GREEN RIVER –– A revolver not often encountered was researched today through the Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s Vintage Firearms Research Program.
Museum staff identified the handgun as a five-shot Smith & Wesson .38 Regulation Police model chambered for the .38 S&W cartridge, manufactured in the early 1920s.
First introduced as a black powder round in 1877, the .38 Smith & Wesson cartridge should not be confused with the ubiquitous .38 Special, a more powerful cartridge developed some 20 years later, and the two are not interchangeable. The .38 Smith & Wesson remained popular for many years, however, particularly in Britain, where it remained the military’s standard revolver round from 1922 to 1963.
The .38 Regulation Police was manufactured from 1917 to 1940, with just under 55,000 were produced.
Residents with a vintage firearms that would like to learn more about them can contact the museum at (307) 872-6435 or via email at blustd@sweetwatercountywy.gov. There is no charge for the service.
