Help Identify this revolver

[BajaJames83]

I had a neighbor bring by this old revolver he was given by a friend, I dont know much about old guns. I asked him if I could hold onto it for a bit and get more info for him.

on the left side of the brarrel it is stamped: Secret Serrvice Special>
on the top of the barrel it is stamped: <For 38 Smith & Wesson CTGS>
on the right side there is a stamp of: May 22 1917
on the bottom of the trigger guard it is stamped: 50

no other visible markings.

He wants to know 2 things:
1. Is this safe to shoot if we find some ammo for it? the cylinder free spins until you start pulling the trigger then it locks in place. other than that it functions fine from what i can tell.
2. What is it worth?

I will get some better pictures when the camera is charged, but here it is for now.

[TRICKSTER]

See the 2nd post on this page and go from there.

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=3338

[TRAP55]

Read the last post on that page from the late Bill Goforth.

[kurac]

its not worth much and box of shells will cost you almost half of what its worth. He might be able to get some cash at a buy back for something better.

[Mike A]

Theoretically safe to shoot with current .38 S&W commercial (NOT .38-200) ammo, but needs to be either checked by a competent gunsmith or at least test fired wearing a welder's hood and gloves to see if it REALLY indexes and locks or is going to spit lead and gas from the cylinder/barrel gap. Shooting it inside a big cone of white paper will tell you that.

The shield inset in the grips probably doesn't detract much from value, but certainly doesn't add any. Value is sentimental only, unless you can find somebody who collects these inexpensive pocket revolvers, and the insides are in very good shape. Someone like that might give you $100 plus pay the DROS/PPT fees, not much more, I think.

Lots of people relied on guns like this back in the day; I'd just keep it if it had any personal/family connections.

[Springfield45]

Theoretically safe to shoot with current .38 S&W commercial (NOT .38-200) ammo, but needs to be either checked by a competent gunsmith or at least test fired wearing a welder's hood and gloves to see if it REALLY indexes and locks or is going to spit lead and gas from the cylinder/barrel gap. Shooting it inside a big cone of white paper will tell you that.

The shield inset in the grips probably doesn't detract much from value, but certainly doesn't add any. Value is sentimental only, unless you can find somebody who collects these inexpensive pocket revolvers, and the insides are in very good shape. Someone like that might give you $100 plus pay the DROS/PPT fees, not much more, I think.

Lots of people relied on guns like this back in the day; I'd just keep it if it had any personal/family connections.

The shield insert is most likely origional because it has "Secret Service" stamped on the barrel. I am sure it was never a Secret Service pistol and just a marketing name. It was made sometime between the 1890's and the 1930's. It is hard to say what company made it. Revolvers like it were first made by Smith and Wesson and then copied by many different componies like Harrington and Richardson, US Revolver Company, Iver Johnson and others. If it is machanicly good it is worth anywhere from $100 to $300 if it is rare witch it is probably not. You should only shoot the cartidge it was designed to shoot. They were made to shoot low pressure rounds. A gunsmith would be better at desiding if it is safe to shoot or not than one of us looking at a picture.

I all so found this on another forum about them.

The name Secret Service Special name was a trademark of the Fred Biffar Co., which was a mail order hardware company out of Chicago from the 1880s to about 1920. They were in the same type of business as Sears and Montgomery Ward.

[BajaJames83]

thanks for all the good info guys, I will let him know if he gets it checked out it should be alright to shoot when we can find the old 38 S&W ammo.
I wasn't sure if it was really worth a whole lot any way.

[TRAP55]

James, contact forum member hrf on the TFF forums. When Bill Goforth passed away, he continued Bill's work on the breaktops. Pics and serial number, and he'll give you all there is to know about it, what to shoot in it, and a fair current market value.

[Heatseeker]

Maybe the little revo was a railroad police gun. The shield looks a lot like the Union Pacific logo to me.