First Revolver

[HDSilvrStreak]

First Revolver - Updated with pics and info

Just got back from the 1500 and picked up my very first revolver.

Found a S&W 28-2 "Highway Patrolman" in .357. Can't wait to take it out and run some rounds.

Does anyone have the Smith book that can tell me what year it was made? I looked all over the S&W web, but can't seem to find the info. The serial # is N211 XXX. Any ideas?

Anyone else own this model or any comments on history here?

 

[oneshotonekill]

I did a quick search and came up with 1975-1977....I think it is in the back of the Blue Book of Gun Values.....don't have one with me presently or I'd check.

 

[Dewidmt]

N frames with N prefix-

1975-1977 N190001-N430000

Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

Thank you both for the quick responses. The gun is a little older than what I would have guessed. It's a stainless model and in great shape. It doesn't look that old at all.

 

[sbcman]

Question: Are you certain it's stainless? Any chance you could post some pics with the model number under the yoke?

Outside of that, congrats on a great revolver- she's a true classic and I'm sure it will serve you well.

 

[sbcman]

Thank you both for the quick responses. The gun is a little older than what I would have guessed. It's a stainless model and in great shape. It doesn't look that old at all.

OK, just did a quick search and came up with what I was suspecting. I can find no records of Smith ever making a stainless 28. They made a scarce few nickel 28s, and if you have one of these, you have something. You can tell because it will have FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) stamped on it.

Since you're stating that it looks somewhat new, my guess is that someone has had it refinished in brush nickel, which looks similar to stainless to the eye. If it's bright and shiny, it may just be regular nickel, which, without the fhp stamp, is a refinish.

Either way, you've still got a very solid 357 on your hands. The range will tell the tale, but I expect you'll be well pleased by the handling and results. Again, congrats! Great first revolver.

 

[Colt556]

My very first handgun was a Model 28 that I bought in 1972 when I was 16 years old. Well actually my mom bought it! It was massive in my young hands and I only shot it 6 times before I traded in for a brand new Nylon 66 and a brick of .22s. Man I wish I had that gun today. It sounds as if your gun has been hard chromed to me. Hard chrome looks a lot like stainless steel and is very durable.

 

[kalboy]

Congrats on the new wheelie! I too doubt your 28 is stainless but more likely is factory nickel or aftemarket hard chrome or electroless nickel. Either way you have a very good gun.

 

[Osobuco]

Thank you both for the quick responses. The gun is a little older than what I would have guessed. It's a stainless model and in great shape. It doesn't look that old at all.

It is not stainless - They did not make a 28 in stainless. What you have is either a gun that has been de-blued or a brushed nickel version or refinished. If it is nickel it is very rare so my guess is it is a deblued version/refinished.

How long is the barrel and is the cylinder marked with an N?

 

[Hiram2005]

If it's a 6 inch barrel, I looked at that gun on Friday. It's a satin nickel type finish, been refinished but still a nice gun.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

I'll post up some pics soon. I have to do a few things first. 1 - I have to learn how to post pics. 2 - I have to take some pics. and 3 - I have to put several hundred miles on the HD. It's just too nice outside. I just stopped off at home for a few minutes to pick up Mrs. HD and we're going back out.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

OK, I'm going to try to post these pics and we'll see how this goes.

I'll detail out all of the markings for each pic as I know that they won't show up. I also haven't really cleaned it yet. I can get it a little better. If it has been refinished, whoever did it, in my opinion, did a really good job.

This is the full image of the right side of the Revolver. Just above the edge of the grip is the routine S&W logo. Under the cylinder it says:
MADE IN U.S.A.
MARCAS REGISTRADAS
SMITH & WESSON
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

Along the barrel it has ".357 CTG." A marking of some sort. and "HIGHWAY PATROLMAN"

Here is the full image of the left side. The only markings on the left is that it has "SMITH & WESSON" along the barrel.

Under the cylinder release (the yoke?), it has the following markings.
"N211 ###"
"MOD. 28-2"

On the actual yoke itself it has:
"51798"
"A15"

I have no idea if there is anything under the grips. It had a cheap rubber grip on it and I bought the pictured ones at the show. The vendor I bought them from changed them out for me. Here are the last couple of pics.

 

[Kitty]

Sweet baby! Congrats.

 

[sbcman]

Yep, that's a brush nickel refinish- and looks like a really good job whoever did it. This was not an uncommon practice on the 28s and it could have possibly been done at S&W.

Also, don't know about the grip manufacturer, but those look really nice and functional as well.

Congrats all around, my friend! Even though it's not original, it looks great with both finish and grips. I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of that classic!

By the way, has a peice of that underlug been filed or something? Looks like a chunk of it is gone?

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

Thanks for the feedback. I was going to be happy no matter what I found. I might have to investigate this one a little more. Is there any way to tell if the refinish was done by S&W without paying them to send the letter?

 

[sbcman]

Typically, when the factory refinishes it will have a stamp on the grip frame starting with the letter R. It could stamp something like R-SN (refinished- satin nickel) or just R-N (refinished-nickel). There also might be a "B" stamped somewhere.

S&W usually doesn't refinish triggers or hammers, which in this case they came factory with the case hardened coloring. Also on the gun in question, the few that have been nickeled left the ejector blued. Just saying that if it was a refinish job at the factory during the early time frame, those parts would probably look like that unless the customer specified otherwise.

What gets me is the stamping on your revolver. It is very well defined, which isn't typical for refinish jobs. This sort of indicates to me that it was done by some outfit that really knows what they were doing. This is why I thought it might have been a factory job and if not was probably done by Fords.