]Hey there. this is my father-in-law's S&W. It is chanmbered in 45 Long colt. He was told it was one of 14 specially made revolvers for the Border Patrol back in the day. He's not to sure about the truthfulness of that story. the wierd thing is, there is no model number on the gun anywhere that we see.the only two serial numbers are 146777 on the barrel and cylinder, and 60824 on the receiver. It has a 4" tapered barrel, super wide trigger and hammer. Not really sure what else is special about it. If anyone knows much about this, we'd sure love to hear more about it.
thanks, Mike
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Tag, because it is an interesting story

The number inside the home is NOT a serial number - this is a common smith misconception. The serial number is on the bottom of the butt ( will have to remove the grips to read it ( and it is probably the same as the barrel and cylinder) do not recall the border patrol story. If you think it is rare ( any 45 colt chambered pre model number gun is pretty unusual as it is) send to smith and wesson for a historical letter and for a fee(I think it is $50) they will research the gun and give the history.

That should have said number inside the yoke ( auto correct) smith used assembly numbers to keep fitted parts together prior to final assignment of serial numbers. Intermittently they did put serials I the yoke but never go by anything but the serial on the butt.
Model number marks did not start until 1957/8 so this gun is before that. A picture of the other side of the gun including clear pics of the barrel caliber markings would help. You sure it is a 4"? Looks a little longer. Barrel length is measured from face of the cylinder not where it comes out the frame

That's what it looks like to me too. The serial number is the number that begins with an 'S' (S146777). I had an old Model 28 Highway Patrolman that was stamped like that. I have read that the "S" prefix means it has a "Safety" block and was used on both the 'K' and 'N' frame pistols until sometime the late 60's, when S&W switched to the'J', 'K' and 'N' prefix to denote the frame size of the pistol. As stated before, the other number which is stamped inside the frame is not a serial number. It is an assembly number.

Supposedly the revolvers with the 'S' serial number prefix are sought after by collectors as they are believed to be better made/fitted than the later 'K' and 'N' prefix marked pistols.

I think the money spent on a research letter would be well worth it. That pistol is a beauty!

ETA: You might want to check out the S&W forum to get more info:

S&W Forum

The barrel appears pinned but the cylinder is not recessed.  Interesting.

Same as on my 1917 .45 ACP/autorim.

Magnums were recessed. Others were not. Were any .45 Colt Smiths recessed?

The .38-44 Outdoorsman wasn't recessed.

Does it happen to say "model of 1955" on the side of the barrel?
I think it's 55, I know the 45acp is a model of 1950. I think mine was a 5 inch but it was sold in 1992 so I could be wrong.
The wide trigger and hammer were standard on the 1955s.

I believe it could be a 45 Hand Ejector Model of 1950 Target. It also appears to have a 5" barrel. They were made in 45ACP/ 45AR but in1953 the factory began a limited production run of 200 revolvers in 45 COLT.  The 45 Hand ejector Model of 1955 had a heavy barrel.

Edit. I think S&W didn't start using model numbers until about 1957.

Very nice!

You'll need to verify the S prefix on the butt, but the serial number is repeated on the rear face of the cylinder.   S146777 places it in the 1955-1956 range for post war N frame revolvers (Models 21-29 and 57-58).

S&W switched to the 4 screw side plate in the first 6 months of 1957, so yours should have 5 screws in the frame and side plate - one will be hidden under the grip, and one will be in the front of the frame.

As indicated above S&W switched to model and dash numbers in 1957, stamping them on the frame under the crane.


It's possibly a 1950 .45 Target Model.[/b]

These were introduced in Feb 1950 in .45 ACP (standard) and later in .45 Colt (scarce).  They had a 6 1/2" ribbed, tapered and pinned barrel.  In .45 Colt the six shot fluted cylinder should be 1.67" long (.45 ACP has a 1.55" long cylinder).  The .265" wide trigger was standard, but a .500" target trigger was optional, and they came with a .400" wide semi-target hammer.   The barrel should be marked ".45 CAL MODEL 1950", but some of the earliest production revolvers lacked the caliber marking on the barrel.  

A total of 200 were chambered in .45 Colt from 1953 to 1957 out of a total of 2,768 produced from 1950 to 1961 and they all fall in the serial number range of S76212 to S211000.  

The .45 ACP version became the Model 26, and a pre-26 in 99% condition is probably a $1500 revolver.  In excellent condition, it's an $1800-$1900 revolver.

The same revolver in .45 Colt will bring between two and four times those amounts, and in that case you're probably looking at a $4000-$5000 revolver.  

There were a few made with experimental 6 1/2" heavy barrels and there have been some reported with 4" and 5" barrels, and those are extremely rare.

Consequently, if you've got a .45 Colt Model of 1950 with a 4" or 5" barrel, in excellent condition you've got a very spendy revolver.   Condition is hard to tell in your pictures, but even if it is not in 99%-100% condition, it's still worth a lot of money as it would be a very rare example of a scarce caliber with a rare barrel length.

I'd definitely write S&W and get a factory letter for it.  

I should add here that the Model 1955 .45 Target is the same basic revolver, but with a heavy barrel.  There were reportedly 15 of those made in .45 Colt.  That sort of fits the "1 of 14" information, except of course that the Model 1955 .45 Target revolvers were all heavy barrel revolvers.

That thing is sweeeeeeeeet.  

But WOW is that trigger wide.

That is a 1950 target in nice shape. Lock that one up.

Like others have said, 1950 Target Model (later known as Model 26).  Sweet gun, you have a pretty rare one.

A letter will solve the mystery. I had the same question on a nearly identical early revolver. It turned out it was originally a .45 acp that had the chambers lengthened. Gunsmiths in the golden years of steel and blue hand gunning were sometimes very talented

This.