Please Help Identify/Value This Old 38 Spec. S&W

[Spec.-K]

My buddy is trying to get rid of a project motorcycle, and someone offered him this.
Please help us figure out if its junk or actually a fair offer.
Thanks.
-K

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[jbett98]

Depends on the project motorcycle. If it's an old Vincent, then no, it's a bad trade. If it's a rusty basket case beater that will never run again, then yes it is.
Take it to a gunsmith and have him check out the timing and barrel. Looks to me to be a home defense/plinker grade pistol from just the one picture.

 

[Spec.-K]

It's just a beater motorcycle, I think he's asking $300 for it.

 

[JSJPDX]

If you check all the gun auction sites you'll find that a Smith & Wesson Model 10 with a 6" barrel which is what this looks to be run anywhere from $250 up to around $400 or so depending on condition. I just purchased one in similiar condition for around $325 after all the shipping and transfer stuff. If the bore looks good and it locks up tight and he likes revolvers, it's probably a decent trade.

 

[MarkAd]

WHOA, this is not a 38 Special.
This is a 38 S&W an entirely different and older cartridge.
The gun looks it was rebarreled notice the difference in wear and ageing of the barrel and frame.
I would not touch this pistol unless the seller could provide proof it had function and fire tested by a competent gunsmith.

 

[JSJPDX]

If the barrel is marked 38 S&W Special as the OP seems to indicate, it is indeed a 38 Special. Smith and Wesson developed the 38 Special cartridge and the offical name is the 38 Smith & Wesson Special, commonly referred to as the 38 Special. I have a half dozen S&W 38 Special revolvers and they are all marked on the barrel 38 S&W Special.

It is difficult to tell from the picture but this revolver looks to have the newer style cylinder release and hammer spur which tells me that this is probably post war which would make it an early Model 10. If the OP has the serial number we could probably date it more closely. The barrel on my Model 10, 6" is rougher than the frame as well.

For me, if the bore looks good and it feels tight, I wouldn't have a problem trading this for a $300 motorcycle.

 

[Spitpatch]

It'll be a .38 Special.

Value: Bottom end $100. Top out at .$200. GUN VALUE. Credit to JSJPDX for noting full well and with good credence that a $200 pistol may well be worth more than a $300 motorcycle. (For those confused, there is no place you can look this up. It comes from hard life-lessons.)

What I would do: (gun guy/motorcycle guy). Buy a box of .38 Specials. With a leather-gloved hand and face turned away with good protective glasses, fire the sumsabich. (MarkAd will defer here, in that if chambered in the old 38 SW, Specials should not chamber.) It's a Smith. Betcha it works peachy. (Yeah, there's alot of other techniques, but looking at it, and knowing Smiths, that's what I'd do.). Bike guy needs to decide if he wants a gun. Gun guy needs to decide if he wants a bike. Been there. Somebody in the last 20 years put grips on it. They wouldn't have done that for a .38 SW. Looks like a Model 10. (Special)

Personally (lot of experience with bikes and guns), I'd go for a junker Smith over a junker bike everytime. We could go into what I've accomplished with junker pistols as opposed to junker bikes, but that'd be a discussion on an entirely different venue, and not something I'd want to discuss right now.