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I got an old S&W Model 10 M&P .38 handed down to me and I'd like to find out about it's past. My Aunt had it we believe at least 50 years and she said an old boyfriend gave it to her. That boyfriend was an Atlanta PD officer best as anyone can remember.

S&W is very tight about their info, and I can't justify paying them to actually find out it was 1 of 1,000,000 made in the 80's or something.

The serial number is C 101.... Thanks for any help.

What kind of info are you looking for?

Just the general year of manufacture??

C 1-C223998 were manufactured 1948-1951.

It would be known as the "pre-model 10" .38 Military and Police Revolver.

If you want more info, you'll have to pay for the S&W research..

Any unusual markings on the revolver??

Not an extra mark on it. However knowing it's actually from that era I'll probably go ahead and get S&W to run it. I just wanted to confirm whether it was worth it or not. Knowing it's 60ish years old, now it's worth it.

Thanks for the info!

What kind of condition is it in??

I'd say fair to good. It's got a lot of holster wear, been fired a bunch. The mechanism is tight as a drum but the cylinder has a ring all the way around, the trigger and hammer have wear marks. Nothing abusive or gouged.

The cylinder does have surface rust you can feel, but isn't flaky at all. It was kept in a dresser drawer in a sock. The frame, bores and inner mechanism were fine.

I took it apart, cleaned the works out, lubed it, cleaned the rifling out. I knew better than to clean the rust off or do anything with the wood grips, I left that patina alone. It's a fine shooting gun, in fact the girls like it best of the bunch.

If I can get some good pics I'll post them up.

Some might disagree, but, I've had luck using either 0000 steel wool, or bronze wool with hoppes to remove surface rust that's not pitting the steel.

Rust is not considered "patina" lol

The value is probably in the $100-$200 range with that condition (sight unseen). Anything you do probably won't hurt it..

True but the finish around it is. I'll leave it alone for now until I can find someone that could do it right.

As far as the rust I would just oil it. Some time gun oil will remove the rust, or even Hoppers #9 will remove it.