November 18, 2020 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/18/2020
Black anodized finish with 2" barrel, serrated ramp front sight, notch rear sight. Case colored hammer and trigger. Flat latch and pinned barrel. Diamond checkered grips with Smith and Wesson medallions. Left side of top strap reads "REVOLVER, LIGHTWEIGHT, M13", backstrap "PROPERTY OF U.S. AIR FORCE". "P" proof on left side of frame, under cylinder. Matching numbers on butt and rear of cylinder. inside of right grip stamped with partial serial. Barrel legend is simply ".38 SPL. CTG" indicating replacement. Some white infill has been used to highlight backstrap legends. These rare revolvers were procured by the United States Air Force and were specially made out of aluminum to be extremely lightweight and thus ideal for air crews; unfortunately, because of their extreme light weight and aluminum construction, normal .38 Special would cause cylinders to rupture unless run with special M41 low pressure .38 Special. CONDITION: Very good retaining the vast majority of the factory bluing on the frame and cylinder with strong shadowing around proofs; some normal marks from handling and operation. Trigger and hammer retain virtually all of their case colors with a few spots of age related patina. Checkering is somewhat rough. Barrel is very good. Action works appropriately when operated by hand, bore has strong rifling. EW