Check Out What I Got for the Low Low!!

freenokia · December 11, 2012, 05:11 AM

$165.00

Does anybody know what it is?? There's no model number. With the cylinder open the number 85331 is on the frame. And the serial number is 449xxx

highpower3006 · December 11, 2012, 09:22 AM

Looks like a pre-war Military and Police Model of 1905 4th change, with the wrong stocks (off of a much later gun) in somewhat worn condition.

Produced from 1915 to 1942 with serial numbers ranging from 241704-100000. The serial number is on the butt. The number inside the crane is an assembly number and has no bearing on when it was made.

Model numbers weren't added until 1957, at that time it became the Model 10

Nice find for $165

DFrame · December 11, 2012, 06:42 PM

What highpower said. REAL nice pre model 10. GREAT price!

Obambulate · December 12, 2012, 01:03 AM

5 screw with the famous long action. Very good for the price. Very good no matter what the price, actually.

freenokia · December 13, 2012, 09:02 PM

Cool. Thanks guys. A pre model 10...

Now the real question, should I flip it for a profit or keep it and stash it as a 'can't go wrong' house gun.

Does it have the safety that keeps it from firing if dropped?

twhidd · December 13, 2012, 10:41 PM

Yes, it has a hammer block safety.

Deaf Smith · December 13, 2012, 11:34 PM

freenokia,

Great old gun. Now a small piece of advice. Do not use +p or hot loads or anything like that in it.

Long time ago in collage I lived in a house with 4 other hippies (I was a strait lace guy with regular hair who would not smoke pot with them.. but didn't care if they did!)

Anyway one of them had this hippie friend who showed me his grandfathers first gun that was given to him by the GF. It was a 1905 round butt .38 M&P. Yep old gun like yours.

Well I gave them the same advice I just posted above. He ignored it, of course, and got some +ps from the Gibson Discount Center store down the road. Came back two weeks later with the whole top strap blown off as well as the top three chambers.

Yes gun ruined.

Just use sedate standard velocity .38 Specials. RNL 158 grain slugs to be precise.

Deaf

savit260 · December 14, 2012, 02:34 AM

Quote:

Does it have the safety that keeps it from firing if dropped?

Nope. Not really. Post WWII S&W's do, but yours pre dates WWII by a good bunch of years.

Stick with mild loads. The metal in that vintage S&W isn't up to the standards of the more modern Post WWII guns.

.

lowercase · December 14, 2012, 02:47 AM

Congrats on the pre-Model 10!

Okay,I have to jump in on this thread.

I got a similar gun just 2 days ago for $145. Mine is a .38 special made somewhere between 1948 and 1952.

It was $135 cash, or $145 credit, but I had to use the card, so $145. Not bad at all, and I got a free holster and soft case for it.

Lots of bluing wear, and some rust freckles, especially on the hammer and trigger. The worst was that the insides were all gunked up with petrified WD40. YUCK.

The gun cleaned up nicely, and I replaced the ugly rubber grips with some Altamont rosewood stocks I had bought for a Model 10 I own. One thing about this gun is that the hammer doesn't look like the hammers that came stock with these guns. It had a shiny (vs case hardened) finish, and the hammer spur curves down.

Here are some before and after pics. The "after" pics are where the gun has wood stocks.

highpower3006 · December 14, 2012, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Now the real question, should I flip it for a profit or keep it and stash it as a 'can't go wrong' house gun.

I would keep it. In the condition it is in, it might bring a couple hundred dollars as they are the most common of all S&W's.

I bet you will be surprised at how accurate it is. IMO they make a perfect house gun and would keep it around for that purpose.

El Bango · January 1, 2013, 01:50 AM

A fine looking old M&P,forerunner to the Model 10.A lot of fliers and MP's used them.Very rugged and reliable,good score!

December 11, 2012, 05:11 AM	#1
freenokia Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2011 Posts: 125	Check Out What I Got for the Low Low!! $165.00 Does anybody know what it is?? There's no model number. With the cylinder open the number 85331 is on the frame. And the serial number is 449xxx

December 11, 2012, 06:42 PM	#3
DFrame Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Location: central Illinois Posts: 453	What highpower said. REAL nice pre model 10. GREAT price! __________________ Mark Lane to William Buckley: "Have you ever referred to Jessee Jackson as an ignoramus?" Buckley: "If I didn't, I should have"

December 13, 2012, 11:34 PM	#7
Deaf Smith Senior Member Join Date: October 31, 2000 Location: Texican! Posts: 2,695	freenokia, Great old gun. Now a small piece of advice. Do not use +p or hot loads or anything like that in it. Long time ago in collage I lived in a house with 4 other hippies (I was a strait lace guy with regular hair who would not smoke pot with them.. but didn't care if they did!) Anyway one of them had this hippie friend who showed me his grandfathers first gun that was given to him by the GF. It was a 1905 round butt .38 M&P. Yep old gun like yours. Well I gave them the same advice I just posted above. He ignored it, of course, and got some +ps from the Gibson Discount Center store down the road. Came back two weeks later with the whole top strap blown off as well as the top three chambers. Yes gun ruined. Just use sedate standard velocity .38 Specials. RNL 158 grain slugs to be precise. Deaf __________________ “We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality” Ayn Rand

December 11, 2012, 09:22 AM	#2
highpower3006 Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2011 Posts: 222	Looks like a pre-war Military and Police Model of 1905 4th change, with the wrong stocks (off of a much later gun) in somewhat worn condition. Produced from 1915 to 1942 with serial numbers ranging from 241704-100000. The serial number is on the butt. The number inside the crane is an assembly number and has no bearing on when it was made. Model numbers weren't added until 1957, at that time it became the Model 10 Nice find for $165

December 12, 2012, 01:03 AM	#4
Obambulate Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2011 Posts: 217	5 screw with the famous long action. Very good for the price. Very good no matter what the price, actually.

December 13, 2012, 09:02 PM	#5
freenokia Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 2011 Posts: 125	Cool. Thanks guys. A pre model 10... Now the real question, should I flip it for a profit or keep it and stash it as a 'can't go wrong' house gun. Does it have the safety that keeps it from firing if dropped?

December 13, 2012, 10:41 PM	#6
twhidd Senior Member Join Date: March 21, 2005 Location: Athens, Georgia Posts: 757	Yes, it has a hammer block safety.

December 14, 2012, 02:47 AM	#9
lowercase Senior Member Join Date: August 30, 2012 Posts: 139	Congrats on the pre-Model 10! Okay,I have to jump in on this thread. I got a similar gun just 2 days ago for $145. Mine is a .38 special made somewhere between 1948 and 1952. It was $135 cash, or $145 credit, but I had to use the card, so $145. Not bad at all, and I got a free holster and soft case for it. Lots of bluing wear, and some rust freckles, especially on the hammer and trigger. The worst was that the insides were all gunked up with petrified WD40. YUCK. The gun cleaned up nicely, and I replaced the ugly rubber grips with some Altamont rosewood stocks I had bought for a Model 10 I own. One thing about this gun is that the hammer doesn't look like the hammers that came stock with these guns. It had a shiny (vs case hardened) finish, and the hammer spur curves down. Here are some before and after pics. The "after" pics are where the gun has wood stocks.

January 1, 2013, 01:50 AM	#11
El Bango Member Join Date: December 23, 2012 Location: SW Colorado Posts: 39	A fine looking old M&P,forerunner to the Model 10.A lot of fliers and MP's used them.Very rugged and reliable,good score!