How many Colts? How many S&Ws?

[Naphtali]

1. Until the United States entered World War II, how many 38 Special Colt revolvers of all models were made?

2. Until the United States entered World War II, how many 38 Special S&W revolvers of all models were made?

3. Until original Schmidt-Galland double action mechanism was discontinued (in the 1980s, I believe), how many 38 Special Colt double action revolvers of all models were made?

[bedbugbilly]

I don't know if you are going to be able to get a definite answer on those questions. My off the cuff response would be "as many as they could sell". The Depression certainly would have had an effect on sales for all the companies . . and I don't know just how complete S & W records are?

You might start by going to "Proofhouse" and looking up the Colt models and checking the serial number ranges for each year? And even then . . . since models were often made in a variety of calibers . . . i.e. 38 Special, 38 S & W, 32-20 (32 WCF), etc., it's going to be awfully hard to pin down a concise quantity of a certain caliber.

Maybe someone will come along that has a good reference book that will give some halfway concise figures?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I don't know if it's ever been tallied up exactly that way before. However, the totals for the various models seem to be available. You could probably come pretty close by getting a current copy of The Blue Book of Gun Values and taking a look at the serialization information in the reference section in the back of the book, and also by the information listed under the various models, as all aren't listed in the back which tends to be for models with high collector value/interest. You could also get a lot of information from The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson and A History of Smith & Wesson, by Roy Jinks. I doubt if even the companies themselves have ever derived a total for a specific caliber, and you're most likely to find totals for particular models, and then you could add up those totals.