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05-19-2011, 04:07 PM
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post-war transitional terrier, finally!!!
well, i have been looking for a transitional terrier for a long time, and finally ran across one! it has all the pre-war features, with the post-war 4-line address. man, it has been hard to find one of these little guys! sorry for the bad pics. my camera battery was almost dead, and i was just trying to get a shot or two while the sun was shining!
here is its little sister: 32 with all the pre-war features, and the 4-line address.
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05-19-2011, 04:13 PM
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Congrats on your find!
It looks to be in really great condition. What year was it made?
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05-19-2011, 04:16 PM
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Nice!
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05-19-2011, 04:26 PM
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it is a 55900 serial number, so i figure late 49 or early 50.
ha! the little chief is my main target, now!!!! i think there were only, maybe 67 (?) of them with the small service grips. i will probably NEVER find one AND be able to afford it, but i will keep looking!
it seems like some hard-to-find stuff may be coming out of the woodwork. i have searched very diligently for half-moon sight i-frame snubs for several years, and have literally run across these two, and an improved i-frame, half-moon-sighted-magna-grip 32 in the last 2 or three months.
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05-19-2011, 04:29 PM
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Excellent score! Congratulations.
Can't quite see in the shadow. Does the gun have a strain screw? If so, it is an "unimproved" I-frame, probably from 1951 or 1952.
ADDED: With that serial number, which is very low for a postwar .38 I-frame, I think it is probably 1951. I have a couple of early .38 Regulation Police, 54xxx and 58xxx respectively, that both shipped in July 1951. The question now is whether the factory put together and shipped any Terriers before they got to the RPs.
AND ANOTHER EDIT: Looks like Terriers were indeed shipping before the RPs when postwar I-frame production resumed. I'm now guessing late 1950 for yours.
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David Wilson
Last edited by DCWilson; 05-19-2011 at 04:45 PM.
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05-19-2011, 04:40 PM
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yeah, both of them are leaf-spring, regular i-frames.
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05-19-2011, 06:08 PM
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Here's a Nov, 1950 nickel Terrier that is in a close serial number range.
Chuck
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Rangers LTW!
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05-19-2011, 07:13 PM
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i think this is the next to lowest serial numbered post-war terrier i have ever actually seen (from an admittedly small cross-section!). i am thinking maybe very late 49 (if any were actually even shipping that early), to sometime in 1950. i don't think i have ever seen one lettered later than late-50 with the service stocks. and i have seen a bunch of 51 vintage ones with magnas.
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05-19-2011, 07:14 PM
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by the way, that nickel one is sweet!!!
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05-19-2011, 07:54 PM
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Hi
I have a 38 terrier serial number 55634 in the red box that was owned by a highway officer in Mich.
also have a 32 terrier serial number 574751 that is close to the nickel
one it is blue.
Jim fisher
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05-19-2011, 09:23 PM
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That is one sweet little revolver!!
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Ken
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05-19-2011, 09:53 PM
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congratulations on your new post war terrier .
I will have to double check my serial number but as memory serves I believe mine is 5 digits beginning with a 3.
I will check tomorrow .
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05-19-2011, 10:45 PM
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that is a jewel! i have seen your pic in other threads! i didn't think i would ever find one. i think 54474 was the last "pre-war" serial number. then, they started back up after the war at 54475, in 1948, or 1949, or 1950, depending on who you ask!
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05-19-2011, 10:46 PM
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i think the regulation police revolvers were included in this serial range, too.
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05-20-2011, 09:39 AM
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Mine is 55362. Looked at shows and shops for quite a while before I found one.
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05-20-2011, 10:42 AM
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That is a beautiful gun. The quality just oozes out of it.
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05-20-2011, 12:53 PM
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I confused my Terrier serial with my 38217 Baby Chief,
The Terrier is actually 58078.
I have my feelers out for an earlier Baby Chief with half penny front site now,
Did recently stumble on another low serial 4 screw Centennial.... love these little guns.
Last edited by Engine49guy; 05-20-2011 at 12:57 PM.
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05-20-2011, 08:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ar15ed
well, i have been looking for a transitional terrier for a long time, and finally ran across one! it has all the pre-war features, with the post-war 4-line address. man, it has been hard to find one of these little guys! sorry for the bad pics. my camera battery was almost dead, and i was just trying to get a shot or two while the sun was shining!
here is its little sister: 32 with all the pre-war features, and the 4-line address.
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Those are indeed two very beautiful and very early specimens! Although both guns have the pre war service grips with hand cut sharp corner borders, the .32 appears to even have pre war flat silver medallions while the .38 has postwar nickle medallions. Pictures are quite good but can't tell for sure. Maybe you can compare them. Also, the .32 has the very earliest post war 'double hour glass' thumblatch while the .38 has two versions later or 3rd style. The .32 has what I believe to be the scarcer 2 line barrel roll mark on the left side.
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S&WCA #819
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05-21-2011, 08:19 AM
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hondo, you are helping me out on multiple threads!!! i was looking at the grips, and noticed they were different. i had read a little about the checkering differences, but hadn't ever actually been exposed to both samples at the same time. the 32s are considerably narrower too, especially at the bottom.
many thanks, again! i think the speed with which s&w was modernizing these guns from about 48 to 53 was extremely interesting! i love them!!!
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