Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns K38 masterpiece price and opinions

My neighbor has a k38 masterpiece that I believe is unfired. It doesn't have a box though. It doesn't have the target hammer or trigger, but the trigger is still outstanding. He said he believed it was made in the 70's. I didn't check for a serial number or anything else because I really didn't know what to look for. it has a 6" barrel.

What is a going price for one of these in this condition. Are they as accurate as I have heard some people claim? I have a ppc revolver in 38 that is super accurate, but wouldn't mind picking this up if it would be close in accuracy as it is lighter.

Your help is appreciated.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=299468962

There is a link to a current auction on Gunbroker for one similar to what you describe. Assuming original condition, yours sounds in better shape. It also sounds like a Bangor-Punta. BP's are generally worth a little less due to the perception that they were not made quite as well. My guess is $500. Gunbroker is the best place to look for prices but these things are still pretty regional.

If it was made before BP took over the company, it's worth alot. Saw one recently for sale at $1000. And it wasn't nearly as good as new.
I've never fired a more accurate handgun. Mine would shoot in the .4 or less range for all six rounds at 25 yds. many times with Western Match 148 gr. WC ammo. I still regret selling it. E

I see really nice ones at gun shows in the $800 range.

I recently picked up a 5 screw that had been factory refurbished, for $500. That was from an individual and at a wholesale price, even for a refurb.

Wasn't many years ago they could have been had for $3-400.

Great guns.

DF

If you have a chance to buy it then don't pass it up, those old Smiths are not going to get any cheaper.

At one time I had K-22, K-38, Mod. 27, .357, Mod 29, .44mag. I still have the K-38 and the K-22 and plan on hanging on to them. I think what makes them so accurate is their trigger, so light and crisp that an angles breath would trip it.

Several years ago, I traded for matching 8 3/8" K guns, a K-38 and a K-22, priced at $700 for the pair. Both have the target hammer and trigger. For sure, they are keepers. Today, they'd cost that or more, each.

DF

Hello Spook1
The later made K-38 Masterpieces in the dash series will be more reasonable in price then the earlier non Model stamped K-38's made prior to 1957 time span. I have an original Unfired Five screw Pre-Model stamped K-38 that dates 1953 with a set of Factory Unrelieved Target diamond center stock's. I had to give a Grand for mine three years ago and don't regret it as I have not seen one since in this shape...I have fired it since I bought it and they are deadly accurate... TheGeneral

Wow! Now, there's some serious money all wrapped up in a revolver...

It would be hard to price that one. Not too many to compare with.

Thanks for sharing. You do have some good ones, General...

DF

Hello Dirtfarmer

The K-38 shown above was the Last of the Masterpiece Trio series of revolver's that I lacked. I hunted a long time for the one shown to match my other Two Masterpieces being my K-22 and the Elusive K-32 Masterpiece. I found most K-38's that I came across to be shot Heavily with an eye appeal of use and wear to that did not meet my Criteria or collecting focus. All of my Masterpiece Trio series guns are Five screw variations making them Non Model stamped revolver's and all are within 5 Years of each other with the latest one being a 1953. I am Now working on the Pre-War Trio which I only have the K-22 Outdoorsman so far. The Pre-War K-32 will the toughest to locate with only 94 of them being made, but you never know when one will pop up. Shown below is my Post-War Masterpiece Trio revolver's with their original boxes that have the original tools and paperwork that they left the factory with when new...... TheGeneral

Without seeing the gun I'd hazard a guess that somewhere between $500 and $700 would probably be in the ball park. If it's been refinished, and/or has non original sights/grips then it's more like a $400-$600 gun.

General,

I too have always lusted after a S&W .22, .32 & .38 trio, but I want the Combat Masterpiece trio. One of these days man, one of these days.

Thanks guys. I am going back to look at it this evening to find out more about it. Basically to see which model it is and to find out about when it was made. Like I said, I am sure it has never been fired as the bore is mint, and there are no turn marks on the cylinder.

General, those are beautiful, thank you for letting us see them..

Hello Kevin
I had Two. One was a model 15-2 In Nickel as shown and the other was a very scarce Dayton Outdoor Sport's revolver stamped as a model 14-2. It was a special order gun that Dayton Outdoor Sport's in Dayton, Ohio which at that time was a Huge Police supply gun distributor and it was offered in the 1965-1968 time span. These gun's differed from other Model Stamped 14's as they had the "Heavy Barrel" on them and other than the Rare Air Force shooting Team gun's that were sent back and re-barreled by S&W with a heavy barrel's These Dayton Gun's were the only revolver's with a model 14-2 stamp that had a Heavy 4" Barrel. They made Only 1038 of them total between 1965-1968 time span and these guns were worked on the standard S&W assembly line then returned to the vault where they stayed until Dayton Outdoor Sport's called for more in the Three shipment's that they received. There was a special 4 Block serial sequence for these guns that was reserved for them. In Essence these were the first guns to be offered as a custom offering but they were assembled and shipped out of the factory as the custom shop did not exist back then. I Picked up the one shown at a Local Gun show where I swapped a new in Box,Hong Kong Model 10-5 for it that was blued and had a 4" Barrel. The guy I swapped with said that he did not like a nickel handgun so he was eager to trade with me. I knew something was Very special about this gun due to it's Heavy barrel of 4" Length and the fact that it was a 4" Barrel yet stamped MOD. 14-2, was very Puzzling to me as the only model 14's I was aware of where the 6" Variations. Upon arriving home and making a couple of call's to some Sage S&W collector's, it revealed I had one of these Low Production Dayton Outdoor Sport's revolver's. I swapped it off to a guy for my Pre-16 Five screw Variation K-32 Masterpiece that I had been chasing for Three years along with a model 34-1 snub .22 L R caliber blued revolver. I had an actual cash value of $650.00 in the pair so the swap into my Pre-16 K-32 Masterpiece was Certainly a No Brainer for me as the Pre-16's are one of the Toughest of the Masterpiece series to Locate. Shown below is the Rarely seen Dayton Outdoor Sport's revolver along with an original sales flier they produced to promote the gun, and my Model 15-2 Nickel Combat Masterpiece both with their Factory Diamond Traget stocks'...TheGeneral














Model 15-2 Factory Nickle Combat Masterpiece

Hello RWL
It was my Pleasure, I enjoy good conversation on any Classic that S&W Made. These Gun forum's should be for sharing pictures and Information on gun's, Rather than Drama which I all Too often see, ruin good gun forum's. The Combat Masterpiece series Kevin speaks of will be tough to complete as far as a K-32 Combat Masterpiece goes, I have only seen "ONE" in all my years of being around S&W's and that one was certainly Not for sale. I have had the Other Two being a Pre-18 K-22 Combat Masterpiece and my Later Produced Model the 15-2 shown above in Nickel. Here is what a Pre-18 Combat Masterpiece looks like. This Gun was made in 1956 and is of the Four screw variety. The stock's that are shown on it came with it and they are wild as far as eye appel and grain goes I have never seen a set of Diamond Target variety stock's with Nicer grain than these have... TheGeneral

I'd be happy just to have one of those cotton pickin' gold boxes

Those are indeed some very nice stocks General.

Hello Spook1
I would suggest you look this K-38 Over Very Carefully, as a gun with "NO" cylinder turn line showing send's off a Huge Red Flag to me. I have seen Many that have been refinished when I was hunting for mine, that showed No Turn line on their cylinders, as well as I have seen Many Unfired guns with a slight turn line. To be correct here, there are "NO" Unfired gun's as S&W Test fires each and every gun that leaves the factory from one round up to Three rounds before they are shipped out, and they don't clean them when they are done Test firing them, as i have bought many that show to have Three dirty cylinder charge holes in them. I have never understood why Guy's have to cycle a gun's action unless they intended to fire it, But that is just how it is out there when looking at these guns, and If anyone tried to cycle mine when I am showing them to them, I would probably Pistol Whip them for it. S&W Makes certain that their cylinder lock comes in very early when cocking their gun's to assure proper gun lock up Indexing, so most Blued gun's will always show a cylinder turn line no matter how faint they are, it is always there if the gun's action has been cycled and the only one's you can rid of the Turn line are Nickel examples as Flitz metal polish will remove it... One thing to Bear in mind when buying any guns is that A Refinished gun will only Bring 50% Of what the gun's Current Market Value price Is. I don't know how well Versed you are in checking out S&W's so here is what I do when looking to add a new prospect to my S&W collection. In Viewing the gun Pay close attention to the factory stamping's on it as most that have been refinished will look weak from the refinisher over Polishing. The gun's edges should be square and crisp as well as it's side plate screw hole's should not be dished out a common issue seen in a refinished gun. Look close at the guns cylinder for a color difference. I have seen some with a Purple color hue to them, which is a sure sign of a refinish as the refinisher's bluing salt's were weak and did not Penetrate the cylinder's steel which is high in Nickel content, leaving behind a Purple Color. I would ask to remove the stocks to see if they are serial numbered to the gun and while you have them off, check for any re-stamp markings as a factory refinish will often have an R-B stamp which means Refinish-Blue. Run your hand up and down the barrel in a closed hand position to make certain that the gun has not had any Squib load's shot in it leaving Behind a Ever so Slight Bulged barrel perhaps' not seen by eye, but felt through your hand. Look closely at the gun's side plate. If it is Factory original there will be a slight divot where they polished it prior to bluing showing Two different direction's of Polishing one being straight up & down just behind the recoil shield and the other will appear to be in a straightforward motion leaving behind a slight depression directly under the gun's recoil shield area. If It is is a Target Masterpiece it will have a Patridge style front sight. Early ones will have exposed sight pins that are dome shaped on their head and later ones will not show the sight pins but if you hold the gun slightly off center you will see the flatened sight pin that was polished before the gun was sent to Bluing in the factory. Check the forcing cone area to make certain that it is Not cracked. This Portion of the barrel is where it meet's the face of the cylinder. I have seen a few out there with Cracked forcing cones from guy's that reload and have shot Hot load's using the Light weight bullets of 110 Grain. Look very close at the gun's finish to make certain that there are No Pit's under the bluing. Often on a re-blue the refinisher will not chase pit's if they are close to any factory stampings as it will weaken the factory stamps. Look closely at the gun's side plate screw's run your finger over them, if it has been apart often it will Often leave a Burr if an Improper screwdriver was used not seen by eye but felt with one's thumb. Look closely at the upper side plate area where the Tongue & Groove area of the side plate meet's the frame. If this area looks disturbed in it's bluing the side plate has been forced off the gun or forced back onto the guns frame. Due a Good Mechanical check of the gun. Start by trying to push the gun's cylinder backwards while it's action is closed. If it move's back & Forward or has excessive end play, That Means Part's will be needed to repair it. Next try rocking the cylinder back and forth from left to right with the gun's action still closed up. If it rocks back and forth with side wobble it may very well have a worn cylinder lock which is located in the lower cylinder frame area toward's the rear of the cylinder, on the bottom of the cylinder window main frame area. Next, check out the guns action. Make sure that it is of course Unloaded by Opening the cylinder to check it, Then close the cylinder back up & cock the Gun's hammer back to it's fully Cocked position. Once it has been locked into Battery Position ready for fire push on the rear of the hammer to make sure that it does Not Push off. A Hammer or sear that has been over polished or messed with will Often Push off. If it does push Off, it is dangerous so walk away from the sale, Unless you have the spare part's to repair the Push off issue, where you certainly have a good right now to work on the retail price if you do purchase it. One last thing to check, is when you have the gun's cylinder Open simply spin the cylinder. Watch closely to make sure it's extractor rod spins free and true. A wobble in a guns cylinder extractor tell's me that some Dick Head had slapped the cylinder closed Hard when closing it like they do in the movies, which in Turn can often bend the gun's cylinder crane assembly, and the only way to repair that is to send it to a gun smith. I hope some of these Pointer's will help you get a good gun, and if you see any of the things I mentioned out of Kilter walk away as there are Plenty of K-38's out there for the picking that are still in correct original Mint shape...In closing I appoligize for the Long response here, but if it keep's you from buying a gun with a problem you will have no regret's of reading this Rather Long winded response here...Happy Hunting Regards, TheGeneral

Hello Tex_cal
There out there, but you have to shake the Bushes to find them these days. So many guy's are placing them on Evil-Bay that they are tougher to locate. I was in a Gun shop awhile back and asked the clerk if he had any Older S&W Boxes ? He went to the back room and returned with a Model of 1926 .44 Hand eject Target revolver box. It had the paperwork and tools in it which the Knurled sight adjuster tool being a Nickle example which I Lacked for my 1955 Pre-27. I asked how much and he said all the money $25.00 of which I gladly paid it. I later sold the very same box and paperwork, without the Knurled Nickel sight adjuster for $200.00.. Keep hunting and always ask if you don't see these items as some places simply cast them aside in the back room among the Clutter... TheGeneral

General,

I've enjoyed your S&W posts in the past. You are a very serious S&W collector and have some great pieces. Man, those are museum quality, but I'm sure you know that.

DF