Hey Russ. Nice old Smith you have. You are correct on quite a few fronts. The serial number you gave puts the shipping date around 1951 to 1952. The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson shows that serial numbers 1 - 7368 were shipped 1950-1951. However, S&W did not necessarily ship in numerical order back then. I do not believe it is one of the early models for three reasons, 1) the front site is not the "half-moon" site 2) the first models had a standard thumbpiece and 3) and they had a smaller triggerguard. Yours obviously has the later production front site ramp, the flat latch thumbpiece and the later larger triggerguard. Since it has the later standard front site ramp,the flat latch, and the later larger triggerguard, I believe it to be a very late 1951 or early 1952 shipped gun. Only a letter from S&W can tell you exactly, and it would also state if it were an original blue or nickel gun. jhvaughan2 is correct when he said S&W never nickeled the trigger or hammer. Although this model did come in blue or nickel, the fact that the trigger and hammer look to be nickeled it would then have to be an original blued gun. Pull the grips and if there is an "N" stamped on the frame, it is original nickel. If there is no "N", it was a blued gun. Given the fact that your Smith has the flat latch, the standard front site and the larger triggerguard, I believe it is a J frame, not an improved I frame. The gun would have come from the factory with the checkered diamond magna grips, probably in rosewood. Gosh I hope that helps you some. jhvaughn is also correct when he states that the re-nickel hurts the collectibility. Still, it is a great piece and looks a whole lot better than I do at 61. Maybe I need to be re-nickeled.
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