The Model 39 and 59 slide. February 15, 1983, with serial number A47148. The Smith & Wesson Model 39 of the h & Wesson. Manufacture Year by Serial Number 'K' Frame Revolvers. See more of Smith & Wesson M&P Revolver - Model 10 on. C405,019 – C429,740.1958 – 59 C429,741. Mar 15, 2012 I recently inherited a Model 59 serial # A245XXX. I brought it to the range and fired a couple dozen rounds. By the looks of things I've now fired it. Smith & Wesson Model 59 Pistol. The seven-shot Smith & Wesson Model No. A surplus of military arms and the import of large numbers of inexpensive guns.

The Model 59, introduced in 1971, is similar to the Model 39 but has a wide grip to hold a double-column magazine of 14 rounds. The Model 39, which holds 8 rounds in the magazine, was introduced in 1957 as the first double-action semi-automatic pistol produced in the United States. Massachusetts natives Horace Smith and Daniel Baird Wesson, famous for their revolver designs, are also known for having developed the first practical American-made self-contained metallic cartridge, the. Velvet Underground Self Titled Zip. 22 rimfire short. Both men were experienced in the design and manufacture of firearms, and in 1852, they formed a partnership for the purpose of manufacturing magazine-type arms. Their Norwich, Connecticut factory produced the iron-frame lever-action Volcanic pistol, patented in 1854 (see case 42 gun #1), which was a direct predecessor to the Henry and Winchester lever-action rifles that became famous during the Civil War and post-war periods.

The Volcanic was a lever-action pistol that featured a front-loading tubular magazine located under the barrel. This gun used a unique type of ammunition that consisted of a hollow-base conical bullet containing propellant and backed by a primer disc.

In 1855, Smith & Wesson sold their interest to the newly-organized Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. The firm's manufacturing facilities moved to New Haven, with Smith serving as plant manager for the new company, and Wesson working as plant superintendent. Soon, however, both men left Volcanic and returned to Springfield, Massachusetts, Horace Smith's hometown. In 1857, Volcanic went into receivership. The firms assets were purchased by Oliver Winchester, a Volcanic stockholder, and was reorganized as the New Haven Arms Company.

Production was discontinued entirely in 1860, but the company survived, and by 1866 it became known as Winchester Repeating Arms Co. In November 1856, Smith and Wesson formed a second partnership to develop and manufacture a revolver that chambered metallic cartridges. Wesson had continued earlier experiments intended to produce a self-contained metallic cartridge, and by August, 1856, he had completed a wooden model of a pistol designed to chamber a rimfire cartridge. Wesson soon discovered that a key feature of his design, a revolving cylinder that was bored to a constant diameter from end to end, had already been patented by Rollin White, a former employee of Samuel Colt.