The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - 38 S&w Special Ctg

Tom2 · June 10, 2007, 06:59 PM

The S prefix was added right at the end of WW2 when they were switching from the military revolvers back to civilian production. Yours was made between late 45 to 47. If you call up S&W with the serial, they can tell you what year it was made. You might also get a factory letter from them for it, that would give the exact date it was made, features and where it was shipped to. They are substantially cheaper for that service than Colt is. I might do it myself as it seems to be a family heirloom but it is not probably super valuable, but possibly 350-400 or more(I might be a little off here) depending mostly on the finish remaining. Like they rate value in the blue book by percent of original finish remaining. And overall condition like bore condx. and wear and tear affects value. Sorry, can't give you an exact value but recently it seems that Smith revolvers are going up a good bit in value, after taking a breather during the time when everyone wanted a hicap auto pistol. I think prices have doubled since the 90's, anyway, on used mdl. 10's.

June 10, 2007, 06:59 PM	#2
Tom2 Senior Member Join Date: June 23, 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,676	The S prefix was added right at the end of WW2 when they were switching from the military revolvers back to civilian production. Yours was made between late 45 to 47. If you call up S&W with the serial, they can tell you what year it was made. You might also get a factory letter from them for it, that would give the exact date it was made, features and where it was shipped to. They are substantially cheaper for that service than Colt is. I might do it myself as it seems to be a family heirloom but it is not probably super valuable, but possibly 350-400 or more(I might be a little off here) depending mostly on the finish remaining. Like they rate value in the blue book by percent of original finish remaining. And overall condition like bore condx. and wear and tear affects value. Sorry, can't give you an exact value but recently it seems that Smith revolvers are going up a good bit in value, after taking a breather during the time when everyone wanted a hicap auto pistol. I think prices have doubled since the 90's, anyway, on used mdl. 10's.