Hi everyone. I'm hoping to find a little info on two of my guns. The first is a 38S&W cal. with a four inch barrel. The serial number is 161xx, and the number under the crane is 50841. The grips have no S&W logo on them.
The second is in 32 cal. with a 4 1\4 barrel. The serial is 5024xx and under the crane is 21051. This one does have the S&W logo on the gips.
I would like to know when these were made, and if I were to order parts for them, what model would I reference. So far I haven't had much luck telling people they are regulation police models.

You can ignore the numbers that are visible on the frame only when the yoke is open; those are soft fitting numbers that had meaning only when the guns were on the factory floor in the early stages of production. Once the serial numbers went on, they became the only numbers that have meaning to collectors and historians.

The .38 dates to 1919-1920 -- somewhere around there. The .32 probably shipped in 1929 or 1930.

You should not have any trouble identifying the .38 to others as a Regulation Police, because that was stamped on the barrel. The .32 RP was never so marked, but if it is a .32 I-frame with square butt stocks and a rebated (notched) backstrap to adapt the square wood pieces to the rounded frame, that's the hallmark of any RP, .32 or .38. In fact, those square butt I-frame stocks are called Regulation Police stocks and will fit on no other revolver. The RP models were introduced in 1917, and for the first decade a patent stamp appeared on the bottom of one wooden cheek piece. By the 1930s the company didn't bother with the patent stamp any more. If the stocks on your guns are original, you should see the patent stamp on the .38 but possibly not on the .32.

As a footnote, there is another, larger pattern of square-butt I-frame stocks that are seen on the small frame target revolvers. These are called extension stocks and are configured to completely enclose the backstrap. They also have two screws to mount them to the gun rather than just one. Rarely you will see stocks like this on a standard RP revolver if the shooter had large hands and needed a larger grip to shoot it comfortably.

Aside from the different barrels and cylinders, these guns are just basic prewar I-frame revolvers. Any parts for a .32 Hand Ejector, third model, should fit those guns with the possible exception of the hand. Since the .32 is a six shooter and the .38 cylinder holds only five rounds, you would have to fit a hand to the specific revolver in which it is installed. Are there specific parts you are looking for?

Show some pics if you can. A lot of us here are fans of the old RPs. And welcome to the forum.

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David Wilson

Thank you for the reply and the welcome! There are patent stamps on both guns. The 38 is good condition with just some flaking of the nickel on the right side. Its tight and in time, and I shoot it now and then.
The 32 I just picked up last week from a pawn shop. It has been neglected and the nickel is comeing off all over. It is incredably dirty and I have been cleaning on it. Its going to take some time. The barrel inside is good as well as the cylinder. It doesnt lock up as tight as the 38 does, but its ok. If I cock the hammer real slow, and hold my toung just right, once in a wile the locking bolt doesnt drop in. Maybe by a couple thousand's. Its so close it doesnt do it when loaded. After deciding it was safe to shoot I took it to the range and fired about 25 rounds through it. It funtioned well and accurately. The best group was 1.5 inches at 20 yards with S&B ammo.
I thought about getting a new hand and locking bolt for it and wile looking though numerich site I didn't see R-P listed.

It's the same internals as for a HE, IIRC.

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Guy
SWHF #474 SWCA LM#2629

Let me join David in welcoming you to the board. Like him, I have a soft spot in my heart (or head??) for them, along with the other I-frame variants. Since you already have gotten these two, you might also want to branch out and look for the 22 Kit Gun in the same configuration (except for its target sights) and have a nice trifecta of the little Smiths.

After WW 2 Smith reintroduced these guns soon after they resumed civilian production, but due to the demand for a smaller 38 Special, modified the frame slightly by enlarging the area around the cylinder (good) and changing the mainspring from the classic leaf type to a coil spring (bad, at least IMHO.) For all intents and purposes, the I-frame is simply a scaled-down version of the contemporary K- and N-frames, and to me at least has a much more desirable "feel" than the later J-frames, but to each his own.

As for parts, there are several people mentioned regularly on this board who specialize in old S&W parts, with Poppert and Chicoine being two of my favorites. These parts will cost you a bit more than currently produced parts, of course, but most are still available and not too unreasonable. Enjoy shooting your RPs!

Froggie

Welcome to the forum. You have two very enjoyable early I frame Smiths. They are essentially the same as the 38 S&W Terrier Hand Ejector and 32 Hand Ejector Third Model guns of the same period.

If you're comfortable buying new parts and fitting them to the .32, then I would not spend money on new parts. Because you can easily handle doing the following very minor repair.
When the cylinder is a few thousandths short of advancing completely to lock up, known as "carry up", just do the following:

With the cylinder open in a vertical position, use a flat tipped punch to very gently peen each of the 6 ratchet teeth on the rear surface of the edge contacted by the hand. One tap on each tooth will usually do it and the gun will function perfectly for another 20 years. I've fixed so many that way I can't count them.

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Jim
S&WCA #819