S&W .38 pistol

Question
I have a very good friend that lost his dad this past year and was left several older firearms.  One of these is a S&W revolver 4" bbl.  The serial # is:  V 248863.  This handgun is marked with the following on the barrel:  38 S&W CTG.  There is one additional marking number when I open the cylinder below the forcing cone:  89756.  The mainspring is broken and I will repair it but I can't even tell what model it is or what caliber(.38 spec. or .38long)
It would rate 75 - 80 % NRA....Help.....Mike

Answer
Hi Leo.

The .38 S&W cartridge is shorter and a bit wider than the .38 Special cartridge so you can't shoot .38 Special or .38 Long Colt cartridges in this gun.

The only cartridge which is interchangeable with the .38 S&W is the .38 Colt New Police but it has not been manufactured for quite some time.

You can repair the gun but I would not fire it unless it was inspected by a qualified gunsmith to make sure that no other problems exist. If you intend to fire it then you might be able to find some ammo from this place:

http://www.ows-ammo.com/

Also, there is a good discussion on this cartridge here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=40341

Hope this helps.

Bob