Looking for Info on S&W

[downey]

My grandfather has an old smith and wesson 38 he was hoping to get some information on.

I have the serial number and was hoping that would help me, but the smith and wesson site doesnt seem to have any information on older guns just their new guns.

anyone know of a site that would allow me to research the gun based on its serial number or would i have to call smith and wesson directly? thank you.

[Black_Talon]

Post your serial number here and some of us may be able to help. If it's too much of an oddball, the S&W Forums can probably help you.

Smith can also tell you on the phone.

[c good]

Just post a general description of it, ie: barrel length, rollstamp markings on barrel, any numbers on frame under crane, description of grips, general overall condition bluing, bore etc. This info along with the serial number will help us give you an idea of what you've got. HTH c good

[downey]

i am not sure the length sorry, i might have a few pictures though, the serial number, how much of it should i post? or is it fine to post the whole thing? ill do half for now if more helps let me know, 117XXX. here are a few pictures:

[big jon]

?

Heres mine made in the 20`s

[downey]

can anyone give me an idea of what if any hoops i will have to jump through to have this and a webley 455 transfered into my name from washington into california, the webley was bought in 1962 but i am not sure the date, but will assume its a 1962 gun, both appear they are in working order. thanks

[c good]

Hi Downey:
Looks like a .38 Military and Police (M&P) Model 1905, 2nd change. Made between 1906-1909. Looks like the 6 inch barrel. Sweet little revolver. Be sure you take good care of it. I don't know the details for doing a transfer to California, but there is a thing called an "Intrafamilial transfer". Check with an FFL shop and they should be able to fill you in. You should be exempt from the "Approved" list as these era of revolvers are older than 50 years old and are considered C&R and thus exempt. HTH c good

[downey]

thank you very much, yes anyone know a good SW or Webley gunsmith in the bay area? My intentions are to restore both guns the best i can and possibly frame them for my grandpa.

[bwiese]

Please have someone in-the-know appraise it or get further information from the Forums in http://www.smith-wessonforum.com before attempting to refinish or modify it, perhaps there is some historical significance - who knows?

[ivanimal]

The gun is perfect without restoration. Unless it is unsafe I would not touch a thing. If you are going to use it you may want to think about new grips to keep your originals in the shape they are in. Or not, 100 years and it still looks great.

[downey]

thanks for all the help guys, So what would be the next step, my grandpa lives in washington, and is pretty much blind so it would be hard for him to have it shipped to me. Can i go up there and have a washington dealer do the paper work then when i bring them back to california have a california dealer do some more paper work. These are just heirlooms like said before, i would like to have them framed, the webley will need some gunsmith to look at to determine if it will fire though. I am the only one in my family with any intrest in guns and my grandpa only has these because he was lifelong navy and just hapen to aquire them over time. He got rid of most the other guns he had, mainly other revolvers but kept these two because the SW is his fathers and the webley is "cool" since its a top loader or whatever they are called. I would just like to clean them up and give them a nice safe pframe or something so he can have them out and not hidden away like he has been keeping them. i am going to give antioch armory a call tuesday about the transfer process and post on the smith board and possibley call a local gunsmith about the webley to get the ball rolling on it, i think it will be a big project for me since i do not know much about the guns. My grandpa had no idea what year either gun even was. i think he will be suprised to hear how old the SW is.

[Dump1567]

You could also ship them to a dealer near you, DROS them and than pick them up. You can only DROS one every 30 days.

I wouldn't dick with them. Enjoy them in their orig. form.

(Edited to remove illegal suggestion, ivanimal)

[ivanimal]

The 30 day wait only applies to new purchases.

[Dump1567]

The 30 day wait only applies to new purchases.

If these are shipped into CA to a dealer, unless he has a C&R & COE, it's still only one every 30 days.

[downey]

livermore gun store told me "if they are in washington they are going to stay in washington" said the only way for me to get them is if my grandpa write me a letter saying i can inheiret(sp?) them when he dies. When i said i think the SW is kinda old like maybe 1905 or such he said its not because it is not the top breaking kind, i have no idea really if he is right or what, i will call the antioch store tommorow i think since i trust them more than i do this store here in livermore.