Identification Help - New Member

ML190 · Jun 29, 2025

I have gone down a rabbit hole with this old weapon.... This was in my dad's collection and unfortunately was in his house when it burned years ago (that's why the grip is missing). For the last 10-plus years it's been stored in a box with a few other surviving relics. I recently took it out and gave it a quick, non-aggressive cleaning with the goal of making this a non-firing wall hanger. While looking for grips I decided to go ahead and get a good ID on it....Now I'm thinking about taking it to a qualified gunsmith and having it checked for reliability and safety. I always assumed that going through a house fire would have weakened the metal enough to make this thing dangerous, but now I'd like to know for sure and possibly put it back to use if the metal isn't compromised. Thanks in advance for any help with identification.

Wiregrassguy · Jun 29, 2025

Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! That is a .38 Military & Police, Model 1905, 3rd Change, round butt. It was made around 1914 and the standard grips at the time were K frame, round butt, black hard rubber. Wooden circassian walnut with a flat, no medallion round top were special order. It has been refinished at some point in its life but it looks pretty good. I would replace the springs in the action and give it a try with target ammo. YMMV.

ML190 · Jun 29, 2025

Wiregrassguy said:
Welcome to the forums from the Wiregrass! That is a .38 Military & Police, Model 1905, 3rd Change, round butt. It was made around 1914 and the standard grips at the time were K frame, round butt, black hard rubber. Wooden circassian walnut with a flat, no medallion round top were special order. It has been refinished at some point in its life but it looks pretty good. I would replace the springs in the action and give it a try with target ammo. YMMV.

Thank you very much! It will need springs for sure, there is almost no resistance in the action. I hope to have some rounds running through it soon.

ML190 · Jun 30, 2025

Will springs from other K frames like the model 1910 work on this pistol or do they need to be specific to this model and change?....back down the rabbit hole.

glowe · Jun 30, 2025

Welcome to the Forum. Your serial number indicates that the revolver was shipped around 1914-1915, but the stocks for this era were walnut gold medallion style as noted below. Could you explain the action problems? I see what looks like a properly installed mainspring, so not sure what is happening when you pull the trigger?

The springs affecting trigger pull are the mainspring which shows in your pictures and the rebound spring which is a very stiff coil spring inside the patented slide.

ML190 · Jun 30, 2025

The trigger pull feels very very light, the action appears to all function correctly and smoothly. The extractor spring has almost no pressure and won't seat the extractor all the way even though the extractor moves easily and freely. The rebound spring appears collapsed with minimal pressure as well. My guess is the heat affected the metal in the springs....I'm completely new to this pistol so it may be that these old guns just had light action.

glowe · Jun 30, 2025

Sounds like maybe a previous owner changed out the rebound slide spring?? They were unchanged from 1915 to 1940, so any pre-WWII factory style spring will be appropriate. You might have a cylinder assembly that is sluggish because it is full of dried oil inside. Placing 38 Special brass in the chambers, you can unscrew the front section of the ejector rod, then remove the star from the rear, clean and lightly re-oil parts.

Wiregrassguy · Jun 30, 2025

The action should not be that light. But, the springs were likely annealed by the fire which has weakened them. Change out the main spring, rebound slide spring, cylinder stop spring, bolt spring and double action sear (fly) spring. You should be able to find them at Numrich or Jack First.

ML190 · Saturday at 4:09 PM

Thanks again for the help. Just thought I'd give a quick update on this pistol....

Jack First had all the parts I needed... Main Spring, Rebound Slide Spring, Extractor Spring, Sear Spring, Bolt Plunger Spring and Cylinder Stop Spring. Install them all this morning and this old gun feels much much tighter! Attached is a picture of the old main spring (Left) and the new one.

I should have ordered a new Cylinder Lock Spring...The new springs overpower it and it needs a little help to unseat the bolt plunger and unlock the trigger (Probably wrong on my technical terms).

Jim Watson · Saturday at 4:32 PM

NIckel plating a salvaged fire gun was pretty common.
The hardware store that was the only gun dealer besides a couple of pawn shops at the time sent off three scorched .44 Specials. They got back two in nickel plate, the third was too badly burnt to refurbish.

How are your bore and chambers? Those .44s were not as nice inside as outside.

ML190 · Saturday at 4:36 PM

Jim Watson said:
NIckel plating a salvaged fire gun was pretty common.
The hardware store that was the only gun dealer besides a couple of pawn shops at the time sent off three scorched .44 Specials. They got back two in nickel plate, the third was too badly burnt to refurbish.

How are your bore and chambers? Those .44s were not as nice inside as outside.

Not terrible...Luckily this gun was in a safe (just not a very good one) when the house burned. It has been a long time since my father acquired it, but I think it was a retirement gift for a peace officer years ago; however, who really knows? I do remember that it was very clean when he got it and had white grips.

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