Smith&Wesson Experts. I need some help.

[Junior_357]

OP - I looked at the picture, and I have an educated guess. It looks like a restruck 28-2 frame used to build a 29-2 to me. I might be wrong...Lord knows it would not be first time. But it look like S&W probably had a previously struck 28-2 frame, but needed to build a 29-2 to fill an order. I know for sure they used whatever they had lying around...that's how you get 357 Model 10's...the frame was made and stamped, but they built a Model 13 out of the Model 10 frame.

 

[deller]

So. Will the serial number with Smith&Wesson reflect a Model 29 or 28 if that's the case?

 

[Junior_357]

So. Will the serial number with Smith&Wesson reflect a Model 29 or 28 if that's the case?

I'd venture to guess it probably left the factory as a 29...so it should have been recorded that way. At least I hope that is the case for you. But sometimes things slip through the cracks with those guys...but those 'slips' are probably rarer than the mismarked guns...

Contacting them is the right way to find out how it left the factory...

 

[whiskerz]

OP - I looked at the picture, and I have an educated guess. It looks like a restruck 28-2 frame used to build a 29-2 to me. I might be wrong...Lord knows it would not be first time. But it look like S&W probably had a previously struck 28-2 frame, but needed to build a 29-2 to fill an order. I know for sure they used whatever they had lying around...that's how you get 357 Model 10's...the frame was made and stamped, but they built a Model 13 out of the Model 10 frame.

I would think Smith would correct the gap in the grooves on top of the frame if that was the case . I have to agree with Mickey , I think it was built buy an individual . It would take a factory letter to convince me otherwise . Swapping stuff around used to be common when the guns were common and not collected.

 

[Junior_357]

I would think Smith would correct the gap in the grooves on top of the frame if that was the case . I have to agree with Mickey , I think it was built buy an individual . It would take a factory letter to convince me otherwise . Swapping stuff around used to be common when the guns were common and not collected.

True...but I have a couple of never-fired Smiths, and one of them has some weird gaps as well. Only the gun itself knows what it is...and it ain't talkin'...

 

[whiskerz]

True...but I have a couple of never-fired Smiths, and one of them has some weird gaps as well. Only the gun itself knows what it is...and it ain't talkin'...

I was talking about the picture of top of the gun where it is missing the grooves you get on a 27 or a 29 . I would think if the factory was going to do it they would use a 27 frame . It would be much closer to a factory 29 than a 28 .

 

[deller]

Well I'm eager to find out. Funny story how I acquired the gun. Without mentioning any names a Polygraph examiner who worked for me did a multi gun trade with me. A couple of weeks later I gave him the option of resigning or being fired. ( I actually should have fired his ass )
He resigned and passed away a few years later. Maybe he has screwed me one last time.

 

[gh1950]

I would think Smith would correct the gap in the grooves on top of the frame if that was the case . I have to agree with Mickey , I think it was built buy an individual . It would take a factory letter to convince me otherwise . Swapping stuff around used to be common when the guns were common and not collected.

I'm going to play the Devil's Advocate here.

Most of you young'uns don't remember when Dirty Harry came out.

The Model 29 was a novelty. Remember that most PD's at this time were still carrying a .38 Special of one sort or another.

Elmer Keith was pimping the .44 mag for hunting at a time when no one was really interested in hunting with a pistol -- God invented the Winchester Model 94 for a reason.

So Dirty Harry came out, and overnight (literally) every redblooded male in America had to have a Model 29. This was the top of the line S&W, and the market was still dominated by the LGS. There had been little demand for the 29. and all of a sudden S&W was swamped with orders.

So I'm betting that S&W grabbed anything that looked like a Model 29, chambered it for .44 Mag and shipped it out the door. If the subject gun was modified by an individual, they crapped up a really good gun to produce a bastard gun for no good purpose. It's not like a Bowen modification, where you take a gun and make something unusual and desirable out of it

So I'm guessing factory re-fit.

 

[Junior_357]

I was talking about the picture of top of the gun where it is missing the grooves you get on a 27 or a 29 . I would think if the factory was going to do it they would use a 27 frame . It would be much closer to a factory 29 than a 28 .

Not exactly...the 27 frame and barrel tops are checkered, not grooved.

Sent from my XT1254

 

[deller]

Ok all. I spoke with a rep at Smith&Wesson. They were able to tell me the gun was made between 1979 and 1980.
As to whether it was a model 29 or 28 they could not advise. Determining that will require a manual records check as they were not computerized at that time.