A Treasure sought for and Found

[Zeke38]

A few weeks ago I visited a Pawn Shop I rarely go to and spied this beauty lying in the bottom of a multi tiered glass display case. A bit grungy with oily dark crud on the barrel just under the rib and some of the same on the cylinder. But what caught my eye were the grips! Asked to see it and mechanically it has been expertly tuned with trigger polished out and a trigger stop put in the trigger and the one removed from the interior of the frame. Action smooth as grease on glass and timing perfect. 3lb single and 7-8 lb double, no hitches no glitches no walls to overcome just a perfect roll to the rear with that nice smooth DA target trigger. 4 screw and the the frame and the crane had been matched to put the cylinder in perfect alignment with the barrel. The grips appear to be and I believe they are John Hurst grips. Serial number dates to 1949 or 50 if I'm reading the Catalog correctly.

OTD for 490.00 and brought it home and it cleaned up nicely. I've owned 4 or 5 Model 14s over the years, didn't have one currently until this one, but this one is perfection, most any gun is mechanically superior to my marksmanship abilities but this 14 makes me look good. What a treasure and a pleasure for this old man to enjoy!

[FPS]

Nice find, I hope it gives you years of enjoyment.

[entropy]

Damn. I love stories like this!

[OlongJohnson]

That's some solid patina.

@Malamute

[Bruce Cartwright]

Zeke38:

I concur in your belief that the stocks on your K38 were made by John Hurst. The checkering pattern is the same as I have seen on other Hurst stocks. If you remove the stocks, Hurst usually signed the interior with his name in a yellow grease pencil (at least that was the color on the sets I have observed) which seems pretty probative to me.

That is a fabulous old K38. Do you have any idea who the prior owner was? I never saw Hurst stocks when I lived on the east coast, but have observed them since I moved out west. John Hurst, as you may know, was a police officer who served with the Los Angeles Police Department. He made stocks for department officers and other shooters in the area. So finding Hurst stocks may be a regional phenomenon. I would not be surprised if the prior owner was a law enforcement officer who probably used that gun as his PPC (Practical Police Course) match gun. Hurst was one of the top stock makers of all time. He ranks right along side Craig Spegel in my opinion. Hurst was also a highly regarded shooter. Col. Jeff Cooper wrote complimentary comments about Hurst's shooting abilities. All of the Hurst stocks I have handled have a special quality to them. Hurst really seemed to understand how a set of stocks needed to be carved to allow a shooter to perform well.

I would double check the serial number. If your revolver is marked as a model 14 on the cylinder crane, it tends to suggest it was made after 1957. S&W started using numerical model numbers in 1957.

I hope you choose to shoot your K38. If you do, please favor us with a report.

Bruce

[awp_101]

Excellent find! A 14 is on the “guns I sold/traded off in a fit of stupidity” replacement list. I coveted a SAO model but couldn’t afford one nor could I find the conversion kit so it went away.

[farscott]

Nice find of a great revolver.

The revolver does not have the upper plate screw, so it had to ship post-1955 as that engineering change for K-frames was made in late 1955. Knowing S&W, all of the old parts were used at sometime, so it is likely post-1957. It is also possible the frame was manufactured and serialized well before 1955 as S&W is famous for things like this as no parts were left behind.

In any event, it is a very nice revolver.

[Trooper224]

I won more bullseye matches than i can remember with my 14, it's one of my few, " never sell" guns. I would have bought that one for the stocks alone.

[Borderland]

That's a nice revolver. Older K frames are hard to find in a shop. Usually the owner knows how popular they are and is asking some ridiculous price for it. Maybe in ID it's different.

A 6" model 19 is the most accurate handgun I own, and I own a few. My neighbor had a model 66 and we used to compete with each other shooting clays at 50 yards in a gravel pit. We loaded our own ammo so we had it dialed in. We couldn't break a clay with every shot but we broke enough of them to make it interesting.

My model 19 might as well be a model 14 now because I load .357 cases for about 900 fps these days. I doubt I can break clays at 50 yds anymore but at least I know it's possible with a steady hand and good eye sight.

[SCCY Marshal]

That's some solid patina.

I keep thinking a Target Masterpiece would be an excellent jackrabbit and squirrel of opportunity gun. This one is seasoned enough an owner shouldn't shy from taking it afield.