S&W M&P 38 Spec

[shell70634]

I picked up an old M&P the other day. Timing is a little off. Bore is fine. Can anyone tell me if the hand is the same as a model 10?
I'm guessing late 20's or early 30's.
I believe it's nickel plated. It's been beat around a bit. May be a cerakote training project for me. I cerakoted a Marlin 336 for my first cerakote project and learned a lot. This one should come out better.
Attachment 287449
Attachment 287450
Attachment 287451

[358429]

I wonder if the butt has been used to post up a Wanted bounty poster.

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[JRD]

The hand is not the same as a modern Model 10. You need a pre-war hand.
Make sure you account for the thickness of coating so you still have necessary functional clearances.
Good luck with your project.

[JMax]

Take the side plate off and see if it has a flange on the back side of the hand or a straight back hand.

[shell70634]

JMax, Not sure exactly what you mean by flange so here's a pic.
Attachment 287463

[kywoodwrkr]

That finish looks just like that on a Colt that came from Colombia SA. that I had.
Your internals look a whole lot better.
Brake fluid took most of the jungle off of it.
This might be of interest-had with note on a M&P I have.
https://www.gunvaluesboard.com/i-hav.....-563856.html

[JMax]

Is there a plunger in the side plate that pushes against the hand? I do not see the pin/hole for the hand spring or the relief cut for the hand spring pin in the trigger nor the pin/hole in the hand hence the questions.

I actually worked on a number of these old beauties after I was able to buy out a retired gunsmith parts when I had my shop and I sold most of the remaining parts when I retired.

Looking at the lock work I would say it is consistent with the early 20s. My 1917 looked similar to yours and I replaced the trigger and hand with more modern parts. Those parts will need fitting by a good S&W smith.

[shell70634]

JMax, Yup, there's a plunger. I see Numrich has some but I don't see different widths like the late models. I've heard of peening it to change the size but never done it or seen it done.

[JMax]

I went to my basement, astonished that I still had some and rummaged around a bit in a small box of old smith parts and found two hands, a correct trigger and a correct hammer assembly. The hands are .094" and .095" wide at the tip. If you need a wider one a special jig and oxy torch to get it red hot and peen it over.

Attached is a photo of those parts.