S&W revolver

[biglou]

Does anyone know how I can find out what year this pistol was made ? It's a S&W .22lr revolver serial number 18XXX.

[HowardW56]

Does anyone know how I can find out what year this pistol was made ? It's a S&W .22lr revolver serial number 18XXX.

Is there a letter before the serial number?

[c good]

It looks like a .22/32 Kit Gun. Otherwise known as the "Pre Model 34". To give you better dating on this you need to open the cylinder and look on the frame under the crane for additional letters and or numbers. Also how many screws are showing on the other side of the revolver? Is there a screw in the front of the triggerguard? This will help us date it. c good

[stevie]

It looks like a .22/32 Kit Gun. Otherwise known as the "Pre Model 34". To give you better dating on this you need to open the cylinder and look on the frame under the crane for additional letters and or numbers. c good

Yup, looks like a Pre-34, 1953 - 1960?

[otteray]

I'd guess at a .22-.32 Kit Gun.
The flat cylinder release latch, like yours has, was later changed to the modern version in the mid 60's.
Is there a model number (stamped on the yoke) that can be seen with the cylinder in the open position? They started doing that in the mid '50s, I think.

[biglou]

S&W revolver

No letters before the serial number. On the frame with cylinder open it's stamped with the numbers 71714 with a large 0 and a small o on top of and below these numbers. It also has 71714 on the yolk. The frame and cylinder have matching serial numbers. This belonged to a co-workers Grandfather who passed and the family sold most of his guns. Sorry about the pictures, low end camera. When you say it's a "kit" is it factory ? Thanks, this forum has been very helpful.

[HowardW56]

No letters before the serial number. On the frame with cylinder open it's stamped with the numbers 71714 with a large 0 and a small o on top of and below these numbers. It also has 71714 on the yolk. The frame and cylinder have matching serial numbers. This belonged to a co-workers Grandfather who passed and the family sold most of his guns. Sorry about the pictures, low end camera. When you say it's a "kit" is it factory ? Thanks, this forum has been very helpful.

The bottom of the frame, below the grips is just stamped with number? There is nothing else stamped there?

[otteray]

No letters before the serial number. On the frame with cylinder open it's stamped with the numbers 71714 with a large 0 and a small o on top of and below these numbers. It also has 71714 on the yolk. The frame and cylinder have matching serial numbers. This belonged to a co-workers Grandfather who passed and the family sold most of his guns. Sorry about the pictures, low end camera. When you say it's a "kit" is it factory ? Thanks, this forum has been very helpful.

Yes, it is a factory model. If you call S&W and give them the serial number they can tell you the year of manufacture.
A letter giving basic information about your handgun can be had for a fee.
You could also go to a couple of the S&W forums and maybe get more info there, as well. It seems like some of those folks have a libraries on Smiths.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/

http://www.smithandwessonforums.com/

[WINGEDSWORD]

S&W .22

Yes it is a factory gun. The term "Kit Gun" was meant to mean a small framed gun that could be carried in your "KIT"(personal equipment)

[c good]

Is there a screw in the front of the triggerguard? This will help me date it better. Sweet little revolver by the way!

[biglou]

S&W revolver

Yeah, it has just the serial number on the bottom of the grips (on frame), under the barrel and on the cylinder. No screw in front of trigger guard. It also came with a leather holster (Brauer Bros Mfg. Co St. Louis). Haven't shot it yet.

[HowardW56]

I think it's a MODEL OF 1953 .22/32 KIT GUN (Pre Model 34...)

[MikeH1]

Letter of Auth. now $50 (was $30) ouch

looks in nice condition, worth a $50 (was $30, see below) letter of authentication from S&W, which will also tell you it's exact shipping date and destination.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CustomContentDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=11101&content=25301&sectionId=10504

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please note that Smith & Wesson is temporarily suspending their history letters service from this date until October 15, 2008. This is necessary to allow the Historian to complete the large history letter backlog that is currently in the queue. All history letter requests and checks received after July 16th will be returned to the sender with instruction to re-submit them after October 15.

Because of increased costs, the fee for a history letter will be raised from $30.00 to $50.00 effective immediately. Due to a high number of requests, the current turnaround time for a history letter is 8 - 12 weeks.

[c good]

Yup...Pre Model 34. Model of 1953, .22/32 Kit Gun. Built on "Improved" I frame. Round butt. Built between 1953-1969. Trigger guard screw was discontinued in 1953. In 1955 the upper side plate screw was deleted. The photo shows it's a 4 screw model with the upper side plate screw still there. So....without exact records from S&W all I can say is it's from between 1953-1955. That's about as close as I can get using info in the "Standard Catalog of S&W". HTH c good

[biglou]

S&W revolver

Thanks c good and everyone for all the info. Very informed members on CalGuns. Looks like I'll be keeping this revolver. It'll be good for my 13 year old to shoot.