Serial number 380XXX  I believe this to be a .38 Military and Police Model of 1905, 4th change.   However, trying to verify age and confirm that.  I want to also give my friend and mentor the current value.  It was his grandfathers, he has had it in his possession for 70 years. He believes his grand father bought new in the 1930s.

Roll mark on top of bbl has 1914 is last date.    Once source on internet says 1915-1942..........241,704-1,000,000

Smooth service trigger.   No medallion on the grips seem to be from maybe an older gun.   The 4th change I thought had them.  

Trigger is awesome.   Have the period holster as well.  

The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 4th Ed says 1914-1942 serial numbers 241,704 - 700,000.
27 years between 1915 and 1942. If divided evenly that is about 16,974 manufactured per year. That divides out to roughly 16,974 per year. If that number per year is accurate 380,xxx would be 1927-1928.

I doubt if S&W built the same number during each of those years but I would guess (only a guess) that it was manufactured some time in the late twenties.

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Here’s a picture of my M&P 38, much later manufacture - 1947 wearing pre-war grips and not nearly as nice cosmetically as yours.

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It can't be any newer than 1928 --- that's when S&W changed from that mushroom shaped ejector knob to the can shaped one used until after WWII. Grips look 1920s correct to me. It certainly could have been bought new in the 1930s, but it left S&W in the 1920s.

It's a S&W M&P. S&W stopped using the 4th Change designation in the mid teens.

I see it does not have the “made in USA “ mark on the lower right front of frame, and there is a specific time frame for those ( about 1919 to 1924 or so if memory serves, so that narrows it down a bit)

Thanks - great information.   Any idea on a price point?

Good but not great shape, extremely common gun...let's call it $400 or so.

I disagree, clean condition pre-war M&Ps have gone up in value as they have been steadily disappearing over time.
For a base model like yours with matching numbers and no modifications I would value at least $600.