butt being more common for 2in versions.

Another reason you are having trouble identifying the gun is that its a 5 screw which are ALL pre model number but some pre model number guns are 4 screw. 5 screw guns never have the model number in the yoke since the 5th screw was dropped BEFORE the model numbers came about.

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I thought maybe this was a 2" Terrier? I know they were round butt, but I've never seen one in .38 Special....just .38 S&W.
The terrier aka pre model 32 was 38 S&W only, round butt and the model 33 was the same, but square butt. The terrier and its cousin, the regulation police were on the S&W I frame (and improved I frame) which was never made for 38 special. The J frame was born out of a need to chamber the 38 special in an I frame size gun. The I frame was too short to accommodate the 38 special length so the J frame was born. When a S&W is 38 special, the I, M, X, and L frames are eliminated automatically leaving the K, J, and N (rare).

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If I had to guess...sometime in the past 90ish years, someone may have swung the cylinder shut and bent the original pin and perhaps they replaced it with what they had in a "parts bin"? and had to cut it down to fit? Just a guess
.

If the gun originally came with say a 4 in barrel, then the original ejector rod would have needed cut down to fit a 2 in barrel anyways.

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Another thing I can't find a match for, is the fact that there is no writing on the frame on the right side out past the side plate. I've never seen an M&P without writing there. Did some not have anything there at some point?
Not as far as I'm aware of either. It should say "MADE IN USA" there and later it had the "Marcas Registradas" address which I think is known as the 4 line address.

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It is a K frame, but non-critical dimensions like the grip straps seemed to "drift" over the years. I don't have the book to look up age, but would not be surprised if this were a 1920s gun.
If the gun is in fact a 20s gun aka pre war, then the SN would not have a letter prefix as the OP said, but many people omit the SN prefix because it is usually spaced apart from the numerical portion of the SN. It could be a V, SV, S, C, off the top of my head.
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