I'm slipping deeper into my mid-century revolver addiction and used an upcoming birthday (now in the recent past) as an excuse (as if I needed an excuse) to grab a couple of nice revolvers that came available from different sources at about the same time.
The gun in the background here is a Colt Officers Model Target in .32 Long that was part of a 1940s Massachusetts National Guard contract. It was probably shipped in 1941, based on what I know about Colt serial numbers (which, to be honest, leaves a lot of room for improvement). As with S&W, the .32 Target Colts are not at all common. The gun in the foreground is a K-32 Masterpiece that shipped in April of 1949. It went to J.L. Galef in New York City. Galef was a major firearms retailer who worked closely with NYPD officers. Don't let the perspective mislead you; the Colt OMT is actually slightly larger than the Masterpiece.
The K-32 came to me with diamond magnas from a later gun, and they didn't quite fit. Since they were the wrong stocks anyway, I rummaged in the woodpile to find some non-relieved K-frame targets that I put on the gun. They are still the wrong stocks, but they look a little better.
I think both guns are about 98%. The Colt may not have been fired since leaving the factory, which presents a quandary. The K-32 seems to have been fired, but not much. I'll probably try a few rounds in it.
The other side of the S&W:
Back of cylinder. The number is K69843. Nice case coloring.
I promise not to load you all up with photos of the competition, but this really is a pretty nice target revolver, so I'll let myself post a couple of views.
Nobody is responsible for my revolver addiction but me, but a forum member triggered this thread by asking elsewhere if I had let myself have any special birthday presents. Well, yeah --
blush! -- I guess I kind of did.
