.38 Smith & Wesson .38 Special CTG. Blue 4"

bronzecannons · May 25, 2024, 02:06 PM

I have a .38 Smith & Wesson .38 Special CTG. Blue 4"

Serial No: AWF7645

Any idea what it may be worth?

Niner4Tango · May 25, 2024, 08:27 PM

Looks like that firearm is loaded. Please unload it before you handle it any more. While the cylinder is open look at the frame beneath the cylinder crane for something like: "MOD 10-8 (or some higher number)".

Looks like a Smith & Wesson Model 10, post 1982. Retail probably around $400 to $450, depending on actual condition.

Nathan · May 26, 2024, 07:56 AM

Cool gun!

TheFlash · May 26, 2024, 02:12 PM

Beautiful S&W!

Three words:
Don't sell it!

bronzecannons · May 26, 2024, 07:52 PM

Actually, you are right it WAS loaded. I've unloaded it now. Thanks for the reminder. It belonged to my now deceased mother who used to sleep with it (loaded) under her mattress for the last 40 years.

I'm not even sure if she ever actually even shot it or not.

On the Chamber Handle it says: 1
2 X 431

**44 AMP** · May 26, 2024, 09:15 PM

The serial number shows 1987 as the manufacture date and that would make it a model 10-8.

The "chamber handle" is called the yoke or the crane (depending on the maker's terms) and the numbers on it are assembly numbers with no meaning outside the factory.

Where you want to look is the frame, where the relief cut for the crane is, there is where S&W has been putting the model number (and sometimes also serial number) in recent decades.

That particular model is not a big seller on the market at this time, as it is not a pinned barrel gun though it is one of the last models S&W made "right" in many people's eyes. $450-550 is the rough ballpark right now.

You may find the same gun on Gunbroker for $800, but no one is buying them at that price...

Niner4Tango · May 27, 2024, 12:18 AM

I agree with a $450 to $550 range, my guess was probably low. That is a really clean Model 10 with unmolested screw heads and 'extra points' for the square butt.

Your mom sounds like a cool lady. For 40 years that revolver gave your mom a sense of security in her home. That's about as good a story as a family firearm could have. If it were mine I probably couldn't part with it.

**44 AMP** · May 27, 2024, 10:59 AM

Yours is a fine example of the classic "nightstand gun", possibly never fired, and certainly not used much, if any.

Other than a couple small dings in the wood and the blemish in the blueing in front of the cylinder latch (possibly the picture??) the gun looks essentially new.

There isn't even a turn ring on the cylinder, indicating that the gun has not been cycled more than a few times.

Quite likely the gun was bought new, loaded, and tucked away in case of an emergency which never happened.

Straight, stock, S&W K frame .38 Special (model 10) made after S&W stopped pinning the barrels and before they began to include the built in lock or made other design changes.

There is not much collector interest in those guns at this time, the older pinned barrel guns bring more money, and many first time buyers want (or get talked into) some kind of semi auto.

Bill DeShivs · May 27, 2024, 01:43 PM

Look at the cylinder flutes and the forcing cone area. The gun has been fired.
Still, it's a very nice heavy barrel Model 10.

Webleymkv · May 28, 2024, 03:45 PM

Since I see this a lot, ".38 S&W Special Ctg" is not a model identification for your gun but rather the marking to designate its caliber. Your revolver is chambered for the .38 S&W Special Cartridge (Ctg is an abbreviation for cartridge) more commonly known simply as .38 Special (the S&W part was dropped by other manufacturers like Colt who didn't want to put their competitor's name on their guns).

As others have already pointed out, your revolver is a S&W Model 10. While a nice and very serviceable handgun, the Model 10 isn't particularly rare or valuable because S&W has made millions of them. The Model 10 was the designation given to the .38 Military & Police when S&W began their model numbering system in the 1950's. While there have been several engineering changes over the years, the Military & Police line of revolvers have been in continuous production since 1899 and are quite possibly the best selling and most produced handguns ever made.

At one time, Model 10's like yours could be found at bargain basement prices (I've seen them as low as $200) because millions upon millions of them flooded the market in the 1980's and 1990's when police switched to semi-automatics en masse. The cheap police trade-ins have long since dried up, however, and prices have been steadily rising. While models with nickel finish
or less common barrel lengths may bring more, your 4" blued specimen is the most common barrel length and finish. I would tend to agree with 44 AMP's value assessment and would say that the median price for a specimen in nice condition (as yours appears to be) would be around $500.

gwpercle · May 28, 2024, 04:09 PM

I would keep it ... I have one just like it and it is my most fired gun .
148 Gr Target Wadcutter ammo is accurate and pleasant to shoot .

Don't sell it ... Louisiana Cajun's say ... CHOOT IT !

Gary
Certified Cajun

armoredman · May 29, 2024, 05:46 PM

I love a good Smith Model 10, fantastic revolvers. She will serve you well for many years. Common or not, that wheelgun is classic and timeless, and there ain't nothin' you can't do with a good 38!

stinkeypete · May 30, 2024, 03:16 PM

"What is it worth" is an interesting question.

A gun shop may offer you around $200. That's what it's worth to them. They need the markup to stay in business.

A gun shop could sell the gun on commission for 20%. If you set the price at $450, the gun is worth $450 plus maybe $24.75 in tax to the buyer.
It's worth $360 to you as the seller and $90 to the gun shop. That's a fair deal all around.

You could try to sell it on GB and see what an auction brings. You'll need to learn about photography, the auction ins and outs, and shipping a handgun. You'll pay about 7.5% in commission and may decide that for common handguns, the gun shop is far more convenient than the $56 difference.

Conclusion:
if you try to sell it, $200 to $360 depending on how long you're willing to wait.
if you want to buy another just like it, you'd pay about $475

if you really like the Model 10 and know a lot about them, you'd want an earlier version. But for the casual non-pistolero user, it's a very nice revolver.

38 Special is a dandy cartrige introduced in 1898.
The claw hammer was introduced in 1514 AD.

Both of these work just as well today as when they were invented. No matter what some metric mall ninja tells you!

Drm50 · May 31, 2024, 04:14 PM

K frame 4” service revolvers are the most common variation of 38sp S&Ws. Excellent gun for what it’s intended for and not much else. I don’t keep track of S&W after P&R era guns.
Having said that I’ve got many newer models on trades and shot a lot of them. Many like
me don’t deal in newer models but they function and shot as well as the older ones. Any other barrel lengths bring more all other things being equal. Seems like shorter the better.

Driftwood Johnson · May 31, 2024, 06:35 PM

Quote:

At one time, Model 10's like yours could be found at bargain basement prices (I've seen them as low as $200) because millions upon millions of them flooded the market in the 1980's and 1990's when police switched to semi-automatics en masse. The cheap police trade-ins have long since dried up, however, and prices have been steadily rising.

Howdy

A Model 10-5. It probably shipped around 1964. $125 out the door. Best deal I ever got on a Smith. Of course that was about 30 years ago. I have always assumed the number above the trigger was a police armorer's rack number.

Yup, 38 S. & W. SPECIAL CTG was Smith and Wesson's way of calling out the cartridge the revolver was chambered for. As stated earlier, CTG simply means cartridge. S&W invented the 38 Special cartridge in 1899, if memory serves, and they have always wanted everybody to know so. Everybody else just calls it 38 Special. Yes, over the years many people have asked me what is so special about the cartridge. Nothing, Special was simply a marketing term, just like 44 S. & W. SPECIAL, which everybody else calls 44 Special.

hannstv · June 1, 2024, 02:10 PM

In the DFW area, if that revolver was listed on the local gun boards for $450 it would sell in a couple of days. Revolvers sell pretty quickly in my area, especially one as clean as that one. Might even move quickly at $500.

The Verminator · June 2, 2024, 06:30 PM

That's a beautiful gun. The heavy barrel makes it more desirable.

Don't sell it.

And load it!!!

An unloaded gun is limited to use as a club. Take it out and shoot it and maybe get some classes to make you more familiar with guns and the law.

Your mom kept it loaded.

Gosh......maybe you should take a clue from HER wisdom.

**44 AMP** · June 2, 2024, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Yup, 38 S. & W. SPECIAL CTG was Smith and Wesson's way of calling out the cartridge the revolver was chambered for. As stated earlier, CTG simply means cartridge. S&W invented the 38 Special cartridge in 1899, if memory serves, and they have always wanted everybody to know so. Everybody else just calls it 38 Special. Yes, over the years many people have asked me what is so special about the cartridge. Nothing, Special was simply a marketing term, just like 44 S. & W. SPECIAL, which everybody else calls 44 Special.

There is a little more history than that. In 1877 S&W created a ".38" caliber cartridge known as the .38 S&W. Case length was 0.775" (max). A bit over 20 years later S&W brought out a longer, more powerful .38, and named it the S&W Special. Case length is 1.155" (max).

Confusion between the .38 S&W and the .38 S&W Special, along with Colt's refusal to put S&W's name on their guns, eventually led to the round just being called the .38 Special.

Yes, "Special" is just a marketing term, one usually used to indicate something a bit more powerful than the "ordinary" rounds in the era before the use of the term 'Magnum" was used by the gun industry.

Bill DeShivs · June 3, 2024, 01:14 AM

.38 S&W is larger in diameter than .38 Special.

Webleymkv · June 4, 2024, 12:48 PM

A common misconception is that .38 S&W was the parent case for .38 Special since both were introduced by S&W. The .38 S&W, while quite popular from the 1870's through the first half of the 20th century, was an evolutionary dead-end as it uses a .361" diameter bullet that, as far as I am aware, wasn't used by any other common cartridge afterward.

.38 Special was actually a lengthened and more heavily loaded version of .38 Long Colt which was the U.S. Army's standard issue handgun cartridge from 1892 to 1909. The standard, at the time, .38 Long Colt loading was 18 gr of black powder with a 150 gr LRN for a velocity just over 700 fps from a 6" barrel while the .38 Special upped the powder charge to 21 gr black powder and a 158 gr bullet for 800-850 fps from the same length barrel (6").

Additionally, .38 Special likely offered substantially better accuracy than .38 Long Colt due to it being designed from the ground up with a bore diameter which matched its bullet diameter. The parent case of .38 Long Colt is, unsurprisingly, .38 Short Colt, but more was changed from the short to long than the length of the case and powder charge. The .38 Short Colt, like many early metallic cartridges, used an outside-lubricated, heel-based bullet not unlike what you'd find in .22 Long rifle ammunition. While its case diameter was the same as it's later offspring, because of its heel-based bullet it actually used a .375" bullet diameter and corresponding bore diameter. When .38 Long Colt was introduced, the benefits of an inside-lubricated bullet were becoming known so rather than change the case diameter, Colt elected to reduce the bullet diameter to .357", but to retain backward compatibility with the old .38 Short Colt ammunition they kept the larger bore diameter and loaded the ammunition with a hollow-based bullet in the hope that it would obturate enough when fired to give acceptable accuracy. This is why many older Colt revolvers have chambers which are bored straight through and lack the reduced diameter chamber throats of more modern guns.

Unfortunately, the hollow-base bullet idea didn't really work as well as Colt had hoped and due to uneven/incomplete obturation, .38 Long Colt revolvers often suffered from mediocre accuracy. S&W's .38 Special revolvers, on the other hand, had proper .357" groove diameters and cylinder throats and thus quickly gained a reputation for excellent accuracy.

May 26, 2024, 09:15 PM	#6
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 29,049	The serial number shows 1987 as the manufacture date and that would make it a model 10-8. The "chamber handle" is called the yoke or the crane (depending on the maker's terms) and the numbers on it are assembly numbers with no meaning outside the factory. Where you want to look is the frame, where the relief cut for the crane is, there is where S&W has been putting the model number (and sometimes also serial number) in recent decades. That particular model is not a big seller on the market at this time, as it is not a pinned barrel gun though it is one of the last models S&W made "right" in many people's eyes. $450-550 is the rough ballpark right now. You may find the same gun on Gunbroker for $800, but no one is buying them at that price... __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

May 27, 2024, 10:59 AM	#8
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 29,049	Yours is a fine example of the classic "nightstand gun", possibly never fired, and certainly not used much, if any. Other than a couple small dings in the wood and the blemish in the blueing in front of the cylinder latch (possibly the picture??) the gun looks essentially new. There isn't even a turn ring on the cylinder, indicating that the gun has not been cycled more than a few times. Quite likely the gun was bought new, loaded, and tucked away in case of an emergency which never happened. Straight, stock, S&W K frame .38 Special (model 10) made after S&W stopped pinning the barrels and before they began to include the built in lock or made other design changes. There is not much collector interest in those guns at this time, the older pinned barrel guns bring more money, and many first time buyers want (or get talked into) some kind of semi auto. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

May 27, 2024, 01:43 PM	#9
Bill DeShivs Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 10,999	Look at the cylinder flutes and the forcing cone area. The gun has been fired. Still, it's a very nice heavy barrel Model 10. __________________ Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler www.billdeshivs.com

May 30, 2024, 03:16 PM	#13
stinkeypete Senior Member Join Date: July 22, 2010 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 1,309	"What is it worth" is an interesting question. A gun shop may offer you around $200. That's what it's worth to them. They need the markup to stay in business. A gun shop could sell the gun on commission for 20%. If you set the price at $450, the gun is worth $450 plus maybe $24.75 in tax to the buyer. It's worth $360 to you as the seller and $90 to the gun shop. That's a fair deal all around. You could try to sell it on GB and see what an auction brings. You'll need to learn about photography, the auction ins and outs, and shipping a handgun. You'll pay about 7.5% in commission and may decide that for common handguns, the gun shop is far more convenient than the $56 difference. Conclusion: if you try to sell it, $200 to $360 depending on how long you're willing to wait. if you want to buy another just like it, you'd pay about $475 if you really like the Model 10 and know a lot about them, you'd want an earlier version. But for the casual non-pistolero user, it's a very nice revolver. 38 Special is a dandy cartrige introduced in 1898. The claw hammer was introduced in 1514 AD. Both of these work just as well today as when they were invented. No matter what some metric mall ninja tells you! __________________ My book "The Pheasant Hunter's Action Adventure Cookbook" is now on Amazon. Tall tales, hunting tips, butchering from bird to the freezer, and recipes.

June 3, 2024, 01:14 AM	#19
Bill DeShivs Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 10,999	.38 S&W is larger in diameter than .38 Special. __________________ Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler www.billdeshivs.com

May 25, 2024, 08:27 PM	#2
Niner4Tango Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 289	Looks like that firearm is loaded. Please unload it before you handle it any more. While the cylinder is open look at the frame beneath the cylinder crane for something like: "MOD 10-8 (or some higher number)". Looks like a Smith & Wesson Model 10, post 1982. Retail probably around $400 to $450, depending on actual condition.

May 26, 2024, 07:56 AM	#3
Nathan Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2001 Posts: 6,370	Cool gun!

May 26, 2024, 02:12 PM	#4
TheFlash Member Join Date: October 9, 2012 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 75	Beautiful S&W! Three words: Don't sell it!

May 27, 2024, 12:18 AM	#7
Niner4Tango Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2007 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 289	I agree with a $450 to $550 range, my guess was probably low. That is a really clean Model 10 with unmolested screw heads and 'extra points' for the square butt. Your mom sounds like a cool lady. For 40 years that revolver gave your mom a sense of security in her home. That's about as good a story as a family firearm could have. If it were mine I probably couldn't part with it.

May 28, 2024, 03:45 PM	#10
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,499	Since I see this a lot, ".38 S&W Special Ctg" is not a model identification for your gun but rather the marking to designate its caliber. Your revolver is chambered for the .38 S&W Special Cartridge (Ctg is an abbreviation for cartridge) more commonly known simply as .38 Special (the S&W part was dropped by other manufacturers like Colt who didn't want to put their competitor's name on their guns). As others have already pointed out, your revolver is a S&W Model 10. While a nice and very serviceable handgun, the Model 10 isn't particularly rare or valuable because S&W has made millions of them. The Model 10 was the designation given to the .38 Military & Police when S&W began their model numbering system in the 1950's. While there have been several engineering changes over the years, the Military & Police line of revolvers have been in continuous production since 1899 and are quite possibly the best selling and most produced handguns ever made. At one time, Model 10's like yours could be found at bargain basement prices (I've seen them as low as $200) because millions upon millions of them flooded the market in the 1980's and 1990's when police switched to semi-automatics en masse. The cheap police trade-ins have long since dried up, however, and prices have been steadily rising. While models with nickel finish or less common barrel lengths may bring more, your 4" blued specimen is the most common barrel length and finish. I would tend to agree with 44 AMP's value assessment and would say that the median price for a specimen in nice condition (as yours appears to be) would be around $500.

May 28, 2024, 04:09 PM	#11
gwpercle Senior Member Join Date: November 30, 2012 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 1,769	I would keep it ... I have one just like it and it is my most fired gun . 148 Gr Target Wadcutter ammo is accurate and pleasant to shoot . Don't sell it ... Louisiana Cajun's say ... CHOOT IT ! Gary Certified Cajun

May 29, 2024, 05:46 PM	#12
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,331	I love a good Smith Model 10, fantastic revolvers. She will serve you well for many years. Common or not, that wheelgun is classic and timeless, and there ain't nothin' you can't do with a good 38!

May 31, 2024, 04:14 PM	#14
Drm50 Senior Member Join Date: November 10, 2014 Posts: 1,396	K frame 4” service revolvers are the most common variation of 38sp S&Ws. Excellent gun for what it’s intended for and not much else. I don’t keep track of S&W after P&R era guns. Having said that I’ve got many newer models on trades and shot a lot of them. Many like me don’t deal in newer models but they function and shot as well as the older ones. Any other barrel lengths bring more all other things being equal. Seems like shorter the better.

June 1, 2024, 02:10 PM	#16
hannstv Junior Member Join Date: January 12, 2018 Posts: 2	In the DFW area, if that revolver was listed on the local gun boards for $450 it would sell in a couple of days. Revolvers sell pretty quickly in my area, especially one as clean as that one. Might even move quickly at $500.

June 2, 2024, 06:30 PM	#17
The Verminator Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2013 Location: Minnesota Posts: 540	That's a beautiful gun. The heavy barrel makes it more desirable. Don't sell it. And load it!!! An unloaded gun is limited to use as a club. Take it out and shoot it and maybe get some classes to make you more familiar with guns and the law. Your mom kept it loaded. Gosh......maybe you should take a clue from HER wisdom.

June 4, 2024, 12:48 PM	#20
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,499	A common misconception is that .38 S&W was the parent case for .38 Special since both were introduced by S&W. The .38 S&W, while quite popular from the 1870's through the first half of the 20th century, was an evolutionary dead-end as it uses a .361" diameter bullet that, as far as I am aware, wasn't used by any other common cartridge afterward. .38 Special was actually a lengthened and more heavily loaded version of .38 Long Colt which was the U.S. Army's standard issue handgun cartridge from 1892 to 1909. The standard, at the time, .38 Long Colt loading was 18 gr of black powder with a 150 gr LRN for a velocity just over 700 fps from a 6" barrel while the .38 Special upped the powder charge to 21 gr black powder and a 158 gr bullet for 800-850 fps from the same length barrel (6"). Additionally, .38 Special likely offered substantially better accuracy than .38 Long Colt due to it being designed from the ground up with a bore diameter which matched its bullet diameter. The parent case of .38 Long Colt is, unsurprisingly, .38 Short Colt, but more was changed from the short to long than the length of the case and powder charge. The .38 Short Colt, like many early metallic cartridges, used an outside-lubricated, heel-based bullet not unlike what you'd find in .22 Long rifle ammunition. While its case diameter was the same as it's later offspring, because of its heel-based bullet it actually used a .375" bullet diameter and corresponding bore diameter. When .38 Long Colt was introduced, the benefits of an inside-lubricated bullet were becoming known so rather than change the case diameter, Colt elected to reduce the bullet diameter to .357", but to retain backward compatibility with the old .38 Short Colt ammunition they kept the larger bore diameter and loaded the ammunition with a hollow-based bullet in the hope that it would obturate enough when fired to give acceptable accuracy. This is why many older Colt revolvers have chambers which are bored straight through and lack the reduced diameter chamber throats of more modern guns. Unfortunately, the hollow-base bullet idea didn't really work as well as Colt had hoped and due to uneven/incomplete obturation, .38 Long Colt revolvers often suffered from mediocre accuracy. S&W's .38 Special revolvers, on the other hand, had proper .357" groove diameters and cylinder throats and thus quickly gained a reputation for excellent accuracy.