As some of you know, i lost my dad in January of this year. A few days after he passed my mom gave me the Taurus 85 i had bought him for Christmas a few years ago. While it's not an unusual or expensive gun, i'll always cherish it because my dad loved that gun.
Today my mom gave me Dad's prized gun, an old well worn S&W .38 that Dad bought in 1941. He paid the princely sum of $9 for the gun and a box of .38 ammo. I was speechless. I never thought Mom would part with that old S&W but she knew that he had wanted me to have it.
Sitting at my work bench, inspecting the well worn old S&W, the memories came flooding back. It was the first "big bore" gun i ever fired. All of us kids (all 7 of us) learned how to shoot "a real gun" using that old S&W. We lived in the country and in the summer time we always had a gopher problem. Nothing a water hose and the old S&W couldn't handle. Dad would get mad because i would use the .38 instead of the Colt Woodsman to shoot gophers. "But Dad, i like the .38 better". Alot of pest fell to that old S&W. No matter what guns came and went, the old S&W always had a home in Dad's gun cabinet. it was carried alot and shot almost as much. It was the gun Dad reached for when things went bump in the night.
The finish is worn, it has about 50% of the finish left, a few light rust pits here and there and a home made cylinder release. The lockwork and the barrel are still in great shape and it still locks up almost as tight as any of my other K frames. The D/A trigger pull is smooth as silk. The S/A pull is light and crisp.
I have no idea how old it is, all i know is Dad bought it in 1941. It has ".38 S&W Special Ctg." stamped on the right side of the barrel, 17462 stamped on the inside of the crane and the serial # is 317XXX. I think i'll write to S&W and see if they can give any history on the gun.
I know it's not worth much monetary wise, but to me it's priceless. Someday i'll hand it down to my son.
Today my mom gave me Dad's prized gun, an old well worn S&W .38 that Dad bought in 1941. He paid the princely sum of $9 for the gun and a box of .38 ammo. I was speechless. I never thought Mom would part with that old S&W but she knew that he had wanted me to have it.
Sitting at my work bench, inspecting the well worn old S&W, the memories came flooding back. It was the first "big bore" gun i ever fired. All of us kids (all 7 of us) learned how to shoot "a real gun" using that old S&W. We lived in the country and in the summer time we always had a gopher problem. Nothing a water hose and the old S&W couldn't handle. Dad would get mad because i would use the .38 instead of the Colt Woodsman to shoot gophers. "But Dad, i like the .38 better". Alot of pest fell to that old S&W. No matter what guns came and went, the old S&W always had a home in Dad's gun cabinet. it was carried alot and shot almost as much. It was the gun Dad reached for when things went bump in the night.
The finish is worn, it has about 50% of the finish left, a few light rust pits here and there and a home made cylinder release. The lockwork and the barrel are still in great shape and it still locks up almost as tight as any of my other K frames. The D/A trigger pull is smooth as silk. The S/A pull is light and crisp.
I have no idea how old it is, all i know is Dad bought it in 1941. It has ".38 S&W Special Ctg." stamped on the right side of the barrel, 17462 stamped on the inside of the crane and the serial # is 317XXX. I think i'll write to S&W and see if they can give any history on the gun.
I know it's not worth much monetary wise, but to me it's priceless. Someday i'll hand it down to my son.