What revolver is at top of forum main page?

[C&R Bill]

The revolver at the top of every page here is BEAUTIFUL!! What model is it? What year? I am guessing am M&P or pre-model 10 target, but I'm not sure because the cylinder looks smaller than it should for a 38. A 32 S&W maybe? Thanks, Bill

[Texas Star]

This has been discussed. I think the answer is that it's a .32 target version of the M&P, with a humpbacked hammer.
The Magna stocks look prewar, but it could be an early postwar item.

Someone who knows more will probably reply.

Looks like a good small game gun, with .32 Long wadcutters, but it's probably some collector's safe queen. No worries: I'd prefer a .38 even for some small game. Raccoons and the like can be tough.

[rburg]

The cylinder looks exactly like a .38 M&P. The only difference between the early K32 and the M&P target is the caliber. Every thing else is identical. And hold on to your seat...There was one pretty similar at the OGCA show over the weekend. OK, not exact, it didn't have the hammer and it had service grips. But still nearly a dead ringer.

My guess is S&W only made one like Dave's K32, but we're not sure. Heck, we're not even sure the hammer is original to the gun (it doesn't letter as I recall.) I'd bet there were maybe dozens of the M&P Target guns with HBH produced. I have nothing to prove it. I have one in the gun room, except it doesn't have the Magna grips (but does have the harder to find HBH.)

OK, enough speculating. Dave's gun is spectacular to look at. It has balance and beauty. I'm sure he gets great satisfaction from owning it, even more having it grace our pages every time we open the forum.

Now you guys start to see why us old guys love the prewar guns so much. For a long time the romance was mostly with N frames, the glamor girls in the line. Now suddenly the wallflowers are beginning to surface.

For instance, the K22 Outdoorsman is pretty near a dead ringer for the above gun. The only difference one can tell from the side would be the pin to retain the firing pin above the upper sideplate screw. Other than that and the bore, all dimensions are identical. I've got a couple of K22 Outdoorsman with the HBH. Bruce has one or two with Magna grips. The guns aren't rare.. Just highly sought after and when we buy one, we lock it away from sight until we die and our heirs can sell it.

The guns are beautiful. Buy one if you see it.

[handejector]

That gun is the Pre-War K-32 which belonged to Ed McGivern.

[C&R Bill]

She sure is purty!!!

THANKS!!

Originally Posted by handejector

That gun is the Pre-War K-32 which belonged to Ed McGivern.

[Steve in Vermont]

Originally Posted by handejector

That gun is the Pre-War K-32 which belonged to Ed McGivern.

Thanks Lee. When that was first posted you wouldn't say and I said to myself "so what". And every time I've logged in I thought "what is it?". Now I can get a good nights sleep.