SMITH & WESSON M&P MODEL 1905 4TH CHANGE

SERIAL NUMBER: 502372. BARREL: 5". CALIBER: .38 S&W SPECIAL. MANUFACTURED: 1922. The Smith & Wesson .38 Military & Police (Model of 1905, 4th Change), bearing serial number 502372, is a historic five-screw, K-frame service revolver manufactured between 1922 and 1923. This piece represents a significant post-WWI transition window for the company, explicitly marked by the single-line "MADE IN USA" roll stamp added to the right side of the frame?a feature mandated in May 1922. The left side of the frame features a small, classic S&W monogram trademark logo rolled just beneath the thumb piece cylinder release, and the left side of the slender, tapered barrel is crisply stamped "SMITH & WESSON." The revolver utilizes a traditional fixed-sight layout with a rounded half-moon front blade and a square notch groove along the top strap, rounded out by a smooth service trigger and a hand-checkered hammer spur. Mechanically, the heart of the firearm remains entirely original and numbers-matching, with the primary serial number 502372 cleanly stamped across four major steel components: the butt of the frame, the flat underside of the barrel, the rear face of the cylinder, and the bottom of the extractor star. The walnut stocks currently on the revolver are period-correct, vintage grips featuring fine hand-checkering and flush-inset silver S&W factory medallions at the top. These specific stocks were swapped onto the frame during its lifetime from a slightly later 1927 production companion model, as evidenced by the serial number 550481 machine-stamped into the raw wood of the right inner panel?a stamping method S&W adopted in the mid-1920s to replace hand-penciling. While the heat-treated cylinder of this 4th Change model safely accommodates modern standard-pressure ammunition, the use of high-pressure .38 Special +P loads must be strictly avoided to preserve its long-term structural tightness and collector value. CONDITION: Excellent. C&R. 27-543