Interesting smith and wesson revolver
- Thread starter HighValleyRanch
- Start date
Jim Watson
New member
Looks like one of the many S&W Model 64 (stainless Military & Police) police tradeins on the market this year.
Model number is normally on the frame under the yoke.
It is marked .38 S&W Special because Smith and Wesson designed the .38 Special in 1899.
Model number is normally on the frame under the yoke.
It is marked .38 S&W Special because Smith and Wesson designed the .38 Special in 1899.
Looks like another typical police trade-in Model 64.
As caliber designation, for the .38 the official designation
is .38 Smith & Wesson Special; similarly, the official
designation for the .357 is Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
Then there's the .44 Remington Magnum or the .45
Automatic Colt Pistol or the .45 Colt.
It's a neat way of driving the competition nutty gone
cuckoo. When the S&W .38 Special was created,
Colt went to the trouble of creating its own designated
38 Special which in reality was just a copy of Smith's.
As caliber designation, for the .38 the official designation
is .38 Smith & Wesson Special; similarly, the official
designation for the .357 is Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
Then there's the .44 Remington Magnum or the .45
Automatic Colt Pistol or the .45 Colt.
It's a neat way of driving the competition nutty gone
cuckoo. When the S&W .38 Special was created,
Colt went to the trouble of creating its own designated
38 Special which in reality was just a copy of Smith's.
The .38 S&W Special was introduced in 1902. Primarily due to the dissatisfaction with the performance of the .38 Long Colt round in the Philippines in 1899.
S&W had earlier (1877) introduced a .38 cal round named .38 S&W. They are NOT interchangeable.
There are some .38 S&W guns that will accept the longer and narrower .38 Special but its a very poor idea, and unsafe in certain guns.
I can't read the marking on the frame but there appear to be some under the yoke. Should be model and serial#. The gun doesn't appear to have a pinned barrel, does it have recessed chambers? The change happened at different times, with different models, but pinned & recessed guns went away during the 80s.
S&W had earlier (1877) introduced a .38 cal round named .38 S&W. They are NOT interchangeable.
There are some .38 S&W guns that will accept the longer and narrower .38 Special but its a very poor idea, and unsafe in certain guns.
I can't read the marking on the frame but there appear to be some under the yoke. Should be model and serial#. The gun doesn't appear to have a pinned barrel, does it have recessed chambers? The change happened at different times, with different models, but pinned & recessed guns went away during the 80s.
HighValleyRanch
New member
Thanks!
Yes, the seller say it's marked ccc indicating that it came from a California Correctional facility.
Yes, the seller say it's marked ccc indicating that it came from a California Correctional facility.
Last edited:
Jim Watson
New member
The last batch around here was from the Georgia prison system.
HighValleyRanch
New member
seller wrote:
"The revolver is stamped "CCC" for California Correctional Center" and has a second non serial number. this is the prisons # not S&W. "
44 AMP,
As a .38, the 64 did not have recessed chambers.
The pinning of the barrel generally went away in
1982 but some cross overs exist as Smith used
up existing parts.
On fixed sighted service guns like the Model 10 and
64 the model number would appear under the yoke
but the serial number would be on the butt of the
gun only.
As a .38, the 64 did not have recessed chambers.
The pinning of the barrel generally went away in
1982 but some cross overs exist as Smith used
up existing parts.
On fixed sighted service guns like the Model 10 and
64 the model number would appear under the yoke
but the serial number would be on the butt of the
gun only.
HighValleyRanch
New member
so it's basically a model 10 in stainless?
This one looks like it has a later bull barrel.
These are square butt?
This one looks like it has a later bull barrel.
These are square butt?
Yeah, the old M64's CDC released can be some decent guns if they were well maintained. A buddy of mine used to work as a firearms instructor as one of his jobs in a prison. I think he said they'd been using Speer 125gr GDHP +P for a long time, as that's what he said they kept at the range and what he shot in them.
Another friend of mine just picked up one of those CDC M64's from a local cop shop (who got some of them in stock). Being a factory-trained S&W revolver armorer, and a longtime S&W revolver shooter, he hand-selected one that's about as perfect as you could expect to find for a recycled duty gun. His had the same rubber grip stocks as the one pictured, too.
He invited me to try it out on our range. Nice K-frame .38 revolver.
Congrats.
Another friend of mine just picked up one of those CDC M64's from a local cop shop (who got some of them in stock). Being a factory-trained S&W revolver armorer, and a longtime S&W revolver shooter, he hand-selected one that's about as perfect as you could expect to find for a recycled duty gun. His had the same rubber grip stocks as the one pictured, too.
He invited me to try it out on our range. Nice K-frame .38 revolver.
Congrats.
Most California Department of Corrections Firearms were stamped CDC, I have never observed any other marking but do not discount the CCC observation. In between our range loss and construction of a new facility we shot on the CDC range which was provided to service a cluster of three Calif prisons so being rangemaster I had considerable interaction with prison personnel.
I too was able to obtain a like new condition Mod 64 that has mim internals but no lock, the revolver is tight and shoots close to POA something fixed sights often do not do. The 64 is a shooting companion to my 66 and 3” 65 all three being just about as reliable as a handgun can be and all shoot where pointed, every time if I do my part.
I too was able to obtain a like new condition Mod 64 that has mim internals but no lock, the revolver is tight and shoots close to POA something fixed sights often do not do. The 64 is a shooting companion to my 66 and 3” 65 all three being just about as reliable as a handgun can be and all shoot where pointed, every time if I do my part.