Mystery K-frame.

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Buzzcook

New member
Stopped by the pawn shop today. They had a blue 4" k frame S&W, on the sign it said model 3917.
Never having heard of a model 3917 I asked to see it. The serial was C 255xxx.

Sure enough the only thing on the yoke was 3917. Left side of the barrel Smith & Wesson, right side of the barrel .38 special

I thought it might be an M&P, but didn't see that stamped anywhere,

So any ideas?
 
C

carguychris

New member
"3917" is an assembly number used to keep parts of the revolver together on the production line. It became meaningless when the gun left the factory.

The gun is indeed a .38 Military & Police. The C255xxx serial number range was built in 1953, a few years before S&W started using model numbers for their swing-out-cylinder revolvers. :)
I thought it might be an M&P, but didn't see that stamped anywhere...
Click to expand...
The only named S&W revolver model that was consistently stamped with the model name was the .38 Regulation Police, a compact 5-shot I frame (later J frame) revolver chambered in .38 S&W. The names of the other named models were not marked anywhere on the guns, leading to endless confusion once the original packaging was misplaced. :rolleyes:
 
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Winchester_73

New member
Often times a pawn shop knows less than the average collector or shooter because they have to know guitars, coins, jewelry and other items while we only need to know what we want to know about - guns. I never went into a pawn shop and was impressed by the guy's knowledge whether he was an employee or the owner himself. They also have to know about many different guns. S&Ws are confusing for many people. I'm not surprised that he apparently wrote the assembly number as if it were a 1996 Model 29 or some other S&W with the model number in the yoke.
 
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Venom1956

New member
Some times it works out in your favor. A pawn shop really won't know that they have something special. Thats awesome when it happens... Sadly the internet makes it more difficult nowadays.
 
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BillCA

New member
A "C" serial number was common on several S&W K-frame models between 1949 and about 1965. The Model 10 M&P is the most common. One might also see a C-prefix on the Model 11 (.38 S&W version) or the Model 12 (Aluminum framed airweight model).

The M&P is a great workhorse and general purpose gun. Guns made prior to 1957 (prior to model number stampings) should not be fed lots of +P ammo as they were not built to take the extra stress. But then, lots of folks are R.I.P. because of the old standard .38 round.
 
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Venom1956

New member
Some times it works out in your favor. A pawn shop really won't know that they have something special. Thats awesome when it happens... Sadly the internet makes it more difficult nowadays.
 
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